Above the Break Podcast: NBA Finals Preview
In Above the Break’s NBA Finals Preview podcast, Nevin (@nblindberg) and James (@jamespiercey11) discuss where the Boston Celtics go next following their game seven loss in the Eastern Conference and breakdown the Miami Heat and Denver Nuggets ahead of the NBA Finals.
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What do the Celtics do next?
The Boston Celtics have had an impressive past two seasons. They’ve won the second most regular season games, had the best net rating, and made the Finals and Eastern Conference Finals twice.
The Celtics have three options: Run it back, tweak at the margins, or make a major move.
James thinks the Celtics need to tweak at the margins by finding an Al Horford replacement and a real point guard as their point guard by-committee approach has shown to hurt their offense in crunch time.
Nevin wants the Celtics to make a major move to upgrade the point guard position, with Damian Lillard being his number-one choice.
The Jays (Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown) are both excellent players but are probably overrated, and neither excels when running an offense. They’re 25 and 26, but if the Celtics max them out, it will be hard to surround them with the depth they’ve had the past few seasons. The pair will have to continue to get better and it might not make their results better.
Joe Mazzulla has been a divisive figure, Nevin thinks the rookie head coach had a strong debut season, but James thinks the Celtics need to open to moving on.
NBA Finals Preview
The Heat’s intangibles and fortunate shooting variance got them to the NBA Finals. The main change they made from the regular season was upping Jimmy Butler’s usage through an increase in isolation and pick-and-roll ball handler frequency.
Related Articles: The Miami Heat are on the Verge of History, It’s Not Even Summer Time, and No One Can Beat the Heat, & The Myth of Playoff Jimmy is a Myth
James: “The Heat feel like they’re here because of grit….the Nuggets are in the Finals for basketball reasons.”
The general basketball-viewing public slept on both the Nuggets and Heat. Sleeping on the Heat was prudent, but the Nuggets had some clear indicators that they may be much better than even their regular season record.
Related Article: How the Nuggets Got Better in the Playoffs
How will the Heat slow down Nikola Jokic? Is playing Bam Adebayo on him the move, or is playing a forward on Jokic to allow Bam to help on defense the best course of action? If Bam isn’t on Jokic, who is? Kevin Love? Jimmy Butler? Caleb Martin? The Heat will have to be creative, and playing Butler on Jokic for stretches may be their best chance.
Can the Heat hurt Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray on defense through the pick-and-roll?
Anthony Edwards gave the Nuggets a ton of trouble with his downhill drives at Jokic, can Jimmy Butler approximate that rim pressure? Or is that not his game?
Tyler Herro has missed almost all of the Heat’s playoff run but may come back for game three. Are the Heat better without Herro? Or will they need him? Probably a little bit of both, but a sixth-man role could be where he shines most.