NBA Playoffs 2011: Miami Heat: 5 Keys to Beating the Boston Celtics

Often people get lost in the hype and lose sight of the little things which truly make the difference between winning and losing, between moving on or going home.

When it comes to Miami and Boston there are so many subplots and angles worth taking a look at. There's LeBron James and Dwyane Wade going up against their nemesis. The Old Big Three versus the New Big Three. Will Shaq play? Will Udonis Haslem play? Etc., etc.

What's best of all is the bad blood between these two teams. To say that they don't like each other would be an understatement. One need only look back to what transpired during All-Star Weekend or in the two teams final matchup of the season to see that there is no love lost between these two NBA juggernauts.

Still all drama, not to be confused with drama queen a.k.a. Paul Pierce, aside, the series will come down to certain elements within the game that can easily be broken down.

Let’s now take a look at the five keys for Miami to advance past this series.

1. Ball Movement

All one needs to do is look at Games 1-3 vs. Boston and compare it to Game 4.

Miami’s ball movement was awful early in the season, but it has truly begun to become a strength.

No longer do you see LeBron and Dwyane bumping into each other on the court and making bad passes. Instead, we now have better spacing on the floor between both stars and the team's passing has been a thing of beauty at times late in the season. Let’s hope this continues.

2. Make Rajon Rondo Settle for Jumpers

This matchup was very scary after Game 1 and 2 versus the Celtics, however, Mario Chalmers has really taken his game to another level the last month or so. Seems as if since Mike Bibby was acquired Chalmers decided to wake up.

Still containing Rondo is going to be near impossible. Rondo’s speed is something Miami can’t match but all they need to do is keep him out of the paint as much as possible. Give him all the room in the world to shoot, because as long as he is hoisting up his bricks instead of penetrating Miami will be fine.

Lastly, do not use LeBron or Dwyane to cover Rondo. I’d stick with Chalmers because he’s a better on the ball defender than Wade who is a great off the ball defender and you don’t want Wade or James exhausting themselves.

If Chalmers continues his solid play look for him to get even more minutes in place of Bibby. If he can keep hitting open threes and driving floaters don’t be surprised to see him get close to matching Rondo’s point production in more than one game.

3. James and Wade Must Attack the Rim Constantly

Want to beat Boston? Then Wade and James have to go at the rim with reckless abandon.

If you can get the Celtics in foul trouble, you will better be able to dictate and win the resulting matchup battles.

Not to mention Wade and James are at their best when they drive instead of settling for jumpers.

It wouldn’t hurt if Chris Bosh could actually find a way to put the ball on the floor and get to the charity stripe as well.

4. Ray Allen Has to Be Cooled Down

Dwyane Wade must outscore Ray Allen every single game for Miami to have their best chance to win.

Face it, Bosh and KG are practically going to cancel each other out, Miami has the advantage at the three and Boston at the one. Neither team's centers will determine the series outcome so it’s going to come down to Wade having to dominate the Celtics sharpshooter.

Allen’s stroke has been on fire lately so Wade must find a way to snap him out of it. Shooters can be very streaky, still it will fall on Wade to chase him around and make sure that Ray goes ice cold.

5. Win the Mental Battle

This is the single biggest factor to the series.

Boston’s players are experienced and battle tested. They have guys like KG who can really get into your head and affect your game. This is where Miami needs to take a different approach.

Similar to their last regular season encounter when James was flagrantly fouled by J.O., Miami has to come out and play with that same kind of fire.

If Miami can muster up and sustain that kind of intensity then they will win the series.

Prediction

This series can go any which way. I wouldn't be surprised to see either team sweep the other or for an epic seven-game slug fest to unfold.

Miami's Big Three came together for a purpose, that being to beat teams like Boston and Los Angeles. They couldn't do it on their own so now is the time for them to show that united they are unstoppable.

Look for James and Wade to both shine and take the first two at home. After managing to sneak out with a close victory in Boston expect for Miami to move on to the Conference Finals with a home win in Game 5.

Miami Heat in five.