Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Can Heat cool off Celtics?
Irving, Boston ride 16-game win streak into Miami tonight
MIAMI — The challenge has increased exponentially.
The last time the Miami Heat faced the Boston Celtics at AmericanAirlines Arena, the assignment was to stop a three-game winning streak against a 3-2 opponent.
Wednesday night, when the Celtics return, they will arrive on a 16-game winning streak, with a 16-2 record.
“They’re playing exceptional basketball,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said Tuesday. “And that’s the most noteworthy thing right now, really defending at a high level. Really, it’s hard not to notice how well Kyrie Irving and [Al] Horford and Jaylen Brown are playing. But really, what’s impres“I sive is how consistent they’ve defended all year long.”
No, this is not exactly what a team with losses in three of its last four and about to head out on a four-game trip needs. But it is what the Heat will get.
mean 16 is a lot no matter who you are,” said Heat center Kelly Olynyk, who left the Celtics in the offseason in free agency. “If you’re the best team in the NBA, to go 16
straight is not easy. That’s an accomplishment in itself. So I don’t know if you expect that.
“But you expect them to be good. They’ve got a great organization, great foundation.”
For the Celtics it’s all good at the moment, something decidedly not the case for the Heat.
“Coaching basketball is not pressure. Playing basketball is not real pressure. I think sometimes we overdo this stuff,” Celtics coach Brad Stevens said after Monday’s road victory over the Dallas Mavericks, when asked about the weight of the streak.
“We’re just trying to prepare well for the next game. And that’s all we’ve done, that’s all we’ll continue to do.
“The streak doesn’t mean anything to me. Maybe it does to the guys in the room. But it’s about finding ways to get better, and finding ways to get the job done.”
The challenge for the Heat again will be containing — or attempting to contain — Kyrie Irving, the Celtics guard who had the Heat on his offseason wish list when seeking his trade from the Cleveland Cavaliers.
“He’s going right into his prime,” Spoelstra said. “He’s got all the experiences you need — pain, losing teams, championship teams, he’s a former No. 1 pick — and he’s just on top of everything right now, heading into his prime. And it’s a great fit for him, his skill set and for them.”
Irving is coming off a 47-point performance in Monday’s 110-102 overtime victory, when Boston overcame a 13-point deficit with 7:47 to play in regulation. Irving scored 24 points the previous time the Heat and Celtics met, a 96-90 Heat home loss on Oct. 28.
“A few years ago I would have told you I was trying to get 40,” Irving told reporters after Monday’s victory. “But it just happens, happens in the flow of the game, understanding the spacing and when the shots are going to come.”
Irving shot 16 of 22 from the field and 10 of 11 from the line in Dallas.
“He’s got every move imaginable,” Stevens said, “but on top of that he’s one of the best shooters in the league.
“Everybody gets caught up in the moves and dribbling and everything he can do with the ball, but his touch is beautiful with both hands.”
Heat guard Dion Waiters, who played alongside Irving in Cleveland, said his former teammate found the perfect landing spot.
“What he’s doing over there, he wanted the role,” Waiters said. “He wanted to be the guy that a team can lean on, guys can trust and also be the focal point. So he got that.”
Monday’s victory was the Celtics’ 13th this season after trailing in the fourth quarter. The resilience goes back to losing Gordon Hayward in the season opener to a broken leg. Boston beat out the Heat and Utah Jazz for the prized free agent in the offseason.
“It’s just sticking to the game plan,” Irving said, “doing what is told to us from the sideline that works. It’s understanding we have some people we can rely on and a system we can rely on down the stretch.
“You know, teams make their runs. We just stayed the course. We are unwavering in that approach and I think we have been that way. Last few games, we have been down quite a few, so it is just about battling back.”
In the absence of Hayward, the Celtics have turned to the youth of Brown and Jayson Tatum, with significant results.
“This is a group that continues to stick together through anything and everything,” Irving said. “Whether it be our first unit or our second unit, we demand excellence from one another.”