Current:Home > MyCeltics beating depleted Heat is nothing to celebrate. This team has a lot more to accomplish. -Zenith Investment School
Celtics beating depleted Heat is nothing to celebrate. This team has a lot more to accomplish.
View
Date:2025-04-14 11:18:29
No need to drape the Boston Celtics with too much praise.
The No. 1 seed did what it was supposed to do – beat the No. 8 seed Miami Heat.
The Celtics had a disappointing Game 2 loss, won the next two games in Miami for a 3-1 series lead and finished off the Heat in Game 5 without injured forward-center Kristaps Porzingis.
They left no doubt, building a 30-point first half lead in a 118-84 victory over the depleted Heat. Jaylen Brown and Derrick White each scored 25 points and Jayson Tatum had 16 points and 12 rebounds.
Advancing to the Eastern Conference semifinals is exactly where the Celtics should be, awaiting the winner of the Orlando-Cleveland series.
They passed a minor test against a team without Jimmy Butler and Terry Rozier for the entire series and avoided a Game 6 and that pressure that accompanies the potential of a Game 7. They faced a modicum of adversity – the sports kind, not the real-life kind – and came through.
For this franchise and this roster, first-round victories are not celebrations. It’s a necessary stop on the way to something bigger.
A championship is the goal. The Celtics have 17 of them, tied with the Los Angeles Lakers for most in NBA history. This particular team with Tatum and Brown have knocked at the door – four conference finals and an NBA Finals appearance since Tatum's rookie year in 2017-18.
But no title since 2008.
After losing to the Heat in last season’s Eastern Conference finals, president of basketball operations Brad Stevens tinkered with the roster in the offseason, acquiring Jrue Holiday and Porzingis. It helped lead to a league-best 64-18 record, and Stevens was named Executive of the Year.
But an award without a title doesn’t mean as much in the Celtics-sphere.
During Boston’s Game 5 demolition, TNT play-by-play announcer Brian Anderson said, "It does feel like it’s going to be a disappointment if they don’t win it all this season.”
TNT analyst and former NBA coach Stan Van Gundy said: “That’s mentality they want.”
Of these recent Celtics teams, this is the best one by the eye test and the analytics. Boston has All-Stars and All-NBA players, and with the No. 1 offense and No. 2 defense, it was just one of two teams to finish in the top four in both categories (Oklahoma City was the other).
In the conference semifinals, the Celtics will play a healthier and better team than they did in the first round, and whether it’s the Cavaliers or the Magic, the Celtics will face a quality defense. It’s another test and should be more difficult than the first round, especially with Porzingis expected to miss a few more games. But degree of difficulty is irrelevant for the Celtics.
All that matters is getting to the conference finals. That’s where the Celtics should be later in May.
veryGood! (34)
Related
- South Korean president's party divided over defiant martial law speech
- Appeals court scraps Nasdaq boardroom diversity rules in latest DEI setback
- 2025 'Doomsday Clock': This is how close we are to self
- Nevada attorney general revives 2020 fake electors case
- Small twin
- Don't let hackers fool you with a 'scam
- B.A. Parker is learning the banjo
- Bill Belichick's salary at North Carolina: School releases football coach's contract details
- Pressure on a veteran and senator shows what’s next for those who oppose Trump
- What to know about Tuesday’s US House primaries to replace Matt Gaetz and Mike Waltz
Ranking
- DeepSeek: Did a little known Chinese startup cause a 'Sputnik moment' for AI?
- Global Warming Set the Stage for Los Angeles Fires
- Military service academies see drop in reported sexual assaults after alarming surge
- Dick Vitale announces he is cancer free: 'Santa Claus came early'
- Behind on your annual reading goal? Books under 200 pages to read before 2024 ends
- San Francisco names street for Associated Press photographer who captured the iconic Iwo Jima photo
- DeepSeek: Did a little known Chinese startup cause a 'Sputnik moment' for AI?
- New data highlights 'achievement gap' for students in the US
Recommendation
Selena Gomez's "Weird Uncles" Steve Martin and Martin Short React to Her Engagement
The Super Bowl could end in a 'three
South Korean president's party divided over defiant martial law speech
Could Bill Belichick, Robert Kraft reunite? Maybe in Pro Football Hall of Fame's 2026 class
The Best Stocking Stuffers Under $25
Warm inflation data keep S&P 500, Dow, Nasdaq under wraps before Fed meeting next week
Which apps offer encrypted messaging? How to switch and what to know after feds’ warning
'We're reborn!' Gazans express joy at returning home to north