Boston Celtics will host the Miami Heat in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Semi-Finals. The home side is one win away from the NBA Finals, and they have a great chance to capitalize on playing in front of their crowd. The visitors need to improve their game if they want to bring the tie to a decider.
Boston tied two wins in this series, and they go to this match after an away victory. The hosts are full of confidence, and they want to end this tie on Friday evening. On the other hand, Miami has had many issues in the last two encounters, and they look forward to resolving them. However, they have just one chance to do that.
Boston Celtics – Can they keep winning?
The Celtics took the lead in this series for the first time after winning in Game 5 on Wednesday evening. They were better than Miami on the road, celebrating a 93-80 victory. It was a close game in the first half, and Boston trailed by five points. However, they enjoyed an excellent third quarter, which the Celtics won by 16 points, and that was the turning point of the match. Boston was quite good at shooting, having a 46.5 field goal percentage and hitting 30.3% of their three-pointer attempts. On the other hand, they had three more turnovers and three rebounds less than the opponents.
Jayson Tatum has contributed the most to the Celtics’ offense in the post-season, scoring 26.9 pts and having 6.3 rebounds, six assists, and 1.2 steals per match. Jaylen Brown averages 23.1 pts per game, followed by 6.9 rebs and 1.3 steals, while Marcus Smart produces 15 points per contest in the playoffs. Al Horford controls the paint with 9.3 rebounds and has 12.9 pts, while Grant Williams scores 10.6 points per match. The good news for Boston is that they have resolved almost all selection issues, and Sam Hauser is the only unavailable player.
Expected Line-Up: Marcus Smart, Jaylen Brown, Jayson Tatum, Al Horford, Robert Williams III
with best odds
Miami Heat – Will they improve their game?
The Heat are on the verge of ending their campaign after losing two straight games. They scored only 80 points in the most recent one, and poor performance in the third period cost them a victory. Miami was very wasteful in shooting on Wednesday evening. They had a 31.9 field goal percentage and scored only 15.6% of their shots from the three-pointer area. With those numbers, the Heat cannot count on a positive result in Game 6. Therefore, they need to address this issue urgently to return the series home for a deciding clash.
Jimmy Butler has led Miami in the offense during the playoffs with 25.6 points, 7.1 rebounds, a team-high 4.6 assists, and a pair of steals per match. Bam Adebayo contributes to the Heat offense with 14.7 pts and tops the rebs charts with 7.8 per game, while Tyler Herro averages 13.5 points. Victor Oladipo and Max Strus are another two players with a double-digit number of points for Miami in the post-season. The Heat still struggles with selection issues since Kyle Lowry, Max Strus, P.J. Tucker, Gabe Vincent, and Tyler Herro are questionable for this important game.
Expected Line-Up: Victor Oladipo, Tyler Herro, Jimmy Butler, Duncan Robinson, Bam Adebayo
Expert Pick #1 – Boston Celtics -8.5 @-110
Miami Heat is a very good team, but they have had a lot of issues lately. Boston managed to capitalize on those, and I don’t think they will miss this chance to win and secure a place in the NBA Finals. The Celtics might also cover the spread, and I’ll back them as my first pick.
Expert Pick #2 – Under 201.5 @-110
Despite a low margin on the previous two occasions, the Under cashed in both. It is going to be another slow-pace clash, and I don’t see these two sides scoring more than 201 points in total. Give me the Under as the second bet.
Expert Pick #3 – Miami Heat Under 96.5 @-120
Miami couldn’t score more than 82 pts in the last two encounters, and given their selection issues, I see them staying under a 96.5 margin in this one. This is the must-win game for the Heat, but Boston’s defense should not let them score more than the bookies predicted. It’s going to be my third pick at slightly lower odds than the first two.
