Jayson Tatum knew the Heat would be the toughest of the Celtics’ possible first-round opponents.

That, Boston’s superstar said, was exactly why he wanted to face them.

Why? Because Tatum remembered the opening round of last year’s playoffs, when Boston needed six games to get past a less talented Atlanta Hawks squad. The Celtics’ focus waned at times during that series.

Tatum felt that opening the 2024 postseason against a gritty, well-coached team like Miami — which infamously upset Boston in last year’s Eastern Conference finals — would keep the Celtics on their game after they cruised to an NBA-best 64-18 record during the regular season. He was right.

Outside of a Game 2 loss that featured a historic 3-point shooting performance by the Heat, Boston dominated, winning the other four games by 20, 20, 14 and 34 points. Miami scored fewer than 95 points in all four of its defeats.

“I think it’s, like, my fourth time in five years playing them in the playoffs,” Tatum said after Wednesday night’s series-clinching 118-84 rout at TD Garden. “So I was thinking, when the play-in game was (happening) and they were trying to figure out the standings in the last week or so, I just had my mind made up that we were going to play Miami.

“And I wanted to play Miami in a sense that maybe last year, playing against Atlanta, we might have relaxed a little bit. But knowing the history with Miami, and how they hard they play and how well-coached they are, for a first-round matchup, regardless of the seed, we were going to have to be ready to play and be ready to fight.”

Tatum said playoff victories “all count the same” but acknowledged there’s “a lot of history there” between the Celtics and Heat, who met in the East finals in 2020, ’22 and ’23. Those series went six, seven and seven games, respectively. Boston needed just five to finish the latest installment.

“We did our job,” said Tatum, who had 16 points and 12 rebounds and was a game-best plus-35 on Wednesday. “We took care of business, we played the way we’re supposed to, and we got it done.”

Related Articles

Celtics finish Heat in Game 5 blowout, advance to second round

Callahan: Celtics vanquish depleted Heat, playoff ghosts in Game 5 series clincher

Kristaps Porzingis injury: Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla provides latest update

Celtics’ Al Horford among top finishers for NBA Teammate of the Year award

Starr’s 3 Questions: Was the Celtics’ Game 2 loss a blessing in disguise? 

This was a seriously shorthanded Heat squad, however, that was missing starters Jimmy Butler and Terry Rozier in all five games and rookie Jaime Jaquez Jr. in Wednesday’s finale. Boston’s next foe should, on paper, present a stiffer challenge, regardless of whether that’s Orlando or Cleveland. (Game 6 of their first-round series is Friday night.)

The Celtics also will need to navigate their next series without big man Kristaps Porzingis — a hugely important player for them on both ends of the floor — who’s expected to miss all of Round 2 with a soleus strain in his right calf.

Whether Boston can be a championship team without a healthy Porzingis remains to be seen, but they’re well-positioned to weather his absence. With a wide array of scoring threats and a savvy backup big in Al Horford, the Celtics are 22-4 this season with Porzingis out of the lineup.