Rematch! Check out the schedule for another Celtics-Heat Eastern Conference Finals
BOSTON -- The Celtics are back in the Eastern Conference Finals and will once again face off against the Miami Heat for a trip to the NBA Finals. It's a rematch of last season's East Finals, which Boston won in seven games.
The series will pit the 2-seeded Celtics against the 8-seeded Heat, and will begin Wednesday night at TD Garden. Here is the full schedule for the Eastern Conference Finals, with all games set to tip off at 8:30 p.m.:
Game 1: Wednesday, May 17 at TD Garden in Boston
Game 2: Friday, May 19 at TD Garden in Boston
Game 3: Sunday, May 21 at Kaseya Center in Miami
Game 4: Tuesday, May 23 at Kaseya Center in Miami
Game 5: Thursday, May 25 at TD Garden in Boston*
Game 6: Saturday, May 27 at Kaseya Center in Miami*
Game 7: Monday, May 29 at TD Garden in Boston*
* If Necessary
Miami is back in the Conference Finals despite losing the first play-in game to the Atlanta Hawks. The Heat beat the Bulls in the second play-in game to earn the East's 8-seed, and then went on to shock the top-seeded Bucks in five games in the first round of the NBA playoffs. Miami beat the New York Knicks in six games in the Eastern Conference semifinals.
The Celtics and the Heat split their four regular season matchups, with each team winning two games -- including one each on the other's home court.
Boston won the first two matchups, earning a 111-104 win in Miami in their second game of the season thanks to 29 points from Jayson Tatum. The Celtics won the second meeting on Nov. 30 in Boston, 134-121, on 49 points from Tatum and 26 from Jaylen Brown. Jimmy Butler did not play in that game for the Heat.
Miami won the last two meetings though, with Butler scoring 25 points and pulling down 15 rebounds in a 120-116 overtime win at TD Garden on Jan. 2. A Butler-less Heat won the final regular-season meeting three weeks later, handing Boston a 98-95 loss at the Kaseya Center on 30 points and 15 rebounds from Bam Adebayo. The Celtics did not have Brown for that matchup, with Tatum scoring 31 points with 14 rebounds and Derrick White adding 23 points in the Boston loss.
The two rivals have met each other in three other Eastern Conference Finals: 2012, 2020 and 2022. The Heat won in 2012 (seven games) and 2020 (six games in the NBA bubble in Orlando), while the Celtics took last year's seven-game rock fight, winning Game 7 in Miami.
The Celtics are 14-16 overall against the Heat in the playoffs, dating back to their first postseason matchup in 2010.
