The Heat will face big odds in Game 2 of their first-round series against the Celtics on Wednesday night. With Jimmy Butler and Terry Rozier out, Miami must improve its offensive performance significantly in order to compete with Boston’s firepower. The Heat also understand they must rely on their defensive zeal to slow the Celtics down by whatever means possible, as Bam Adebayo stated before the game began.
“It’s going to be a dogfight,” Adebayo told reporters on Friday. “This is going to be a war. It will be in the mud. It will not be a pretty basketball game. That’s normally how it goes when we play that team.
That type of play is Miami’s only hope, but Erik Spoelstra is having some issues. Caleb Martin’s aggressive foul on Jayson Tatum in the last minute of Game 1 has sparked criticism of Miami’s style of play. There has been a national divide on how Martin’s play has been seen, and Spoelstra did his utmost to downplay the incident while speaking with media following Tuesday’s practice.
“I don’t think it’s worth addressing,” Spoelstra stated about Martin’s foul. “I understand it. Everybody becomes emotional. If you ask fans on one side how they feel about the play and fans on the other side, you will get two very different answers. The playoffs are the most exciting part for fans.
“It was an illogical judgment of our perspective on what had occurred. The players are fine. Outside noise will not decide the series or the game.”
While it’s clear that nothing further will happen to Martin following the controversial play, all eyes will be on the Celtics and Heat in Game 2 to see whether tensions rise for either team. That revelation is bad news for Spoelstra and the Heat, because their road to victory requires them to be extremely physical with Boston on defense. If the umpires call a tight game, Miami will have a more difficult time pulling it off in Game 2. That left Spoelstra attempting to deflect any additional attention the scuffle might bring to Wednesday night.
“This is good, clean, tough, physical playoff basketball and it always has been with Boston and us,” Spoelstra told reporters. “It’s not going over the top, the league doesn’t need to look into anything more on either side to put extra eyes on it.”
The extra eyes he’s referring to are officials who are closely monitoring any extracurricular activities in Game 2. If Miami isn’t allowed to play physical, it’s bad news for their chances, prompting Spoelstra to practically plead with league officials ahead of Wednesday night.
“This is tough competition for basketball,” Spoelstra remarked. “This is what everyone wants, including fans, players, teams, and the league itself. “They want this level of competition.”
It remains to be seen whether Spoelstra’s demand is granted, but this will be another subplot to keep an eye on as we approach a key Game 2 matchup.
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