MIAMI – Bam Adebayo and the Miami Heat are expecting the Boston Celtics to be motivated for Wednesday night’s game at the American Airlines Arena.
It will be the first matchup between these two squads, since the Heat defeated the Celtics in the Eastern Conference Finals.
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The iconic play from that series happened in Game 1, when Adebayo blocked Boston’s Jayson Tatum in the final seconds of a Heat win.
Adebayo talked about the block on Tuesday.
Adebayo said, “After Magic (Johnson) said something about it, it’s when I thought okay, they call it the block heard around the world. Just hearing Magic say something about that’s what caught my eye to it being one of the greatest blocks in Playoff history.”
The block caused Adebayo’s fingers to go numb for the rest of the game.
The Heat big man and Tatum are friends.
He said they talk every once in a while, but in season, they’re both focused on their teams.
The Heat have a photo of Adebayo’s block on the wall of the locker room.
When asked if the Heat’s history with the Celtics will impact Wednesday game.
Adebayo said, “The Bucks just beat us by 47, we just beat them in the Eastern Conference, do you think they don’t have an attitude or a grudge that we just beat them in the Eastern Conference Finals?... Why do you think they made a lot of 3s? Because they wanted to embarrass us because we got them out of the second round. Yeah, they’re gonna have a chip on their shoulder.”
He went on, “Yes, I think they’re going to come out with the same intensity that the Bucks did. Just for the simple fact of we knocked them off in the Eastern Conference Finals. They had to watch us play in the Finals. Of course they’re going to have a grudge, that’s human nature. It’s our job to counteract that and bring our intensity.”