This Eastern Conference Finals is … oh, let’s call it unusual.
Actually, it’s kind of dumb.
There is no rhyme or reason to what’s happening. Things are mostly just … happening.
“It’s an inconsistent series from both teams at times,” Ime Udoka said after it was his team’s turn to completely dominate. “It's an odd one.”
Where the last series was a tactical battle between two teams trying to beat the other down -- like a boxing match -- this series is an absurd back-and-forth where each team vacillates between looking like a future champion, and the Orlando Magic -- like a face-slapping contest.
It’s just as ridiculous as this series, and each one features one side seemingly standing there and getting hit, hoping to stay upright and throw a counter. Sometimes they do, sometimes they don’t, but someone is getting bruised up and you can’t stop watching.
And what better way to truly honor the spirit of this wild and unpredictable series than to have Game 4 start with a wildly unpredictable 7-0 Derrick White run that featured a floater, a 3-pointer, and a layup? Forced into the starting lineup because of Marcus Smart’s sprained right ankle, White hit Miami with a little bit of everything in the first quarter while Miami hit almost nothing.
The opening run extended out to 18-1. Miami didn’t hit a shot until Victor Oladipo made a 3-pointer with 3:22 to go in the quarter. Miami seemed to want to come back, and they looked like they were trying to come back, but between Boston’s defense and the Heat’s cold shooting, there was never any chance of that happening.
“We can always rely on our defense,” Udoka said after the 20-point Game 4 win. “We've won several games this year doing that when our shots aren't falling, and to hold them to in the 30s for basically three quarters, high-level defense, and we can do that even if our shots are not falling. It's just mainly taking care of the ball, not letting them get anything easy and kind of wearing on them mentally.”
This series is wearing on everyone mentally, though. Each night, one fan base is just sitting there stone-faced, watching for any sign of hope that things can turn around. The other is almost bored by the dominance.
As the fourth quarter wound down and Miami hit a few shots to cut into Boston’s lead, one fan behind the media section screamed “come on I wanna get outta here!” We all did at that point. We’d seen enough, and no amount of Omar Yurtseven versus Juwan Morgan was going to keep anyone in the building interested.
What this series needs is someone to break the cycle.
“I think human nature plays a part in, when you win a game you can relax a little bit, but obviously when we lose a game, we feel like the next game is do or die,” Jayson Tatum admitted. “Then we come out and play like we did. I think we have to have that mindset going into Game 5, that it is a must-win game, because tonight was essentially something like that.”
Yes. Please.
These teams can’t keep flipping between Steve Urkel and Stefan Urquelle every other night. At some point, one of these teams has to come out after a win and carry something from the last game into their next performance.
And since the Celtics are the most recent team to win, now would be a very convenient time to start this new trend. Boston will take a quick trip to Miami on Tuesday for a couple of nights, and the goal should be to not see South Beach again until a late-June vacation.
The series is tied at two apiece, which means two more wins punches a ticket to the NBA Finals. The Golden State Warriors might already be waiting there for the winner of this weird series. It would really be nice for Boston if they could wrap this thing up by the weekend so they can at least take a quick breather before then.
“Did what we did defensively, and now have to do it again,” Udoka said. “It's been a back-and-forth series even in the same game at times, 39-18 quarter, 39-14 quarter when they really hurt us. So we want to be more consistent overall, move the ball and understand how they're guarding us but maintain our defensive identity that we had all year.”