It’s Game 2 of the best of 7 series in the Eastern Conference. The Miami Heat are on the road at the Boston Celtics. The Celtics won the first game easily on Sunday. The Heat are looking to even the series before it heads back to Miami.
The Heat started the series as the 8 seed. Miami lost at home to Philadelphia in the first play-in game, and then bounced back to eliminate the Chicago Bulls. The Heat won their final two regular season games of the year to finish with a 46-36 record on the season.
For the Boston Celtics, they are the top seed in all of the NBA Playoffs. Boston won their final two games of the regular seas as well. Boston led the East from start to finish and wrapped up the season with a 64-18 record.
The Boston Celtics are massive favorites at -14.5 over the Miami Heat.
No Butler is Bad News for Miami
No Jimmy Butler is a big time loss for Miami. Butler will miss this series, and likely the entire postseason after injuring himself in the loss to Philadelphia. Miami was hampered by injuries all season. Bam Adebayo was the healthiest regular, playing 71 games, while Jaime Jaquez also played in 75.
The Heat scored 110.1 points per game in the regular season. That was one of the lowest in all of the league. Miami struggled shooting the ball, at 46.5%. In the game 1 loss, Adebayo was the highest scorer for Miami. He scored 24 points and ripped down 6 rebounds in the game.
Tyler Herro, who was out for much of the season played 34 minutes, but scored just 11 points in the game. Miami is looking for better production from Caleb Martin. Their starting shooting guard scored just 4 points in the loss.
Boston Celtics Dominate Team in NBA
The Boston Celtics were head and shoulders the best team in the NBA during the regular season. This is a team that scored more than 120 points per game. Indiana was the only team better than that in the regular season. But, the Celtics played defense, allowing less than 110 per game.
Offensively, Boston is the best three point shooting team in the league. The Celtics knock down 16.5 per game. In the Game 1 win, the Celtics hit 22 three point shots. THe Celtics were also 14 for 16 from the free throw line in the game. Jayson Tatum had 23 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists.
Derrick White has been strong for the Celtics this season. He had 20 points in the game. Boston has six guys score double digits, including Sam Hauser, playing 13 minutes off the bench. Boston played just eight guys in the Game 1 win.
Heat Compete, Celtics Win
The Heat are not going to win this game, but we do think they can compete and cover the spread in this game. Miami is a professional team, and well coached. They still have talented players, and will be able to play hard and compete here.
In the end, Boston wins the game by 10, but we are going to bet the Miami Heat +14.5 over the Boston Celtics. Best of luck and enjoy the game!
