Celtics vs. Heat: Crucial Game 2 Will Get Increasingly Physical

Prepare for a brawl.

In the second half of Game 1, the Miami Heat owned the Boston Celtics. However, it's not that they owned them, it's how they owned them that guarantees the Celtics’ physicality will intensify in Game 2.

Tim Reynolds of the Boston Globe reported that the Celtics were fired up after failing to rise to the occasion in the series opener. When asked how the players were handling the loss, Doc Rivers said on Tuesday:

"

You can tell they believe by their anger after the game. There wasn't a lot of happy guys in our locker room yesterday or in film today when we start out by showing 19 straight layups. Who wants to watch that?

"

According to ESPN, Miami also shot 77.8 percent from the paint. That efficiency was achieved against one of the NBA’s elite defensive units. Boston, and Kevin Garnett in particular, won’t allow that to happen again.

KG takes pride in the defensive end of the floor. He’s the most intense player in the NBA. Garnett demands respect, and you can’t demand respect when an opposing offense bombards the paint so effortlessly.

Speaking of respect—or in this case, disrespect—late in the fourth quarter of Game 1, LeBron James mocked Garnett after drawing an offensive foul.

Here’s the clip of LeBron acting like he’s been there before:

Do you seriously think Garnett, the biggest trash talker in the league, is going to allow James to laugh in his face without consequences? He has a reputation of intimidation to uphold. At that point in the game, Garnett wasn’t able to retaliate because he already had five fouls and a technical called on him.

In Game 2, he’ll have plenty of fouls to work with.

If there isn’t multiple all-up-in-your-grill confrontations on the court on Wednesday night, it would be an absolute shocker.

David Daniels is a featured columnist at Bleacher Report and a syndicated writer.

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