The Miami Heat picked up a 123-116 win in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals against the Boston Celtics, and Miami set a franchise playoff record that should encourage fans for the rest of the series.

The Heat set a franchise franchise record and tied an NBA Playoff record by having six players with 15 or more points in the Game 1 win over the Celtics.

Jimmy Butler led the way as usual, scoring 35 points. Bam Adebayo scored 20 points. Four other players scored 15 points. Those players were Gabe Vincent, Caleb Martin, Kyle Lowry and Max Strus. The performance of those players throughout the NBA Playoffs has to be encouraging for Heat fans. Losing both Tyler Herro and Victor Oladipo during this NBA Playoffs run was concerning, it was unclear whether Miami would be able to get the performance out of its depth players to support Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo.

To this point it has been enough to advance past the Milwaukee Bucks and the New York Knicks. Judging by the performance of the team in Game 1, the Heat seem to have a real chance to win this Eastern Conference Finals series. It will be interesting to see how Jimmy Butler, Bam Adebayo and the depth pieces like Kyle Lowry, Gabe Vincent, Caleb Martin and Max Strus perform in Game 2, with a chance to take a 2-0 lead heading back home to Miami for games three and four.

These teams matched up in the Eastern Conference Finals last season, the Heat are trying to redeem themselves after losing in seven games in 2022.