New Castle's Duncan Robinson, Miami Heat back in Boston for 3rd straight year in playoffs
BOSTON - Celebrating an Eastern Conference championship last year against the Boston Celtics at TD Garden has been the highlight of Duncan Robinson's NBA career so far with the Miami Heat.
Robinson, a New Castle native, and Phillips Exeter Academy graduate, celebrated his 30th birthday on Monday, and on Tuesday he spoke of how last year's 103-84 win over the Celtics in Game 7 at TD Garden and advancing to the NBA Finals remains a "great memory."
"That was fun," said Robinson, at Tuesday morning's practice at TD Garden ahead of Wednesday's Game 2 of the first round of the Eastern Conference playoffs against the Celtics. "To celebrate on this floor, with a lot of my family and my teammates; a conference championship was pretty special."
Robinson scored 10 points in the Game 7 win over Boston, making 4-of-6 shots, including 2-of-3 from 3-point territory.
The Heat avoided being the first team to blow a 3-0 lead in the NBA playoffs, and advanced to the NBA Finals, where Robinson and the Heat lost to the Denver Nuggets in five games.
Heat, Celtics meet in playoffs for third straight year
Robinson, now in his sixth season with the Heat, is playing against his hometown team for the fourth time in the playoffs, and for the third consecutive year.
The Celtics are the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference this year, and the Heat beat the Chicago Bulls in a play-in game last week to earn the No. 8 seed. The Celtics and Heat met three times in the regular season with the Celtics winning all three games.
"I'm pretty familiar with (the playoff rivalry with the Celtics) at this point," Robinson said. "It's always a privilege to come back here to compete and play, and to play on this floor. Obviously, I have a lot of family nearby. They can come to the games, and I can see them before and after the games, and that sort of stuff. It's always a privilege (playing here) and something I look forward to."
Top-seeded Celtics draw first blood in series
Miami's latest playoff chapter against the Celtics started Sunday as the Heat dropped a 114-94 decision. Robinson had five points, two points and two rebounds in 15 minutes off the bench. The series resumes Wednesday and shifts to Miami for games 3 and 4 on Saturday and Monday, respectively.
Playoff tickets at a premium
When in Boston, Robinson tries to keep ticket availability "somewhat tight" for immediate family and close friends.
"I try to keep that number to around 10 or something like that," Robinson said. "Tickets are a little bit easier to get in the regular season, so sometimes I'm able to take care of some other people. But during playoffs, tickets are obviously a little harder to come by, so I try to take care of people who are closest to me."
Robinson posts solid season despite back injury
Robinson played in 68 games this season, starting 36. He has recently dealt with a nagging back injury that caused him to miss some games toward the end of the regular season.
"Everything ramps up in the playoffs, whether that's here or anywhere," Robinson said. "Especially teams like the Celtics who have high expectations this year, the same way we have high expectations for ourselves. Like I said, four times in the last six years, it's an exciting challenge for sure."
Robinson averaged 12.9 points per game this year, his highest mark since posting 13.1 during the 2020-21 season. He also posted career highs this season in assists per game (2.8), and his 45 percent shooting is the second highest of his career (47 percent in 2019-20). He shot 39.5 percent from 3-point territory, his highest since shooting nearly 41 percent in 2020-21.
Robinson said there's lots to love about playing in Boston.
"Being around Boston, growing up playing in the AAU tournaments right here in the area, lot of familiar faces and familiar people," he said. "It's just fun to be back here and competing."
This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: New Castle's Robinson, Miami Heat back in Boston for NBA playoffs
