“Why would we lose confidence?” Asked Heat pivot Bam Adebayo on Friday, on the eve of a dangerous N.6 game at home against the Celtics, who came back 3-2 in their Champions League final. Eastern Conference in the NBA playoffs.
“When we started this journey, nobody believed in us. Everyone thought we would be eliminated in the first round and then in the second round. And now we are one game away. We have always had confidence in ourselves and it will not go away, ”he assured.
Miami, which can become the second team in history to reach the final of the championship, being only seeded N.8 (New York had succeeded in 1999, before finally giving in to San Antonio, crowned) , has indeed thwarted the predictions by dismissing the Bucks of Giannis Antetokounmpo, then the Knicks.
And they were irresistible, winning the first three games against Boston, who then won the next two.
However, in 150 occasions in history, no team has won a best-of-seven series after being down 3-0. Exploit that the C’s could well succeed, if they impose themselves Saturday in Florida, because they would then receive for the match N.7.
“Who cares about the state of mind? It’s a competitive series and we have a shock group, ”assured Miami coach Erik Spoelstra. “We always expect things to be tough in the conference finals. One game doesn’t say anything about the next.”
“In the same way, the score of a match does not matter. What matters is to prepare collectively and to achieve a great match. We will play much better on Saturday,” he added.
The Heat remain on two fairly wide defeats, 116-99 and 110-97, which nevertheless highlighted their difficulties on the offensive level, around their leader Jimmy Butler.
“Our attacks were a bit disjointed. We did not manage to throw them correctly, to put the ball where it was necessary, in places where it was possible to operate. If we can get Jimmy into his comfort zones, that will be great,” Spoelstra said.
“We’re going to work on that…but collectively we need to play with more intention, strength and confidence on the attacking front, which we’re very capable of,” he said. still called.
