Boston is looking to make sure that history repeats itself.
If the Miami Heat are going to have a chance at matching the '71-72 Los Angeles Lakers record, they're going to have to go through their hated rivals tonight.
They were on a 22-game win streak with hopes of reaching the Lakers historic record. Then, they ran into the Boston Celtics and got blown out by 20 points.
The year was 2008. The date was March 18 and the team was the Houston Rockets.
The Heat hopes to avoid a case of deja vu as they head into Boston nursing the same 22-game win streak. The game will be broadcast on ESPN at 8:00 p.m ET, but as much as Miami tries to downplay the importance of the streak in the past, they're more than aware that the Celtics would love nothing more than to take it from them tonight, according to Yahoo.
"If there's any group that would be motivated in a circumstance like this, it's that team in green," Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. "I don't know if the streak will be a big factor, but they love playing us, and vice versa. That's what happens when you meet a team consecutively in the playoffs."
Of course, the Miami Heat didn't just "meet" the Celtics the last two years, they beat them. To add insult to injury, they took a member of their Big 3 away from them during the offseason in Ray Allen. The matchup is expect to be heated, especially with the Celtics on an 11-game home win streak.
"I think we'll be ready for it," guard Dwyane Wade said. "We've got to get our rest and we've got to know we're going to have a dog fight on our hands."
Heat-Celtics dogfights aren't just in the NBA playoffs as when Lebron James helped cement his legacy by helping the Heat fight back from a 3-2 deficit to move on and win the Eastern Conference finals last year. The battles also leave their mark on the regular season. The Heat dominated the Celtics on opening night 120-107, but lost 100-98 in a double-overtime game. The Celtics learned that they'd lost elite point guard Rajon Rondo for the season that day. Although they miss him on the court, other players have stepped up to make the Celtics one of the more dangerous teams in the East.
In the Celtics locker room, team leader Paul Pierce best summed up the mood and thoughts of the streak last week when speaking to ESPN.com.
"I really don't even care. I hope they lose every game the rest of the season," Pierce said. "I just worry about what about what this team does."
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