The NBA Playoffs: Eastern Conference Finals

             I personally love history, and that includes sports history. I route for the older teams, more often than not: those with rich traditions spanning many decades and many championships. There are exceptions, of course, such as the Lakers in basketball, the 49ers in football, and the Yankees in baseball. Perhaps even, arguably, the Rangers in hockey. But generally speaking, I like those older traditions.

            So it pleases me to no end that the Boston Celtics are, once again, in the Eastern Conference Finals, for the third time in five years. The previous two times, they won them, and moved on to the NBA Finals – one time even winning it and being crowned as champions. Both times, they faced the Lakers in the Finals, splitting a series apiece, in what is surely the greatest rivalry in NBA basketball history.

            The Lakers are out, however, courtesy of the Oklahoma City Thunder, so the Celtics don't have to worry about them. In fact, I don't think the Celtics will have to worry about the NBA Finals at all, after this next series, because the other team that qualified, the Miami Heat, are just too strong.

            Miami famously got LeBron James and Chris Bosh a couple of years ago, to add more star power for a team that already had won a championship with their star, Dwayne Wade. The Heat instantly were elevated to the status of favorites and, indeed, looked the part of it frequently since. But they have been under such intense scrutiny, that everything they do is under the microscope. They were one of the best teams in the East during the regular season for the 2010-2011 season, but people made much of their supposed weaknesses. When they began to get hot in the playoffs, people returned to being in awe of them again, as they essentially steamrolled their way to the NBA Finals, where they were favored to beat the Dallas Mavericks – the same team that they had defeated in their only previous NBA Finals appearance in 2006.

            Famously, the Heat lost that series, and it showed Miami at their worst. They lacked character, at one point showing a level of immaturity by publicly poking fun of Dirk Nowitzki, who had fallen ill, and attracting all the wrong kind of attention. But the wrong attention was also given due to their on court performance, where LeBron James, not for the first time, showed that he was not quite on the level of Michael Jordan, as he essentially seemed to fade away and be a nonfactor at precisely that point when the greatest players need to take over: in the fourth quarter. Jokes ensued, claiming that it would do no good to ask James for change for a dollar, since he had no fourth quarter (ha-ha). Eventually, the Heat were dismantled by Dallas, who exacted a measure of revenge against the Miami Heat, who were the underdogs in the 2006 NBA Finals, but managed to throw Dallas completely off their rhythm. This time, the Mavericks did the same thing to the Heat.

            That was a stinging loss, and seemed to redefine the Heat. Miami were suddenly seen as underachievers, as arrogant and immature, and lacking the strength of character and self-possession to win it all.

            It has been a long year, and Miami received a lot of criticism along the way once again, every single time that they faltered. The most recent one came in the last palyoff series, when they really struggled against the Indiana Pacers, a team that they were supposed to defeat easily. So when the Heat lost Game 2, and then got blown out in Game 3, with Dwayne Wade infamously completely losing his cool on the floor, it seemed that maybe the Miami Heat had hit a new low. Experts and non-experts alike were all predicting the end of the Heat before even the summer comes. Nobody thought that they would bounce back, including yours truly, the one writing this article right now.

            Yet, bounce back they did. Big time. Suddenly, LeBron James was playing his best basketball, following one banner game with another one. Dwayne Wade cooled off from his Game 3 implosion, and began to hit his stride, and just like that, the Miami Heat started looking like the team that everyone had feared they might be when these two guys would work together and make the most of the talents that were brought to South Beach. It also bodes well for them in these playoffs, and particularly for the next round, because it means, essentially, that they have overcome a severe test, and shown some character and fortitude in the face of adversity. They were complimenting one another on the court, and the Heat finally looked like they were playing up to their potential, for once. That, after seemingly everyone voiced their concerns regarding whether this team possessed the maturity to overcome such difficulties. By coming back from down two games to one to essentially convincingly sweep the Pacers the rest of the way, after it seemed that they were down and out, says something about this team.

            So, as much as I would love to predict a Celtics win in the Eastern Conference Finals and another trip to the NBA Finals, I simply cannot. Boston is old, and likely in way over their head against a Miami Heat team that is only now beginning to come together and gel. They surge because they are playing their best basketball, and that's scary. Miami, if they continue playing the way they have been playing, should take this series in five.