4. Can Boston Handle the Physicality Of Miami?

This series is going to be a drag’em out fight between two teams that want to lean on their defense to win games. Playoff series are always more physical than regular-season matchups and the team that can hold up the best will likely come out on top.

There isn’t a more physical team left in the postseason than the Miami Heat. Whatever they may be lacking talent-wise they make up for in physicality and sticking to their system that has resulted in a lot of winning. 

The Heat gets up into their opponents on the defensive end and makes them earn every point they score. You can be sure they will do whatever they can to knock the Celtics out of rhythm offensively. It was a strategy that the Bucks used relatively well in the second round. 

Boston got whatever they wanted when playing against the Nets, but things got tougher against Milwaukee. That was good preparation for this series against the Heat. If the Celtics can handle that style of basketball, they have an excellent chance of coming out on top in this series.

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Refereeing will be a big part of this as well. If they set the tone early, whistling everything, the edge goes to Boston. If they allow the teams to be more physical, the edge is Miami’s.