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Celtics and Heat begin anticipated set in South Beach

May 1, 2011 - 2:34 PM (Sports Network) - With a little light stretching out of the way, the star- studded Miami Heat and the veteran-laden Boston Celtics are ready to do some heavy lifting when the Eastern Conference semifinals kick off on the edge of Biscayne Bay.

"We knew it was probably going to eventually happen at one point or another," Celtics captain Paul Pierce told the Boston Herald when talking about facing the Heat. "Before the season, if we were going to get to where we need to be as a championship team, we knew we were going to have to play Miami. It's finally here and I'm sure it's the much-anticipated battle everybody has been waiting on."

The East certainly looked like a top-heavy conference coming into the playoffs and both the third- seeded Celtics and No. 2 Heat did their parts by easily jettisoning their first round competition.

Boston swept Carmelo Anthony and the New York Knicks, while the Heat needed five games to dismiss the game but far less talented Philadelphia 76ers.

You can make a strong argument that the Celtics are the reason LeBron James and Dwyane Wade, along with Chris Bosh, joined forces during the offseason in South Beach. After all it was the Celtics that dispatched Wade's Heat in five games during the 2010 quarterfinals before knocking out James' Cavaliers in six during the semis en route to their second Eastern Conference crown in three years.

The aged C's are well rested this time around, having been off since last Sunday when Kevin Garnett scored 26 points and Rajon Rondo netted 21 with 12 assists as Boston knocked New York out of the playoffs with a 101-89 victory.

"We found a way to put it away," said Rondo. "It's a good feeling."

The Celtics looked every bit like a team ready to make another championship run while extending the Knicks' decade-long winless streak in the playoffs. The upstart Sixers, however, exposed some flaws in the Heat but Miami was able to put things away with a 97-91 triumph in South Beach on Wednesday behind 26 points from Wade.

"It was a battle each and every game. They came and played," Bosh said. "They played together, and they played hard ... It was for us to have that stress of having to execute down the stretch. It only gets harder from here on out."

James compared playoff rounds to meals and referred to the series with the Sixers as "breakfast." The superstar is now ready for his lunch.

"A very big lunch," James said of the Celtics. "It wont be just a salad. This is the series everyone wanted to see. I think we always felt it would happen at some point. We're looking forward to the challenge."

Boston basketball chief Danny Ainge also seemed to sense this matchup was coming and made a calculated gamble at the trade deadline with his eye on Miami, sending popular defensive-minded center Kendrick Perkins to Oklahoma City for a package that included forward Jeff Green.

The Celtics have already proven their ability to at least slow down both James and Wade in seasons past but the template that included a lengthy, athletic defender coming off the bench like a James Posey or a Tony Allen was no longer in place before the trade.

With Ray Allen and Pierce aging and playing far too many minutes in the regular season, Green, who was originally drafted with the No. 5 pick Boston gave up to get Allen, is the type of wing that can give them both a breather and at least make things a little more difficult for James or Wade.

"If you're Ainge and you're trying to sustain this run that Boston is on, your core group of (Kevin) Garnett, (Paul) Pierce and (Ray) Allen are an older group," former NBA GM Steve Kerr said. "They aren't going to be able to play forever. Jeff Green will be able to team with Rajon Rondo to be cornerstones in the future."

The Celtics have dominated Miami in recent years, winning eight straight and 14 of 15 in the regular season before the Heat routed the Celtics in South Beach, 100-77, on April 10.

Boston and Miami have met just one time in the postseason, last season's 4-1 Celtics win in the East quarterfinals.

"We have no choice," Wade said when asked if his team was ready for Boston. "I feel that we got better since game one of the regular season. We're going to continue to get better. We're looking forward to playing Boston on our home floor, we'll be prepared and ready."

Game 2 of the set is scheduled for Tuesday, also in Miami.