The easiest way to explain Boston’s 127-102 win over Miami in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference finals is it was the exact opposite of why they lost Game 1. Without Marcus Smart and Al Horford in the series’ first game, Boston’s formidable defense looked helpless. In the rematch, with those two reliable veterans back in the starting lineup, pretty much every problem that presented itself on that side of the ball when they weren’t available no longer existed.
The Celtics shouldn’t have to remind anyone how dominant their defense—which has statistically been about as good during the playoffs as it was when it finished first in the regular season—truly is. In Game 2, with Smart and Horford back in the fold, those who forgot had a wonderful opportunity to refresh their memory. The Heat were strangled in the half-court, only mustering 86.5 points per 100 possessions against the league’s most complete, personal-space-invading, switch-heavy defense.
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