NBA PLAYOFFS
Will the Miami Heat be eliminated if they lose against the Celtics in Game 5 today?
The current NBA runners-up are looking to go far in the NBA postseason, but they will need to make a few adjustments in their series against the Celtics.
The Miami Heat are fighting to repeat last season’s performance in the NBA playoffs, as they got to the final, ultimately losing to Nikola Jokic’s Denver Nuggets.
This campaign, the team ended in the eighth position in the Eastern Conference standings, so Erik Spoelstra’s players had to fight for a ticket to the NBA playoffs in the Play-In tournament, where they managed to defeat the Chicago Bulls to be able to avoid elimination and take on the Boston Celtics in the first playoff round.
However, Tyler Herro, Bam Adebayo & co. are facing one of the best teams in the competition alongside the Nuggets and many pundits believe the Celtics have what it takes to make it to the Finals and fight for this year’s Championship. The Heat now have three match-balls to save, as they are 3-1 behind in the series against the 17-time NBA champions. That means that if Miami lose Game 5 they will say goodbye to their season.
Boston want to avenge their loss to Miami in last year’s series
Boston will try to close their series and keep advancing in the East by winning Game 5, playing in front of their fans at TD Graden. Jayson Tatum and Jalen Brown have been delivering and will be expected to lead the Celtics once again toward victory.
The bad news for Joe Mazzula is that another of their key men, Kristaps Porzingis, has been ruled out for Game 5 after being diagnosed with a right soleus strain. It’s the same injury that has kept Giannis Antetokounmpo out since April 9, so it’s expected that the Latvian star will be out, at least, for the rest of the series.
With Porzingis out, the possibilities for the Heat to pull off the upset in Boston increase. The problem for the Florida-based franchise is that they also have plenty of injuries and won’t have some of their best players. Andre Rozier and Jimmy Butler remain sidelined while Jaime Jaquez will also miss the matchup due to a hip flexor strain.
Last year, they were the underdogs against Boston in the Eastern Conference Finals but got the tickets to the Finals after an incredible series. Miami took a 3-0 lead, but the Celtics didn’t throw in the towel and fought back to force a seventh game. After witnessing Boston’s impressive reaction, the Heat finally won Game 7 to book a spot in the Finals against the Nuggets.