Game 1 of the Celtics vs Heat Eastern Conference Finals series is Tuesday. Here’s the South Florida Sun Sentinel setting the scene on where Kemba Walker is coming from in approaching the series:
The Boston Celtics spent most of the past two weeks preoccupied with escaping the conference semifinals against the Toronto Raptors. But that doesn’t mean they weren’t taking note of what the Heat were accomplishing on the other side of the East bracket.
“Those guys, they balled last series, man,” Celtics guard Kemba Walker said of the Heat after Boston closed out Toronto in Friday’s Game 7 at Disney World. “Those guys are nothing but players.”
The Celtics took Saturday off to recover from going blow for blow with the Raptors. The Heat, by contrast, have been idle since closing out the Milwaukee Bucks in Tuesday’s Game 5 of that best-of-seven series, after sweeping the Indiana Pacers in the first round.
Walker’s only previous playoff experience prior to this season came against the Heat while with Charlotte, where he spent his first eight seasons. He was swept by the Heat 4-0 in the 2014 first round, then lost to the Heat in seven games in the 2016 first round.
Now in his first season with the Celtics, Walker, 30, is relishing the opportunity for payback.
A possible X-factor in the series could be Celtics forward Gordon Hayward, who is still healing from an ankle sprain but appears to be progressing. There’s no evidence suggesting he might be ready by Game 1, or Game 2, but it now seems possible that he could return sometime during the series. That’s not a prediction. Just a possibility.
