The Miami Heat plays this Monday at the Boston Celtics in search of its 23rd consecutive victory. The Heat beat the Toronto Raptors 108-91 Sunday to tie the 2007-08 Houston Rockets for the second-longest winning streak in NBA history. Those Rockets were coached by Rick Adelman, whom McHale succeeded in 2011.
Dwayne Wade (24 points), LeBron James (22pts) and Chris Bosh 14 units, have played their role for the 51st victory of the leader of the Eastern Conference. The Big three have to rely on their sixth man Ray Allen who scored 20 points.
Boston is 24-9 at the TD Garden on the season, the third-best home record in the Eastern Conference behind the Indiana Pacers (26-8) and the Heat themselves (30-3). Miami is also 0-5 in Boston during the regular season since 2010, forcing the team to reverse a surprising trend if this historical run is to continue.
And it will continue.
Including that Rondo-less victory over the Heat in Boston, the Celtics are 16-6 in their last 22 games. They’ve won seven of their last 10 and are fresh off two blowouts over the Raptors and Charlotte Bobcats.
Most notably, they’ve won their last 11 home games and are not intimidated by what Miami is currently doing.
Kevin Garnett’s status for Boston’s bout against Miami remains up in the air, with Doc Rivers calling him 50-50 at best. Most can’t imagine a strained adductor preventing the fiercely competitive Garnett from playing in a game as big as this one, but a physically impaired Garnett (however slightly) doesn’t bode well for the Celtics against a surging Heat.
Like we alluded to earlier, Boston’s primary line of defense is its actual defense. The Celtics are currently allowing 94.5 points per 100 possessions at home and per Forsberg, opponents are averaging just 89.6 points on their turf.
Miami ranks second in points scored per 100 possessions (112.7) and is averaging 105.5 points per game over the 22-game winning streak. The Heat are difficult (if not impossible) to defend as it is. Forcing the Celtics to go nose-to-nose with their offense sans Garnett paves the way for disaster.