The title-favorite Celtics will open the Eastern Conference Finals at home Wednesday night against the heat.
This has been a common playoff matchup for the past few years as Boston and Miami have met this season in 2022 and 2020. The two teams have split the meetings, though neither has won the championship. the Celticswho finished with the second-best regular-season record in the league, have faced little resistance so far in the postseason from Hawks and 76ers while the Heat, who entered the playoffs as No. 8 seed through the play-in tournament, sending the top-seeded. Bucks in five games and eliminated the Knicks at six.
Below are some betting picks, trends and a key question for Game 1, which begins at 8:30 pm ET on TNT.
Place Your Bets for the Heat and Celtics at SI Sportsbook
Eric Hartline / A TODAY Sports
Jaylen Brown Sees Scoring Bump: Bet Brown Over 24.5 Points
Brown’s scoring in the semifinals against the 76ers dropped to 22.9 points per game, but he was just as efficient as in Round 1, when he averaged 26.7 against the Hawks. The only real difference is the drop in his attempts from 20.3 to 15.6. Brown was aggressive in three regular-season meetings with Miami – he scored 28, 26 and 37 points in those games and went for a playoff career-high 40 points in Game 3 of the 2022 ECF against the Heat. completion by Jayson Tatum 51-point performance, Miami should focus on slowing him down, creating more opportunities for Brown, who shot 47.1% from three in the postseason. His prop points are set at 24.5 with a little juice (-118) on top.
Gabe Vincent Continues Dishing Dimes: Bet Vincent Over 3.5 Assists
Vincent is second on the team in assists per game in consecutive playoffs Jimmy Butler in 4.8. He has surpassed his 3.5-assist total (-115) in eight straight games since Game 4 of the Bucks series and has only failed to hit four dimes twice in 11 playoff games. The Celtics have allowed the second-fewest assists per game in the playoffs (20.8), but that’s an easy mark for Vincent to clear.
Max Strus Stays Hot: Bet Strus Over 11.5 Points
Strus struggled against Milwaukee but was a part of Miami’s offense in the New York series. His scoring and shots per game more than doubled to 14.7 points and 11.2 field goal attempts per game. Strus scored 14 or more points in the last five games of the series and also made 10 three-pointers in three of those games. With more attempts from deep, Strus, a career 37.1% shooter from behind the arc, could easily clean up his 11.5-point prop (-122) for Game 1, as his accomplished in each of his last five games.
Will the Heat Return Against the Spread?
Miami started the playoffs on fire against the spread with eight shutouts — and five upset wins — in its first nine games. The Heat did not cover either of the last two games against the Knicks as a 3.5-point underdog and then as a six-point favorite in the decisive game. Meanwhile, the Celtics, who started the postseason 6–5 against the spread, have returned to form and swept their last two as 2.5- and six-point favorites. Boston, an eight-point home favorite, failed to cover the spread the last time it was favored by this many points while Miami has a handful of straight wins in games it entered as an eight-or-so underdog. more points.
Place Your Bets for the Heat and Celtics at SI Sportsbook
NBA Playoffs Betting Record: 18–18
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