- A lot of these game 7s in recent history seem to turn into rock fights. I don't know if it's nerves, fatigue, looser officiating, or some combination of, but it feels like we've built too large a sample at this point to chalk it up to variance alone. We'll see if teams start tweaking their crunch-time offenses a bit to help neutralize the strain these things seem to have on players - we can call it the James Harden effect.
- Kemba was pretty bad the last two games, but Miami should be a friendlier match-up for him. Between Siakam, Anunoby, and Ibaka Toronto was one of the few teams that could switch pretty liberally 1-5 without giving up much. The Celtics seemed intent on getting the ball to Tatum whenever a guard (particularly VanVleet) switched onto him - and while Tatum was sensational in the series overall, he often looked uncomfortable with smaller guys on him. That's one area he can still grow his game. With Miami being so stacked to the brim with traditional wing guys (Butler, Crowder, Iguodala) better equipped to hound Tatum, I wonder if Stevens might shovel more of those crunch-time duties Kemba's way.
- That Smart block might go down as an all-timer. I can't endorse the flopping but must admit he's turned into a far better player than I thought he'd be. This Celtics team in general is a lot more balanced than most of the teams that have won titles recently. They remind me a bit of the 2014 Spurs with Tatum playing the role of a young Kawhi.
