Battle of Wills

Our preview post will be up later today but in the meantime, you can check out Matt Moore's exhaustive thoughts on the big Celtics/Heat matchup.  One point that sticks out, how much effort matters.

10 Keys to Celtics vs. Heat III - CBSSports.com

It sounds simple, but if the Heat want to walk away with their first win over the Green since forming this little group of Super-Friends, they need to give more effort. Boston's defensive unit is yet again the most feared in the league and a huge reason for why the Heat's focus seemed to go in a thresher in October and November's games.  However, there was a clear lackadasical element to the Heat's body language in those games that seemed to indicate they simply weren't dialed into these games. Against the Celtics! It should have been Boston who wasn't committed to winning a meaningless regular season game, acting as if they didn't care about such games. But instead Boston brought its A-Game and the Heat seemed content to lay down and watch them take it from them. Needless to say, the same kind of intensity from Miami on Sunday will ruin any chance they have. The Celtics are tired, worn-down, injured, and know this game means nothing for them. Yet they will still bring their focus and be ready to capitalize unless the Heat give them a reason to quit.  

Say what you want about the Celtics flipping switches off and on depending on the opponent, but when they bring it, they really bring it.  After falling to the Lakers, they might just want to prove a point against the Heat today.  That is if they have enough healthy bodies to make it happen.

Another fun fact Matt brings up...

Glen Davis has never lost a regular season game to the Miami Heat. True story. He's 9-0 all-time agains the Heat, and while some of that is an anomaly, some of it isn't, and he's been a big factor this year against the Triad.