After stealing Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals from the Boston Celtics on the road, the Miami Heat have a chance to take a commanding 2-0 lead in the series on Friday.
The Celtics certainly have more to lose on Friday than the Heat, who have already taken care of business in the early stages of the series by taking home-court advantage away from Boston.
Since the Celtics are already up against it, Miami’s Erik Spoelstra is expecting to see a lot of urgency from the opposing side.
The Celtics and their fans would be the first ones to admit that the team often lacks urgency when the stakes are low. That’s likely part of the reason they needed six games to eliminate the Atlanta Hawks in the first round and were on the ropes against the Philadelphia 76ers in the second round before surviving in seven games.
Boston is entirely aware of how dangerous that quality can be, and it seems like the team is trying to shake it.
For the Celtics, this is their second straight series in which they’re starting in a 1-0 hole. They dropped Game 1 of their series against the Sixers (and also trailed that series 3-2) before rallying to win the best-of-seven battle.
Boston will have no choice but to play with a sense of urgency in Game 2 against Miami because if the Heat were to take a 2-0 series lead, they’d have a chance to head home to Miami and win two straight games in South Florida to wrap up the series. That’s a scary thought for Celtics fans and an exciting one for Heat fans.
On the other hand, if the Celtics were to even the series at one game apiece on Friday, the battle for the Eastern Conference crown would essentially become a best-of-five affair with home-court advantage favoring Miami. That’s still not a perfectly desirable situation for Boston, but it’s the best the team can hope for going into Game 2.
The hope for Miami is that the team can withstand whatever urgency Boston brings when things get underway Friday evening at TD Garden.