Boston Celtics: Lack of depth a potential downfall in Miami Heat series

The Boston Celtics dropped Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals 118-107 on Tuesday night against the Miami Heat. The C’s were down two starters in Al Horford and Marcus Smart, which is a big reason why they lost.

However, my biggest concern after Game 1 is the disparity between the depth of both teams.

The Miami Heat have two advantages over the C’s in this series, which are their mental toughness and their depth. The Heat are one of the best teams in the NBA at finding guys out of nowhere and making them into solid players. Miami’s depth was a major factor in their win as they had multiple role players step up.

Case in point, backup point guard, Gabe Vincent, stepping up and scoring 17 points in place of Kyle Lowry. The Celtics’ lack of depth was a major factor in this game as Derrick White only scored three points and Grant Williams only scored seven himself.

The lack of depth for the Boston Celtics may be their downfall against the Heat

The bench production was staggering as the Heat had 34 bench points compared to the Celtics’ 26. Tyler Herro led the charge off the bench for the Heat as he had 18 points. This should be alarming to Boston Celtics fans as an area where the Heat can expose the Cs.

Boston’s lack of scoring options off the bench can be a problem for them in this series as the Heat defense is suffocating. It is going to be hard to rely on Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown to carry the load when they are being smothered by an elite defense.

The Celtics are going to need their role players and bench to step up if they are going to win this series. The Heat are a machine and they have role players that are ready to contribute. If the Cs want to reach their first Finals in 12 years, they better start receiving contributions from their bench.