Doc Rivers wants Celtics players to hate Heat - SportingNews.com

Boston Celtics coach Doc Rivers has his priorities in order.

He mentioned the Miami Heat incessantly during a Q&A with Bob Ryan (via celticsblog.com) at a recent community event in Boston.

Rivers has good reason to be consumed with the reigning NBA champs. LeBron James and Co. present the largest hurdle for Rivers’ aging team. Last season the Celtics went up 3-2 on the Heat in the Eastern Conference finals, only to drop Games 6 and 7 and miss out on a trip to the NBA Finals. In 2011, the Celtics lost to the Heat in the East semifinals.

Ryan asked Rivers about the Los Angeles Lakers, the latest super team to step the forefront. It was obvious Rivers is aware the Celtics have work to do on their own coast before considering a matchup with the Lakers down the line.

“Honestly, I don't care about the Lakers ... I have my eye squarely on Miami," Rivers said. "I come up to my players during the year-they're in the facility now-I bring up Miami every single day to them. I want them to hate them. I want them to beat them. That's gotta be our focus.”

When he talked Celtics strategy, Rivers revealed that Courtney Lee is likely to start at shooting guard with Jason Terry coming off the bench. Avery Bradley continues to recover from shoulder surgery.

Another interesting moment came when Rivers explained how he evaluates his own performance and makes roster decisions, which included moving Kevin Garnett to center and bringing Ray Allen off the bench.

“I always tell my coaches what I think we should do and what we’re going to do,” Rivers said. The veteran coach then said the emergence of Bradley and Brandon Bass allowed him to move Garnett and Allen around in the lineup.

But even the Celtics-centric questions circled back to Miami. Rivers wants his players to capitalize on their 46 percent team shooting, which ranked in the top five last season, but he knows speeding up the offense is not an option against Miami.

“If you keep missing shots against Miami, you're going to let them run back and forth,” Rivers said. “I told our guys, ‘I'm smart enough to know that if we get in a track meet with Miami, they're probably going to win, but if we get in a thinking meet, we will win that game.’ "