The Miami Heat's hopes for redemption and the Boston Celtics'
last-best chance for another championship finally run smack into the
obstacles we've been waiting for: each other.
Hobbled and
hardened, each team will bring to their Eastern Conference finals
showdown a long list of goals and grudges. It's the perfect complement
to the conference finals out west.
Whereas the San Antonio Spurs
and Oklahoma City Thunder series pits a veteran and underappreciated
power against a likeable group of young guns, Heat-Celtics offers more
edge. And contempt. And desperation.
The undercurrent of this
Heat-Celtics series, which tips off Monday night in Miami, will be a
lasting grudge — both against one another and against time. Boston is
old and approaching a decline, and with Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen
bound for free agency after this season we're probably watching a final
push for greatness by this Celtics team and its own Big Three. Their
time is simply running out.
For the Heat, time is a source of
pressure and frustration because they're already behind schedule in
accomplishing what was expected and what they promised.
LeBron
James' boast before the start of last season about winning a multitude
of championships wasn't exactly a good idea, but it was based on the
wide-held belief Miami was about to kick off a historic and immediate
dynasty. Their collapse in the 2011 Finals against the Dallas Mavericks
has only increased the pressure to get it done this time around.
There's
also the very real fact these teams don't like one another. Age and
injury have changed much about them and their personnel, but their
deep-seated dislike for each other remains the same.
No one's
forgotten Paul Pierce using Twitter last season to taunt LeBron with
this not-so-subtle barb after a Boston win: "It's been a pleasure to
bring my talents to South Beach…"
No one's forgotten the wars they fought last regular season, and the malice that infected every game.
No
one's forgotten Dwyane Wade taking Rajon Rondo to the floor during last
season's second-round matchup. While debate continues about whether
Wade hurt Rondo on purpose, the fact remains that Rondo's subsequent
separated shoulder took him out of the series as a major factor — and
made the bad blood run even hotter.
Rondo told Fox Sports Florida
this week that he wasn't a bit worried about getting past Miami: "We
feel we can beat Miami," he said. "Obviously, we got to this point.
There's no doubt in our mind we can. We got to go down there and take
care of business."
That's a refreshing and telling departure from
the cliché: They're a good team, we respect them, we're going to play
hard and do our best.
The hate remains. It's the state and status of each team that have changed.
The
Celtics look undeniably older. Bone spurs in Allen's ankles have made
him much less of a threat than in years past. Garnett and Pierce, still
formidable, are not the young studs they once were. Second-year guard
Avery Bradley is out for the remainder of the season, adding more
pressure on the Celtics' Big Three to reach back to their 2007-08 level.
But it is 2012 and there's no going back, so there's little surprise
Rondo has stepped up his game and taken on as much of the burden as
possible.
The Heat have suffered injuries as well. Sharpshooter
Mike Miller will play, but he's a shell of what was hoped for when Pat
Riley signed him, and to watch him on the court is to see a man fighting
pain with every play. Fellow forward Shane Battier has had his moments,
but his age is evident. Chris Bosh, still recovering from an abdominal
strain, may not play at all this series, and if he does, there's no
sense of just how effective he'll be.
LeBron still carries
concerns about his Finals performance last summer, but his showing in
the semifinals against the Pacers — particularly the magic he wove in
Game 4, a maestro's performance that turned around the entire series by
force of will and kill — bodes well for him and his team.
The play of both guys is critical to their
team's chances. But so is their ability to channel their rage and
competitive resentments into outbursts of great basketball instead of
huge blowups.
This is the Eastern Conference finals. Time for leaders to lead or go home.
So
Bosh may be out, Bradley is gone, Allen isn't what he was and Rondo and
LeBron are now unquestionably their teams' leaders. Things have
changed. But that which remains the same remains the most important:
Boston has owned the Eastern Conference these past five years, yet the
Celtics have only one championship to show for it; and now the Heat,
hell-bent on claiming unquestioned mastery of the East, want nothing
more than to wrestle from Boston its last-best shot.
That means
many things will bubble just below the surface of every play: Hate.
History. Redemption. Power. Grudges. Reputations. Desperation. Viscous
anger and barely-controlled contempt.
These things will magnify
all the basketball stratagem that will matter: Pierce guarding LeBron,
LeBron needing to be not just good but great, Wade needing to show he
still has enough stardom left in his tank to win it all, Mario Chalmers
(and Wade) trying to contain Rondo, Rondo playing like a superstar,
Garnett and Pierce seeing their fine seasons through to the end, each
team exerting its defensive will on the other without going overboard . .
. every play all the way down to the role players.
It's been a
hard road for Miami and Boston, but there's no rest for the weary. The
hardest step — the harshest slog — begins Monday. Time to see which
team's ambition, hate, desperation and talent can outmatch the other's.
