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It wasn’t written about much at the time, but the Celtics’ late-season swoon expedited a much-anticipated postseason clash with the HEAT. Boston played .500 ball over the final 20 games and was subsequently eclipsed in the standings by Chicago and Miami. Seeds changed, schedules flipped and suddenly what was once thought to be the inevitable battle for the Eastern Conference crown turned into a second-round matchup.

The Bulls may be the top seed in the East, but the HEAT and Celtics  go together for a reason: America wants to see how Miami’s Big 3 competes with Boston’s Big 4.

And if the first three meetings were any lesson, Miami struggled to hang with the men in green, losing 88-80, 112-107 and 85-82 in October, November and February, respectively. But Erik Spoelstra’s club finally made its mark against a struggling Boston squad on April 10. The HEAT trailed by one point at home after the first quarter, only to blow out the visiting Celtics 100-77 while holding their bench to a total of 12 points.

Of course, a lot has changed since then. Boston’s bench played well in the first-round sweep of New York while Miami breezed by Philadelphia in five games despite their newfound habit of starting slowly.

Spoelstra quickly turned to Joel Anthony and Mario Chalmers in Wednesday’s win after vowing to stick with starters Zydrunas Ilgauskas and Mike Bibby. It’s unclear who will join Dwyane Wade, LeBron James and Chris Bosh in the starting lineup, but it’s safe to say Miami will be forced to rotate players against Boston point guard Rajon Rondo.

Point Guard: Rajon Rondo vs. Mario Chalmers

Mike Bibby may have gotten the start in the first five playoff games for Miami, but it was Chalmers’ contribution from 3-point range that ultimately pushed the HEAT to a series-clinching win on Wednesday. The third-year guard has seen his PPG average slip from 10.0 to 6.4 in his brief career, but his 20-point effort in Game 5 was a pleasant surprise. The question is, who gives Miami the best chance to win?

Chalmers may like to shoot first, his turnover rate (percentage of possessions that end with a turnover) is unusually high (13.3), and he makes far too many mistakes on defense, but Bibby was -19 in the first-round series against Philadelphia and has played at a near-replacement level since signing with Miami in March. He did hit 45.5% of his 3-point attempts in 22 regular season games with the HEAT, but he failed to contribute as a playmaker or a defender.

Whoever gets the start for Miami will face one of the hottest players at the position. Rajon Rondo averaged 19 PPG in the first-round sweep of the Knicks and even pitched in with his own 20-assist triple double.

New York coach Mike D’Antoni put big man Jared Jeffries on Rondo and instructed him to give the poor-shooting point guard some space, but that ultimately proved to be disastrous because it gave Rondo more passing lanes.

What D’Antoni ultimately discovered is there is no real defense for Rondo besides good team defense. He’s going to be able to dribble past most people who guard him. What Miami needs is for their oversized frontcourt to be alert and rotate toward the ball when the time comes… and it will come.

Advantage: Celtics

Shooting Guard: Ray Allen vs. Dwyane Wade

Back when Ray Allen was being spotted by Tony Allen, the Celtics had a pretty good handle on Wade. Not only did Miami’s star have to chase Ray around the arc on defense, but he was practically boxing Tony to get open offense. Wade scored 33.2 PPG in the HEAT’s five-game first-round loss to the Celtics in last year’s playoffs, and while that seems like a lot, it wasn’t enough to threaten an upset. Boston tried their best to stop Wade, but ultimately his teammates couldn’t save him.

That was then and this is now: With James and Bosh flanking Wade, the Celtics are suddenly very vulnerable at the shooting guard position. Boston no longer has a black-belt defender like Tony Allen to suffocate Wade, which means a lot of the responsibility for defending the All-Star will fall to Paul Pierce, Rondo and sixth man Jeff Green. 

Fortunately, Boston is tremendous at team defense, which is why they finished the season ranking second in the league in defensive efficiency (points per 100 possessions). The bottom line is Ray Allen won’t be charged with defending Wade alone.

Wade, on the other hand, will be fighting through a forest of picks as the Celtics run curls to Allen, who happens to be one of the hottest shooters on the planet at the moment. He hit an astounding 65.4% of his 3-point attempts and all 10 of his free throws in the first-round series against New York.

Wade can do just about everything on the floor better than Allen, but Allen’s one advantage happens to be worth three points instead of two.

Advantage: Push

Small Forward: Paul Pierce vs. LeBron James

Yes, there’s a bit of a rivalry between these two now that they’re meeting in the playoffs for the third time in the last four years. And while Pierce’s Celtics defeated James’ Cavs in every previous meeting, that’s no reason to get carried away. Basketball is a team game and Pierce has been playing with Kevin Garnett while James had been schlepping Boobie Gibson along.

James still doesn’t have a plethora of efficient, productive teammates, but he does have two stars to alleviate the defensive attention he usually sees. 3-point marksman James Jones has found a rhythm with James and Ilgauskas is still around to hit 20-foot jump shots. In other words, James finally has some targets, which makes him even more dangerous in late-game situations. In years past, Pierce knew James had to take the shot with the game on the line. That’s an advantage he no longer has.

Pierce has played James tough before, but will also be getting plenty of defensive help from newly acquired Jeff Green, who stands 6-9, 235 (one inch taller than James and 15 pounds lighter). 

Offensively, Pierce nearly had an identical season to last year. His PPG jumped to 18.9 from 18.3, while his 3-point accuracy fell from 41.4% to 37.4%. In any case, his numbers more or less stayed the same.

History may be on Pierce’s side, but there’s little doubt who the better player here is.

Advantage: HEAT

Power Forward: Kevin Garnett vs. Chris Bosh

Bosh averaged only 15 PPG against Garnett in the first four meetings between these two teams, which was his worst mark against any team except for Orlando and Cleveland. However his other numbers against Garnett were pretty good this season. He made 55% of his field goals and still grabbed 8.3 RPG.

Garnett, however, has done slightly better against Bosh and Miami: 16.5 PPG, 54.3% from the field, 8.5 RPG, 1.8 SPG. He’s also coming off a 26-point, 10-rebound effort against the Knicks in Game 4 in which he made 10 of 16 field goals.

Bosh finished his first-round series averaging 19.3 PPG and 8.5 RPG while shooting 49.2% from the field, which is just about his career average.

Unlike the Wade-Allen and James-Pierce matchups, these two will be shadowing each other through this series.

Advantage: Push

Center: Jermaine O’Neal vs. Joel Anthony

A season ago O’Neal was Miami’s center and finished the season with a surprisingly high 17.92 Player Efficiency Rating (the league average is 15). Injuries have conspired to keep his PER below 10 in his first season with the Celtics, but he has shown signs of finding his playoff legs. He averaged 5.5 PPG, 4.0 RPG and made 61% of his field goals against in the first round and even had seven blocks over the first three games.

Anthony, meanwhile, didn’t start for Miami against Philadelphia, but will likely get the nod against Boston after playing great defense in the Game 5 win. He has an inferior rebounding rate to Ilgauskas, but provides a shot-blocking presence and, at 28, has significantly more energy.

Seeing as the Celtics have Nenad Krstic and could get Shaquille O’Neal back in the second round while the HEAT have Erick Dampier at their disposal, this series appears to be about a lot more than two centers. Both teams will experiment with smaller lineups, so it’s really kind of pointless to pick one player over the other. But in the spirit of the preview…

Advantage: Celtics

Bench: Glen Davis, Jeff Green, Delonte West, Von Wafer, Nenad Krstic, Troy Murphy and Carlos Arroyo vs. Mike Bibby, Zydrunas Ilgauskas, Erick Dampier, Eddie House, James Jones and Mike Miller

According to HoopsStats.com, the Celtics and HEAT had the 26th and 30th ranked benches in terms of scoring. Obviously things changed somewhat for the Celtics, who now sport Green on their bench, but he hasn’t been scoring that much since his arrival (he didn’t reach double figures in any of the first four playoff games). The most important bench player for Boston is Davis, who can see time at center and power forward. The fourth-year big man averaged 10.3 PPG and 6.3 RPG against the HEAT this season while making 50% of his free throws.

Arroyo, who played for the HEAT earlier in the season, was inactive against the Knicks but could play if coach Doc Rivers decides to sit West, who hasn’t looked healthy.

Miami’s bench pretty much relies on Jones and Miller to stretch the floor. Dampier can’t move any more, but he can defend the hoop and still gets six fouls per game, which is all the HEAT can really hope for out of their bench.

Advantage: Celtics

{AUTHOR_BOX}Coach: Doc Rivers vs. Erik Spoelstra

Rivers didn’t become a great coach when he got to Boston—he already had a Coach of the Year award under his belt with the Magic—but he has been given the freedom to experiment with the Celtics’ many parts. With so many elite and versatile players, Rivers has been willing to get creative with his lineups and play calling, which has made Boston one of the more unpredictable opponents in the playoffs.

Spoelstra doesn’t have an NBA title or any other hardware up on his wall, but he has worked diligently to earn his players’ respect. He fought rumors of his imminent firing throughout the season, and still managed to push his team to the third and fifth overall rankings in offensive and defensive efficiency respectively. In spite of their limited roster, Spoelstra has come a long way in terms of getting James, Wade and Bosh to play together.

Advantage: Celtics

Final Prediction: Celtics in 7

Miami tied Dallas for the best road record in the NBA, but Boston has been nearly unstoppable at home during the playoffs for the last few seasons. Ultimately the third-seeded Celtics will be forced to win in Miami if they hope to take the series. If they can pull one upset on South Beach, the series might not even go the distance.