The Boston Celtics and Miami Heat will meet in the 2022 NBA Eastern Conference Finals from Game 1 at FTX Arena in Miami on Tuesday.

The last time the two met in the playoffs, the Heat beat the Celtics 4-2 to reach the Finals. The Celtics, with only Daniel Theis as their regularly rotating center back then, couldn't stop Bam Adebayo from dominating the paint on both offense and defense. He averaged 21.8 points, 11 rebounds, 5.2 assists, 1.7 steals and one block in six games.

The Celtics are unlikely to let that happen again this time. The combination of Al Horford, Robert Williams III and Grant Williams shut down Giannis Antetokounmpo in multiple games in the East semifinals. They are reliable in athleticism, size and power to contain Adebayo.

Compared with their franchise two years ago, the Heat didn't have Goran Dragic, who was their second-best scorer during that series. Kyle Lowry is unlikely to fill in for him with his surprisingly underperformance against the Philadelphia 76ers. The Heat gave Lowry's time to Gabe Vincent in the final two games against the 76ers, but he averaged only 6.8 points and 2.8 assists per game, not mention he only made four triples at 18.2 percent during the whole series.

The Heat suffered offensive regression in the shooting guard position as well. Their former starter Duncan Robinson only appeared in three games, averaging six minutes per game against the 76ers. His replacement Max Strus averages 2.8 triples per game at 34.7 percent, but he shot 1-of-7 and 3-for-11 in two of the six games in the previous series, showing signs of inconsistency.

Generally speaking, the Heat today are not as good offensively as they were in 2020. Jimmy Butler and Tyler Herro will have to shoulder more duties on this front. Butler had two 30-point games and one 40-point game in the series and continued his history of exploding offensively in the postseason. Herro was not as productive as Butler and he is very likely to become a defensive liability, but the Heat have no other choice except using him.

Therefore, the team will need to count more on their defense for a better chance to win the East Finals. They had the second-best 3-point shooting defense in the regular season as they limited opponents to 33.9 percent from downtown. The Celtics drained 15.7 triples at 37.7 percent against the Milwaukee Bucks and broke their franchise record for 3-point shooting in Game 7. By contrast, the Celtics lost all of the three games in which they shot lower than 36 percent beyond the arc.

Unlike the Celtics, which have more than five elite individual defenders and prefer to switch on defense, the Heat's defensive system is more complicated and flexible. Their head coach, Erik Spoelstra, is very good at altering defensive arrangements in response to the development of the game. Adebayo, Butler and P.J. Tucker are all excellent participants in zone defense, which can help hide a weak link like Herro. The three are also capable of switching to guard the opponents' aces, like Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown.

The Celtics' key to winning the East Finals lies in their defense as well. The two opponents they beat in the previous two series, the Brooklyn Nets and Bucks, both had very clear defensive targets and were classic teams that relied on core players to run the offense. However, the Heat are different. Their give-and-go offense requires less ball-handling and more ball movement. The Celtics are not a very aggressive team on defense and they are unlikely to duplicate their work on Kyrie Irving, Kevin Durant, Antetokounmpo and Jrue Holiday.

It will be a new challenge for the Celtics to contain Butler as well. The advantage of Grant Williams, Horford and Marcus Smart is their strong lower body, but Butler has more offensive choices than tussling with them in the paint like Antetokounmpo did. If Tatum or Brown switches to him, they are too inexperienced to read Butler's fakes and other tricks in the mid-range.

The Celtics may want to try double-teaming Butler if he gets hot too soon. On one hand, Adebayo is a good passer as a big man, but he is not a productive scorer, nor can he shoot 3-pointers. Most of the Heat's players are not very consistent on offense. Forcing them, instead of Butler, to lead the team's offense will make the Heat very uncomfortable.

As for the Heat, they are likely to face a five-out offensive scheme from the Celtics during most of the series. That will require 100 percent concentration and efficient communication among all defenders, because one breach could easily lead to chain reactions that could cost the team a win.