Miami Heat fans were feeling confident after beating the Chicago Bulls in Friday's play-in game.
The Kaseya Center crowd started a loud "We want Boston" chant in the final minutes of Miami's 112-91 win. The No. 8 seed Heat will meet the No. 1 overall seed Celtics in Round 1 of the 2024 NBA playoffs.
Although they'll enter this series as the underdog, the Heat defeated the C's as the eighth seed in the 2023 Eastern Conference Finals. Miami fans may want the matchup based on how last year's showdown went, but Celtics forward Oshae Brissett warns them to be careful what they wish for.
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"See you guys on Sunday," he said in a video posted to his YouTube channel. "Keep chanting, 'We want Celtics.' We will continue this conversation after the first round."
The Celtics already were heavy first-round favorites after finishing the regular season with a league-best 64-18 record. With Jimmy Butler (knee) and Terry Rozier (neck) sidelined for the Heat, Miami faces even more of an uphill battle against a team that enters this postseason with a championship-or-bust mindset.
Still, Boston knows better than to underestimate Miami. The Heat are a scrappy team that can cause trouble with their physical style of play. As C's big man Kristaps Porzingis put it, "it's going to be a war" between these Eastern Conference foes.
Celtics-Heat Game 1 is set for a 1 p.m. ET tip-off at TD Garden.
