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Heat Set to Double Down On Celtics

Boston Plays Host to Miami in Tuesday NBA Showdown

The Miami Heat will look to make it to straight wins over the battered Boston Celtics when the Eastern Conference rivals battle at TD Garden on Tuesday night.

Now in sixth place in the conference standings, Miami (37-31) has picked up the level of its play in recent weeks as they get set to defend the Eastern Conference crown they won a year ago. Boston (35-33) also reached the conference finals a year ago, but right now, the C’s are struggling mightily as they look to avoid falling out of seventh place in the East standings with four games to play.

Jimmy Butler of the Miami Heat drives to the basket against Terry Rozier of the Charlotte Hornets
Jacob Kupferman/Getty Images/AFP

Miami is a slight road favorite to beat Boston for the second straight game. The NBA Odds for this rematch of last season’s Eastern Conference Finals are live in the BetUS Online Sportsbook right now.

Miami Heat at Boston Celtics

When: May 11, 2021, at 7 p.m. ET

Where: TD Garden, Boston, MA

TV: TNT, NBCSN Boston

Radio: 98.5 The Sports Hub, WAXY 790 AM / S: WRT

NBA Odds

Miami -1½

Boston +1½

Total: 225

Miami is Heating Up Prior to Playoffs

Miami had largely struggled throughout the season, but the Heat are… heating up nicely, pardon the pun. Miami has won two straight and seven of its last 10 games including a 130-124 road win over Boston on Sunday. Jimmy Butler had 26 points and 11 assists, Duncan Robinson added 22 points and Bam Adebayo chipped in 20 points in the win.

“It always feels great to win,” Butler said. “But I don’t think that we closed the game like we’re supposed to or capable of either. So at the same time we’ve got to be better.”

Miami led by as many as 26 in the first half and had to fight off a furious rally in the second half to secure the win. The Heat have won nine of 12 and average 107.6 points per game (25th) while limiting the opposition to 107.9 points per game defensively (4th). Miami has gone 17-16 on the road this season.

Jimmy Butler is averaging a team-high 21.6 points and 7.2 assists while Bam Adebayo is averaging 18.9 points and nine rebounds.

Struggling Celtics in Trouble

Boston has dropped two straight and six of nine and will be without shooting guard Jaylen Brown for the remainder of the season after the high-flying all-star suffered a broken wrist. The 24-year-old was diagnosed with the injury over the weekend and is expected to have surgery this week

Boston got crushed in the first half in Sunday’s 130-124 loss against Miami. Evan Fournier scored a team-high 30 points and Jayson Tatum added 29 points, but it wasn’t enough.

”When we’re not completely engaged for whatever reason, we’re just not good,” Celtics coach Brad Stevens said. ”When we’re completely engaged, we’re a good basketball team. When we’re not, we’re not even close to being able to compete with anybody, let alone a team like Miami.”

Boston averages 112.9 points per game (16th) while allowing 111.3 points per contest defensively (12th). The C’s have gone 21-14 at TD Garden this season. Jayson Tatum is averaging a team-high 26.3 points and 7.3 rebounds, but Boston will be without Brown’s 24.7 points per game for the remainder of the season.

Miami Heat Won’t Be Beat

Let me get started by saying that I don’t trust the underachieving Celtics one iota at this juncture of the season. Boston might be 20-7 ATS in its last 27 games as a home underdog, but the Celtics are also 1-4 ATS in their last five games, an identical 1-4 ATS in their last five home games and 1-5 ATS in their last six home games against a team with a winning road record. On the flip side of the coin, Miami is 3-0-1 ATS in its last four games as a favorite, 4-1-1 ATS in its last six games overall and 5-2 ATS in their last seven games as a road favorite.

More importantly, the Heat punked the hell out of the Celtics in last season’s playoffs and smacked the Celtics around en route to a solid win on Sunday that wasn’t nearly as close as the final score indicates. Miami has won six of the last nine meetings while going 8-2 ATS in their last 10 road dates against the C’s. Even if Boston had star guard Jaylen Brown, I’ve still got Miami winning outright to make another statement should they meet Boston in the playoffs.

Pick: Miami Heat -1½

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