Boston Celtics-Miami Heat: Match Preview, Bets, Odds, Stats, & Much More | 28 May

The Golden State Warriors have moved to the Finals and four wins will give them the title, so it will be interesting to see who meets them. They took care of business in five games but let us see who joins them there. In this game, the Eastern Conference Finals contestants the Boston Celtics, and the Miami Heat are going to meet each other. In the first five games, we have seen the pendulum swing to and forth but the Celtics eked out a three-two advantage in the last game after beating the Heat 93:80. Can the Celtics close the deal here or will the Heat make a comeback?

Handicap: Bookmakers from 22bet are believing that the Celtics are overwhelming favorites to notch a win here and give them the odds of 1.21. The Heat has been given highly unfavorable odds of 4.36 which means that a blowout win in favor of the Celtics has been predicted. Not a surprise, considering Heat has scored in the early 80s in the last two games and has been shut down. I believe the Heat will come up with a much better effort here and force a Game 7, so I don’t side with the bookmakers. (Handicap 2 -1.5 for 4.5)

Player Props: Bookmakers at bet365 predict odds of 1.86 for Jimmy Butler getting over 22.5 Points (At least 23 Points). Jimmy’s numbers are down since the last three games. He has scored 13. 6, and 8 in the last two games after scoring in the 30+ range for the majority of the games. Seems like the injury bug has caught up to him and the pesky Boston defense has denied him continually. However, I believe he will explode for a big night. (Player Props: Player Points: Jimmy Butler Over 22.5 for 1.86)

Total: Bookmakers at 1xbet give the Total of Under 201.5 the odds of 1.91. After a high-scoring start to the series, we have reached the expected lane where it was expected that defense will take precedence. I believe this time around the precedent will be broken here. I see the Heat improving on their effort and the total going Over after being Under in the last two games. (Total Over 201.5 for 2.03)

This game is available on the NBA League Pass.

With the Celtics unit figuring out how to stop Jimmy Butler and him getting injured, the Heat has hit a wall now. The trouble is Tyler Herro hasn’t been active and hasn’t looked himself when he is playing. Lowry’s touch keeps disappearing whereas Max Strus has been shut down from beyond the arc as well. In the last game, the starters collectively shot 2 out of 22 from the three-point line, overall the Heat shot just 7/45(15.6% yikes). Things are looking gloomy for the Heat and it feels like that unless Lowry or Strus get it going, they have no chance. Earlier, Butler’s hero ball was rescuing the team but the offense has disappeared for him as well, which has directly resulted in the last two losses. Gabe Vincent has done well, Duncan Robinson has gotten minutes back but the team does need Tyler Herro for whatever it is worth. Also, can Victor Oladipo get something going? I see the Heat coming with a much more balanced effort here.

The Celtics have shut down the Heat in this series and there is no doubt that building a deep defensive team from the starting lineup to the bench has exposed even elite offensive teams throughout the season. This is a Celtics team that took down Durant and Irving, shutting them both down, then they defeated the last season's champions, the Bucks, again, giving no space to Jrue Holiday and even taking Giannis out of his game. And now, they are downing a deep offensive team in Heat, shutting down their premier Butler and not even allowing Lowry or Strus to crack the scoring sheet at times. Offensively, the Celtics’ recurring issues of getting stagnant are surfacing but during the Regular Season, they made sure that their defense was enough to get the job done. With players like Brown and Tatum, the Celtics seem more equipped than the Heat right now, but yes, they have been vulnerable at home at times.

• Heat most likely starting five: PG: Kyle Lowry | SG: Max Strus | SF: Jimmy Butler | PF: PJ Tucker | C: Bam Adebayo;
• Key Bench Player: Gabe Vincent, Victor Oladipo, Caleb Martin, 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.