Celtics at Heat
Over the past few seasons, dates between the Boston Celtics and Miami Heat took on the tone of a fierce rivalry with playoff positioning and pride at stake. It will be a very different sort of Celtics team that visits Miami on Saturday. Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce - the two most outwardly antagonistic players from Boston toward the Heat - are off to Brooklyn, and rebuilding Boston is coming off its first two wins of the season.
Miami star LeBron James is dealing with back pain but plans to play through it. “Obviously, I’m not as explosive as I am when I’m not hurting,” James told reporters after Friday’s practice. “That takes away from it, so I have to switch my game up and do some other things.” Dwyane Wade picked up some of the slack with a season-high 29 points in a 102-97 win over the Los Angeles Clippers on Thursday but is still working his way back to peak conditioning after spending most of the summer and training camp resting his knees.
TV: 7:30 p.m. ET, CSN New England (Boston), Sun Sports (Miami)
ABOUT THE CELTICS (2-4): Boston will be enduring the second night of a back-to-back after pulling out a 91-89 victory at the Orlando Magic on Friday. That makes two wins in a row for new coach Brad Stevens, who is seeing improvements from his team. “We talked before about making winning plays in winning time, and we did,” Stevens said. “Overall I’m very pleased with the result but we still have a lot to work on.” One of the bright spots is the work on both ends from Brandon Bass, who is averaging 18 points in the last two games while playing tight defense in the frontcourt.
ABOUT THE HEAT (4-2): Miami is not yet operating in the gear that allowed them to rip through the back half of last season and the playoffs but is still checking off wins at a steady pace. The Heat bounced back from a 1-2 start with wins over Washington and Toronto before showing what it could do against a contender in Los Angeles, with Wade pouring in 11 fourth-quarter points and the team locking down on defense down the stretch. That victory kicked off a four-game homestand, and Miami will play six of its next eight games in its own building.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Miami has taken five of the last six in the series, including the playoffs.
2. Heat G Ray Allen, the NBA’s all-time leading 3-point shooter, is just 3-for-12 from beyond the arc in the last three games.
3. Boston G Rajon Rondo (knee surgery) has been cleared for limited contact.