Just one game separates the third-place Boston Celtics and the fourth-place Miami Heat in the Eastern Conference standings, though neither team’s head coach is stressing the significance of that fact as they head into their matchup this afternoon.
Both C’s coach Brad Stevens and Heat coach Erik Spoelstra are simply focused on the next game and the next possession at this point of the season, rather than looking ahead to the playoff picture.
“I don’t really do a lot of talking about that,” said Stevens ahead of the 3 p.m. tip. “Obviously we want to play well against everybody, and certainly your senses are heightened against the better teams around, but every team in this league is capable of beating the other badly on a given night, so that’s why you just always have to be good. You always have to play well, so really, to me, it’s about the next possession.”
Spoelstra echoed Stevens’ sentiment moments later.
“Everybody is aware [of the standings], but we’re not obsessing about it,” said Spoelstra. “You just look around every single night, you’ll throw on the TV or you’ll follow the other teams; it’s getting highly completive. That’s what you want as a competitor, that’s what you want as a team, you want your games to have significance. These [types of games] certainly do, but you can’t make it bigger or less than what they are.”
Both coaches, instead, are just focused on the challenges at hand this afternoon.
For the C’s, their biggest obstacle will be stopping league-leading shot-blocker Hassan Whiteside.
During Miami’s three games since the All-Star break, its 7-foot, 265-pound center has averaged 21.7 points 18.0 rebounds and 3.3 blocks per game. He could be a major issue for a Boston team that has struggled to contain massive interior presences.
As for the Heat, they are focused on ball control against Boston’s suffocating defense.
Spoelstra looked back at his team’s 105-95 loss to Boston in November and stressed, “Their pressure really bothered us. We had 19 turnovers for 24 points… so we have to take care of the basketball.”
Clearly there are a number of immediate challenges that the Heat and Celtics must focus on this afternoon, so once this game tips off, the standings and the playoff picture will be the last things on their minds.
– Taylor C. Snow
