Boston Celtics-Miami Heat: Match Preview, Bets, Odds, Stats, & Much More | 24 May

The NBA Playoffs are in full flow and soon we will reach the Finals stage. As expected, this has been a thrilling season with numerous surprising results along the way. In the West Finals, the Warriors have upstaged the Mavericks three-nil. In the East Finals, the Boston Celtics have been given a lot of trouble by the Miami Heat, the latter being up one-two. The Heat opened up a 25-point win in the last game but the Celtics closed the gap to one, however, the Heat still came on top, playing most of the game without Jimmy Butler. Can the Heat replicate last game's heroics?

Handicap: Bookmakers from 22bet are adamant about giving the Celtics highly favorable odds despite their last game loss. They have been given the odds of 1.34 to seal the deal whereas the Heat is given the odds of 3.26 despite them doing a great job in the last game and opening with a 20+ points lead. I believe the Celtics will not be beaten twice in a row on their home floor, however, I feel this will be another close battle. (Handicap 2 +6.5 for 1.9)

Player Props: Bookmakers at bet365 predict odds of 2.05 for Al Horford getting over 9.5 Rebounds (At least 10 Rebounds). Horford has nabbed 14, 3, 10, and 10 rebounds in his last four Playoff games, meaning he has gone over that mark three times already. I believe he will do so again for the fourth time in his five outings (Player Props: Player Rebounds: Al Horford Over 9.5 for 2.05)

Total: Bookmakers at 1xbet give the Total of Over/Under 207.5 the odds of 1.97 on either side which is similar to the last game. The three games so far have gone over the mark, quite comfortably for the most parts, fetching 212, 229, and 225. This has been a rather high-scoring series than predicted initially. However, I believe the total will fall “Under” here. (Total Under 207.5 for 1.97)

This game is available on the NBA League Pass.

The last win for the Heat is special because they pulled through without their ace Jimmy Butler in the second half. It was Bam Adebayo’s magical 31 points and 11 rebounds night that was the headline of the last game and this came after he was scoring around ten or lower points up to that point. Strus continued to show his value, sprinkling four triples of 17 points whereas Tucker turned on the jets with a 17 points performance. The play of Tyler Herro remains shoddy away from home and he didn’t make 11 of his 15 shots in the last outing left a window open for the Celtics. Oladipo was tremendous defensively, nabbing four steals and helping make some crucial runs. Lowry also played tremendous defense throughout the night and the Heat has proven why they finished at the top of the Eastern Conference this season.

If we take into the series against the Bucks, the Celts have won just two out of their five games, the Bucks beat them twice in the Semis and the Heat has beaten them once. There are some issues with the Celtics’ defense to begin things at times and the Heat surprised them through an Adebayo-centric attack, indeed a great adjustment from Heat’s genius coach Erik Spoelstra. It can be also noticed that if Jayson Tatum has a cold night, the Heat’s chances of winning are significantly reduced and he shot a paltry 3/14 in the last game. Brown had a 40-point night, Horford clinched 20 points and 14 rebounds while Smart had 16. There is no doubt having Robert Williams would have been a huge help in containing Bam Adebayo during the last game. The Celtics don’t look like the same unit without the defensive-oriented Center when they are up against a paint-scoring option. Committing 24 turnovers doesn’t help the case and the team has shown this tendency quite a bit in the Postseason.

• Heat most likely starting five: PG: Gabe Vincent / Kyle Lowry | SG: Max Strus | SF: Jimmy Butler | PF: PJ Tucker | C: Bam Adebayo;
• Key Bench Player: Tyler Herro, Duncan Robinson;
• Celtics most likely starting five: PG: Marcus Smart | G: Jaylen Brown | SF: Jayson Tatum | C: Al Horford | C: Robert Williams III;
• Key Bench Players: Derrick White, Grant Williams, Payton Pritchard, Daniel Theis.