Cathartic Miami Heat series was just the first step for the Boston Celtics

I had to explain to my son what the word “cathartic” means.

It is “providing psychological relief through the open expression of strong emotions” for anyone wondering.

The Boston Celtics accomplished exactly what they should have in this first round series against an overmatched and undermanned Miami Heat team. Yet somehow it feels like a little bit more. After all, the Heat (on paper) were overmatched last year as well.

Game 2 brought back some of those old fears and feelings as the Heat got hot from 3 and capitalized on a Celtics team that maybe felt a little overconfident. As painful and frustrating as that game was, it might have ended up being a valuable object lesson for the team and coaching staff. It doesn’t matter how great the advantage is on paper; if you don’t come to play every game, every play, then you run the risk of fumbling a game away.

The lesson was learned and the Celtics made sure to show up to each of the rest of the games with the right mentality. I think this stat tells the whole story.

Yes, the Heat rode some outlier shooting luck to the Game 2 win, but the Celtics definitely played a role in making them uncomfortable for the rest of the series.

Another reason to be happy about putting Miami in our rearview mirror is the fact that we won’t have to deal with Coach Spoelstra anymore. I can’t help but think of it in terms of a baseball metaphor. The Celtics have the best batting lineup in the league, but Spo is like an ace pitcher with every pitch in the book (for those old enough to remember Greg Maddux will understand). He might not break radar guns with his fastball, but he’s mixing things up with breaking balls, sliders, and cutters in just the right locations. The Celtics were good enough to overcome that, but he just has a way of keeping his opponents off balance.

That’s not to say that the next series will be easier. Both the Magic and Cavaliers have higher level skill players than the Heat had available for this series. The Celtics will be without Kristaps Porzingis, most likely for the entirety of the next round. If we’ve learned nothing else, we know that nothing is going to be handed to this Boston team.

There are narratives that have plagued this team for years. Tatum and Brown can’t win the big games. Joe Mazzulla is outmatched as a coach. The Celtics aren’t clutch. They are a regular season team that fails in the playoffs.

Nothing that the Celtics did during their historic regular season has put any of these narratives to bed. Only a championship can do that.

Still, that journey had to start somewhere and it was fitting that it started with the Heat. It is right and healthy to take some time to celebrate that victory in our hearts. After all, we have a few days to wait for our next opponent. But I think everyone understands that there are many challenges left ahead. I, for one, think this team is ready for all of them.

Goodnight, Heat.

Let’s go Celtics!