Heat vs. Celtics in Battle for 2 Seed

The Miami Heat and Boston Celtics will square off in what may be the most important game of the year for either team. Playing in the Eastern conference means having to deal with the rough and rowdy east coast fans. That being said, having home court advantage in the playoffs is far more important that it may seem.

These teams have identical 55-24 records with just 3 games remaining, but the Celtics hold the tie-breaker advantage as they have taken down the Heat in all 3 meeting s this season. There may be 8 teams vying for a chance at the Eastern title, but essentially it will come down to three. Chicago has the easiest road as they will take on the Orlando Magic in the second round. While Orlando has plenty of talent, they have played inconsistent ball over the last half of the year despite getting some key players through trade.

It may be far too early to call it, but based on what basketball handicappers are saying the Bulls are a virtual lock to play in the Eastern conference Finals. Who they will be playing isn’t such a sure bet.

It may all inevitably come down to who wins this battle on Sunday. The Celtics may have a 3-0 advantage on LeBron James and the Heat this season, but they have struggled mightily down the stretch and are without one of their defensive enforcers. Kendrick Perkins was traded earlier this season in hopes of bringing more scoring to this Boston squad. The acquisition of guard Nate Robinson and forward Jeff Green were supposed to give Rajon Rondo and veteran Paul Pierce rest over the second half of the year, but they haven’t been able to find their chemistry defensively. This trade will be considered a disaster unless the Celtics finish what they were out to do in winning the Eastern Conference, and getting to the NBA Finals once again.

Everyone expected the Heat to be in this position if not better at this point of the year after they signed LeBron James and Chris Bosh to max contracts in the off-season. Miami may have the second best record in the East, but they have had question marks hanging over their heads all season long. A 4 game losing streak in early January and a 5 game losing streak in March had the NBA experts in Vegas re-evaluating their pre-season basketball predictions. However, the Heat have since turned things around and have won 9 of their last 11.

This is a must watch as the Heat try to get a leg up on the Celtics, and put themselves in position to obtain the 2 seed and home court advantage in the 2nd round.

Related posts:

1. Rondo is key for Celtics in Game 3
2. Heat One Win Away from Eastern Finals
3. Lakers and Celtics Go To Battle in Game 1 of NBA Finals
4. Magic Try to Take Advantage of Banged Up Celtics in Game 6
5. Heat need a change of pace in Game 2

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