The eighth-seeded Miami Heat will be in a familiar position when they go on the road to open their Eastern Conference first-round series against the top-seeded Boston Celtics on Sunday afternoon. Miami also was the No. 8 seed last season, when it battled its way to NBA Finals. The Heat’s path included a seven-game series victory over Boston in the conference finals before they lost to the Denver Nuggets in the NBA Finals. Miami will be facing a Boston team that led the NBA with 64 victories during the regular season. “Ultimately, we’ve just got to bring that Miami Heat culture and that toughness,” Miami rookie Jaime Jaquez Jr. said. “We’ve got two games in Boston. We’ve got to set the tone extremely early, impose our will on them and make it real physical.” Miami rebounded from a loss to the Philadelphia 76ers on Wednesday with a 112-91 victory over the Chicago Bulls in a play-in tournament elimination game Friday night. Tyler Herro collected 24 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists in the win. Jaquez added 21 points, Kevin Love scored 16 and Bam Adebayo finished with 13. The Heat will not have Jimmy Butler, who is expected to miss several weeks with an MCL injury he sustained Wednesday night. Butler averaged 20.8 points per game during the regular season.
Heat look to set tone in opener of series vs. Celtics
