Miami Heat poised for another battle against the Celtics in highly anticipated rematch

BOSTON, MA (CBS12) — The Miami Heat have been waiting for Wednesday night’s game one of the Eastern Conference Final since Jimmy Butler missed that game seven three pointer last year, falling just short of the NBA final. Making it back to this point was beyond a long shot during stretches of this past season, which makes getting another chance at the Celtics all the more sweet.

The Heat may be underdogs on paper this year, coming in as the 8th seed, but their rematch against the Boston Celtics has a classic Conference Final battle written all over it. The Celtics have a deep and talented team, but the Heat have proven they are much tougher, and have unbelievable versatility and experience working to their advantage, having knocked off the Bucks and Knicks so far. It’s the third Conference Final for Miami since Jimmy Butler has arrived, seventh for Eric Spoelstra over 13 seasons, so the Head Coach knows what it’s going to take to make it to the finals this year.

“(There is) notable versatility on both rosters,” says Spoelstra. “And styles of play that (can be) a little bit different based on what’s the need for that series, or that game. When you get to the final four teams, you’re going to get experienced teams with great talent, competition battle-tested teams, teams that have great aspirations. And that’s what you want.”

Click on the video link to hear from Bam Adebayo and Caleb Martin on the upcoming series.

Game one tips off Wednesday night at 8:30 PM in Boston.