The Boston Celtics (57-25, 32-9 home) take on the Miami Heat (44-38, 17-24 away) in the first game of the Eastern Conference Finals. During the regular season, these two teams met four times with each team winning a pair of games. Miami is the first eighth seed to reach the East Finals in NBA history.
Wednesday’s opening matchup tips off at 8:30 p.m. EST inside TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts. Boston is an eight-point favorite and the over/under total is 210.5 points.
What to Know – Miami Heat
The Heat made history with their semifinal series victory over the New York Knicks in six games. Miami advanced to the semifinals with an opening round series win over the No. 1 seed Milwaukee Bucks.
On offense, Miami enters the East Finals averaging 113.3 points per game while shooting 46.9% from the field and 36.8% from the 3-point line. The Heat’s defense is allowing 108.8 ppg to opposing teams in the postseason, holding teams to 45.5% shooting from the floor and 33.8% from beyond the arc.
Jimmy Butler has done it all for Miami in the postseason, leading the Heat in scoring, averaging 31.1 ppg in ten games of action. Butler is shooting 52.7% from the floor and 36.1% from deep. Bam Adebayo is second on the team in the playoffs, adding 18.1 ppg and 9.2 rebounds per game.
Miami is 39-53-3 against the spread and 20-26-1 ATS on the road. However, the Heat are 7-2 ATS over their last nine contests.
What to Know – Boston Celtics
The Celtics are back in the Eastern Conference Finals for the second-straight season and fifth time in seven years. Boston knocked off the Atlanta Hawks and came back from down 3-2 to defeat the Philadelphia 76ers to get back to the conference finals.
Boston’s offense has scored 115.5 points per game during its playoff run, hitting 48.7% from the field and 39.5% from three. Defensively, the Celtics surrender 108.3 ppg to opposing teams while allowing 44.3% shooting from the floor and 35.3% from deep.
All season the duo of Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown paced the Celtics offensive, and that hasn’t changed during the postseason. Tatum is averaging 28.2 ppg, while Brown is supplying 24.6 ppg. Marcus Smart has stepped up when needed, scoring 15.8 ppg and leading the team in scoring the Game 6 victory over Philadelphia.
Boston owns a 53-41-1 mark ATS and a home record of 28-20 ATS. Over their recent six games, the Celtics are 4-2 ATS.
The Pick is In
How long can Miami keep this historical run going? The Heat have a tough matchup on the road against a talented Boston squad. While Miami did defeat the top seed in the East, we believe the Heat will have a much more difficult series this time around against a veteran team like the Celtics.
The Pick: Boston Celtics -8
