Heat, Celtics square off with Finals berth on the line

May 17, 2022 World Sports

We have a rematch of the 2020 conference finals, a series that was played in Orlando’s COVID-19 “bubble” and won by the Miami Heat. Some faces have changed, but these are largely the same cores that faced off two years ago.

Home-court advantage matters this time, and the Heat have it as the East’s top seed. But the Celtics have been the best team in the league over the last 3 1/2 months, and they just eliminated the defending-champion Milwaukee Bucks. Jayson Tatum has evolved into a star and the Boston defense has been stifling.

The Celtics have reached the conference finals for the fourth time in the last six seasons, looking to reach the NBA Finals for the first time since 2010. The Heat don’t have the storied history of the Celtics, but they’re in the conference finals for the ninth time in the franchise’s 34 seasons.

Both teams have been able to overcome an injury in their starting lineup. Kyle Lowry (left hamstring strain) has missed six of Miami’s last eight games and did not look good when he tried to play Game 4 of the conference semis. Robert Williams III (left knee soreness) has missed the last four games for the Celtics, but could be the more likely of the two to play early in this series.