Miami’s defensive versatility
Ever since Erik Spoelstra elected to bench Meyers Leonard in favor of Jae Crowder in the NBA’s restart bubble, the Miami Heat have been a different defensive team. In the playoffs, the Heat has the third-best defense in the league. And their versatility was very much on display against the Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Bucks.
Boston’s offense isn’t exactly built around one sole superstar as the Bucks’ is, but the Heat does have the wing defenders to throw at Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown, arguably the two most important offensive players for the Celtics. The key to this series could fall in how Miami attacks or defends Kemba Walker.
If Miami wanted, they could theoretically start Jimmy Butler on Kemba. Though, it could limit him on the other end of the floor. What makes Miami so dangerous on the defensive end is that they could have a closing lineup in which they have Bam guarding Brown or Tatum, Crowder checking the other player, Jimmy checking Kemba, and then hiding Duncan Robinson or Goran Dragic on Daniel Thies and Marcus Smart.
Plus, Miami is also one of the best defensive zone teams in the league. There’s no predicting how Miami will defend Boston and that could be a key to victory for them in this series.