Supporters of the Miami Heat made a bit of a fuss when their team entered the 2024 NBA playoffs as the eight-seed, slated to face the Boston Celtics in the process. After all, the Heat’s recent playoff history against the Celtics isn’t too favorable for Boston. But on Wednesday night, the Heat’s Cinderella hopes came to an official end after the Celtics demolished the reigning Eastern Conference champion, 118-84, to take the series in five games.
The fanbases of the Celtics and Heat have gone at it on social media, and the former’s Game 5 win gives them every right to talk some smack towards a fanbase that has been relentless in gassing up its chances of mounting an upset.
In particular, Celtics fans took aim at Jimmy Butler; Butler, despite being injured with a knee sprain, loomed as a large figure hovering around the series, even engaging in a bit of a banter after the Heat won Game 2. Now, Celtics fans can give Butler his just deserts without fearing a potential backfire.
Jimmy Butler got Celtics fans in their feelings when he used what Jaylen Brown said when they were down 3-0 in the 2023 Eastern Conference Finals to hype up the Heat following their Game 2 win. “Don’t let us get one” was the mantra Butler and the Heat clung onto. But one was all they got, and Celtics fans made fun of the Heat for it.
The Celtics can now breathe easily for a bit as they await the winner of the heated Cleveland Cavaliers versus Orlando Magic series after disposing of a potential banana peel in the Heat.
Celtics stand on business
Injuries cast such a huge cloud on the latest Celtics-Heat series. The Heat entered the series without two of their best players in Jimmy Butler and Terry Rozier, and not too many gave them a chance to advance to the second round as a result. Game 2 showed that the Heat won’t be an easy out, but that game ended up being fool’s gold, as the Heat weren’t able to sustain their torrid shooting from that contest moving forward.
The Celtics were meant to take care of business, but against an Erik Spoelstra-coached Heat team, doing so is never easy. There’s also the matter of being able to win the mental battle, as they could have let their feet off the gas pedal as they faced a shorthanded Heat squad. They didn’t however, and proceeded to dominate Games 3 to 5; they won the final three games by a total of 68 points as they relented no inch.
Meanwhile, Kristaps Porzingis also sustained a calf injury, so it’s not like the Celtics got through the series unscathed. This will now be a concern moving forward, although given how dominant Boston was to end the series, the Celtics can certainly buy plenty of time for him to recover.
Celtics vs. Heat, an updated playoff history
Since Jimmy Butler arrived in Miami, the Celtics and Heat have faced each other in the playoffs a total of four times (including this season). Following Boston’s 4-1 series win in 2024, they have now evened up the series, as the two teams have knocked each other out from the postseason twice each since 2020.
This certainly would have been a more riveting matchup had Jimmy Butler and Terry Rozier been healthy. But teams can only play what’s in front of them in the postseason. Perhaps 2025 could bring us yet another epic matchup between the Celtics and the Heat — a tussle that would elicit plenty of banter from both sides on social media.
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