Heat vs. Celtics: Now Just a Sad and Cruel Rivalry

On Sunday, the Miami Heat and the Boston Celtics face off, with the odds squarely in Miami's favor. 

There once was a time when Boston was thought to have the upper hand in this matchup. As recent as last year's playoffs, many—if not most—hoop pundits predicted a Celtics victory. This opinion was fomented by Boston's unexpected upset of the 2010 Cavaliers, and therein lay a flaw. Though both Celtics opponents (the Cavaliers and Heat) had LeBron James on their team, the Cavaliers did not have the services of Dwyane Wade or Chris Bosh.

The playoff series was a five-game rout, explained away by some Celtics fans as the result of Rajon Rondo's elbow injury in the third game. Perhaps Boston could have put up more of a fight with a healthy Rondo, but cries of "Boston's best player got hurt!" just did not make sense.

Fun as he is to watch, Rondo was 15th in player efficiency among point guards in 2010-11. The Celtics are a defensive warship, still steered by an aging—though rangy—Kevin Garnett. He and Paul Pierce were then and still are far more essential to Boston's chances than Rondo ever was. Also, when you get bounced in five games, it's difficult to blame any factor other than being the lesser of two teams. 

And that's where Boston is right now—they're just worse. Perhaps some solace can be taken in how an older Dallas Mavericks squad managed to upset Miami in last season's playoffs, but in all likelihood the Celtics will lose this weekend, and lose in the first round if these teams meet (which is the projected matchup right now).

Though still solid defensively, the Celtics lack the fluidity of movement to persevere offensively through Miami's wheat-thresher of a gambling defense. 

They say getting older happens little by little, and then, all at once. Boston has gone from title contender to near-lottery status in what feels like the blink of an eye. There was an ebbing erosion the whole time, but we may finally be in the "all at once" stage. For now, it's Miami's era in the East.