Boston Celtics: Mental Toughness and Tone Will Determine Series vs. Miami Heat

Boston Celtics Are Reeling After Game 1 Disaster, But Keys to Victory Are Simple

What we saw from the Boston Celtics on Sunday wasn't what we're used to seeing from this championship unit.

This was always a group that was a bunch of tone-setters. The Celtics would come out and force teams to their will, to play their style of basketball and would get under the skin of their opponents, digging in and slowly choking the life out of them.

On Sunday, the shoe was on the other foot.

The Miami Heat came out and forced the issue. They were the aggressors as Boston tried to play catch-up to the new Big Three, an impossible feat for this group, and it showed as the Celtics lost patience.

Boston looked like a team who was watching it all slip away and as that happened, the Heat got under its skin, and tempers flared.

Paul Pierce got not one, but two technical fouls, sending him to the showers early, with the second coming off of an altercation with Dwyane Wade, who lowered his shoulder and set a hard pick on the veteran, and starting a verbal exchange that set the former Finals MVP off at a crucial juncture in the game.

That's not what the Celtics are about.

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If Boston allows Miami to get under its skin all series, there's no way the Celtics win. It's really that simple.

Boston has to come out tonight and set the tone from the start, and to do that, it comes down to Rajon Rondo.

The point guard is the biggest mismatch the Celtics have in this matchup and there isn't a player at that position for Miami who can guard him.

Rondo needs to push the pace, get into the lane and get easy baskets for his teammates. He is the only one who can force Miami to play to its weaknesses and can spread the floor for shooters like Ray Allen and Pierce.

The immaturity and lack of composure we saw on Sunday is suited for teams that haven't been to the dance before. This is a team that has been to multiple Finals and has a ring to is resume. Boston is above verbal sparring and technical fouls.

To beat the Heat, you have to rattle them. You have to get in their heads and force them out of rhythm.

You want Miami to play an isolation offense, you want the Heat to be afraid of contact and wary of going into the paint. It starts with being physical and controlled and we've seen Boston do that to the Heat at times this year.

The last thing the Celtics want is to be heading home down 2-0 with Miami brimming with confidence. If Boston is to avoid that massive hole, it has to put Game 1 in the past and focus on making changes tonight.

It's time to put the words away and focus on the game plan.

If that happens, the Celtics will win this game. If Boston falls into the same patterns from Game 1, then the Heat are going to punish them for it.

Let's see if Boston's tough enough to get the job done tonight.