The aging Boston Celtics don't have an answer for the Miami Heat's dynamic duo of LeBron James and Dwyane Wade.
The once-great Celtics are now just a shadow of their former selves, and it's clear that James and Wade will continue overwhelming them with superior athleticism and skill on their way to the NBA Finals.
Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett and Ray Allenâ€"once a formidable trioâ€"don't have enough gas in the tank to keep up with the boundless energy and breakneck speed that James and Wade are playing with these days. The talent gap between the two teams has officially gotten too big for the Celtics to overcome.
As James and Wade continue their climb to the top of the NBA's all-time talent pool, the Big Three of the Celtics are beginning their slow crawl towards irrelevance, and ultimately towards retirement. The pendulum is swinging the other way, and no amount of grit or determination from the Celtics' warriors will be able to stop this inevitable shift.
Watching Game 1 of this series was like watching the Little Engine that Could try to keep up with a runaway freight train.Â
One of the things that gives me hope for the Heat is that James seems to be looking to take over as the main scorer more than as a distributor. He only had three assists in Game 1 while scoring 32 points.Â
Don't get me wrong, one of his best attributes is that he has the ability to set up his teammates when he's getting double-and-triple teamed, but James needs to look for his shot more if the Heat have any chance of beating the Spurs or Thunder in the Finals.
It's nice to see the eye of the tiger in James' countenance these days.
He talked about his rivalry with Pierce, via USA Today:
We know each other. More than any other matchup in the league, we know each other. We know each other's likes, dislikes. We understand how competitive each one of us is. It's fun going against the best, and he's one of them.
It's clear that the rivalry is becoming one-sided. Pierce can't keep up with James for an entire game. He started to look gassed in the second half of Game 1, while James looked like he could have played another game after the final buzzer rang.Â
Wade is playing just as well, and the two of them seem to be trading lead roles from game-to-game. If one isn't quite up to snuff, the other is sure to come through with a huge game.
The injury to Avery Bradley has proven to be too much for the Celtics to overcome. He was the one the team was counting on to handle Wade, and without him they simply don't have the talent to guard him.Â
Ray Allen is barely capable of stepping onto the floor these days with an ankle injury, but he's gutting it out. That being said, he may as well not be playing because Wade can run circles around him on the court.Â
Will the Celtics win a single game against the Heat?
Will the Celtics win a single game against the Heat?
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Yes
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No
The Heat are going to destroy the Celtics in this series.
James and Wade are playing too well to be stopped, and the Celtics don't have anyone to guard them one-on-one. Even when they are successful at slowing the two of them down they do so at a high price, as inevitably there are one or two wide-open men on the perimeter that can knock down the three.
The Heat are on a mission for a title, and there isn't anything the aging Celtics can do to stop them.
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