The Miami Heat and the Boston Celtics will kick off their first-round playoff series on Sunday. The two teams have met three times in the Eastern Conference Finals in the last four seasons. Miami advanced to the Finals twice, while Boston clinched a spot in the championship series once. Last season, the Heat toppled the Cs in seven games. However, this season, the Celtics finished the regular season with the best record in the league and dominated the season series, sweeping the Heat in three matchups. Yet, former Heat Dwyane Wade believes that Miami can still come out on top, just like last time, due to the Erik Spoelstra factor.

In the recent episode of the Wine Down podcast, D-Wade unraveled what differentiates the Miami Heat from other teams. “Everybody don’t have rules and regulations that holds everyone accountable to a certain standard, right? Spo has that in his back pocket so no matter what kind of team Spo has, he has the culture behind him,” Wade said. This, according to him, is one of the reasons why the Heat can succeed even when they do not have the best roster in the league, even when they don’t have a LeBron James on the team.

“Miami is prepared; no matter who’s in the lineup, they’re prepared. It ain’t about the talent; it’s about the preparation that you feel when you go out there that you know everything they want to do offensively, everything they want to do defensively, and everything you need to do,” the 42-year-old added.

The fans certainly agree with Dwyane Wade. They, too, are hoping for the Heat to repeat last year’s success and put an end to the Celtics’ dominating season. One fan on Reddit wrote, “Nothing will feel better than when we beat this trash team and city (F–K BOSTON).” Another one echoed, “F–k Boston.” One fan labeled Caleb Martin as the “Celtics killer” given how the then-undrafted forward decimated Boston last year, averaging 19.3 points, 6.4 rebounds, and 1.7 assists in seven games in the Conference Finals last season. ‘”F–k Boston’-Caleb Martin (probably),” he added. However, to fans’ dismay, they will miss the presence of ‘Playoff Jimmy’ tonight or possibly for the whole series.

The Miami Heat will enter the first round shorthanded

The start of the NBA post-season is when Jimmy Butler transforms into Playoff Jimmy and leads the middling Miami Heat to glory. Two years ago, Butler, who averaged a little more than twenty-one points during the regular season, averaged more than twenty-seven during the playoffs to lead the Heat to the Conference Finals. In Game 6 of that series against the Boston Celtics, he accounted for sixty-eight of the team’s points (scored and assisted), nabbed four steals, and grabbed nine rebounds. Something similar happened last year.

After barely making it to the playoffs, the Heat went on to defeat the top-seeded Milwaukee Bucks, New York Knicks, and the Celtics en route to the Finals. In the first round of the playoffs, Butler averaged 30 points in the first three games and then erupted for 56 points in Game 4 against the Bucks. Considering JB’s playoff history, the Heat will enter today’s game with a serious handicap.

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Jimmy Butler suffered an MCL injury during the team’s game against the Philadelphia 76ers earlier this week. As per Shams Charania of The Athletic, the injury could keep Butler sidelined for multiple weeks. However, while this is a significant setback for the team, it is also not something they are unfamiliar with. JB missed 22 games during the regular season and the crucial play-in game against the Bulls. The Heat boast a 14-9 record in his absence this season. Do you think the Jimmy Butler-less Miami Heat can hold the fort down until he returns from injury?