Miami Heat And Boston Celtics Enter Eastern Conference Finals With A Mutual Respect

Boston Celtics guard Kemba Walker had just finished a grueling seven-game series against the Toronto Raptors in the Eastern Conference semifinals.

While still exhausted, he was asked about facing the Miami Heat in the conference finals. Walker said the road to a championship only gets tougher.

"Those guys, they balled last week," Walker said of the Heat. "Those guys are nothing to play with."

The Heat and Celtics meet at this stage for the first time since 2012. The teams are far removed from the days of LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh versus Ray Allen, Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce. Still, the series will feature plenty of star power.

The Heat's resurgence is led by All-Stars Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo and a revitalized Goran Dragic. They also feature youngsters Tyler Herro, Duncan Robinson and Kendrick Nunn. The Celtics have All-Stars Kemba Walker and Jayson Tatum and second-leading scorer Jaylen Brown.

The best-of-seven series begins Tuesday.

"I know we always think we're going to win every game we play," Tatum said. "We didn't come here just to for the first and second round. We didn't really pay attention to outside noise, whether we are favored or not. That doesn't matter to us. It's all about the guys in that locker room. We know what we're capable of. We're just going to go out there and do it."

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