The Heat and Celtics have met in the playoffs each of the past three years. They’ve played each other in four conference finals since 2012.
The rivalry has been intense in recent years, but this season the Heat are ninth in the Eastern Conference standings. Miami isn’t as formidable as it used to be, but they haven’t forgotten about the recent battles with the Celtics.
Heat coach Erik Spoelstra was an assistant coach on the Team USA basketball staff this past summer, where he coached Jayson Tatum, Jrue Holiday and Derrick White. Spoelstra marveled at how much he enjoyed coaching Celtics players when they were not wearing green.