Celtics Lab 113: Assessing the East finals vs. Miami 3 games in with Jeff Zillgitt

Following a pattern not unlike the East semis vs. the Bucks, Boston now trails the Heat 2-1 in the East Finals; what adjustments can we expect from the Celtics moving forward?

The Boston Celtics are seeing a familiar pattern develop in their Eastern Conference finals series with the Miami Heat that in some ways resembles what unfolded in the last round of the 2022 NBA Playoffs with the Milwaukee Bucks, each team trading wins in the earlier part of the series.

But unlike the Bucks, the margins of victory in this series are substantial, and so far injuries — and players playing through them — have been an important factor as well. The health of Celtics like Robert Williams III and Marcus Smart, as well as Heat players like Jimmy Butler, PJ Tucker, and Kyle Lowry will be critical to winning Game 4 and beyond.

To make sense of the series so far and get a handle on what might be coming in the rest of the East Finals, host of the CLNS Media “Celtics Lab” podcast Justin Quinn is joined by USA TODAY’s Jeff Zillgitt to talk all things Eastern Conference finals.

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In this episode, we broke down what went into the Heat’s Game 3 win, how both teams might adjust, the importance of health, as well as a look across to the Western Conference finals series between the Golden State Warriors and Memphis Grizzlies.

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Check out the clip embedded above to get up to speed on how Boston can still beat the Heat.

This post originally appeared on Celtics Wire. Follow us on Facebook!

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