Boston Celtics at Miami Heat Betting Preview/Prop Picks

Game 5 is set to begin tonight between the Boston Celtics and Miami Heat. Game 4 went to Boston after they battered the Miami Heat and won the game 102-82.

Tonight, the Boston offense will look to take over and get another win on the road. Some would think that the Celtics would come in as underdogs. However, tonight, they’re 1.5-point favorites over the Heat.

The Miami Heat need to win this game; if not, they’ll be facing elimination. The worst thing that could happen to them is to be eliminated on their home court.

The Heat will go back to Boston after this game at home. The good news is that Game 7 would be played in Miami. However, they’re still dealing with a few key injuries in tonight’s game, which could be trouble.

Boston Celtics: Defense, the driving force behind Boston

The success for Boston through this series has been due to their defense. In this series, they’ve allowed the Miami Heat to score just 102.75 points per game.

Sure, they’ve had a few uncharacteristic outings, but they’re still fighting for wins. As an offense, the Celtics have averaged 109.75 points per game. It’s not a lot of points, but enough to get the job done.

Tonight, they’ll have to face Miami on the road, which is a tough task to take on. The Heat have a record of 29-12 at home. The Celtics lost Game 1 to Miami when they faced them on the road to begin the series.

The Heat aren’t the only team dealing with injuries today; the Celtics will be without SF Sam Hauser again. Starting center Robert Williams III is also questionable.

Miami Heat: Miami needs to overcome injuries to win tonight

With the injury list growing for Miami, it’s important for them to push forward. Tyler Herro, Kyle Lowry, and P.J. Tucker are just a few of the names on the injured list.

Although they’re only labeled as “day-to-day,” they could see limited time on the court. Because of this, the Miami Heat will need a bigger game from Jimmy Butler and the healthy Heat players.

Offense has been inconsistent for the Heat this season, which continues to be a problem. However, they averaged 110 points per game at home in this series.

If their offense can put together a stronger game, they should be able to win tonight. One of the most important players to watch here is Bam Adebayo. Adebayo has averaged 19 points through his last ten games.

Boston Celtics vs. Miami Heat Betting Pick

When looking at these teams, there’s one area that sticks out to us, Boston’s interior defense. If Williams is on limited minutes, Adebayo should have a great game for Miami.

If we look back at Game 3, Adebayo had 31 points and led the Heat to a 109-103 victory. We believe he’ll have another breakout game today and lead the Heat to a home victory.

The total in this game is set at a very low 204 points, so we’ll take the over as well. We understand that these offenses have been slow at times, but the Heat play better at home. They’ve averaged 110 points at home in this series, so the over is the better bet.

DunkelIndex Free Pick: Miami Heat +1.5, OVER

Prop Picks

Miami (-115) OVER 101.5 Points

Miami is averaging 109.4 points per game on offense, which ranks No. 17 in the league. That average increases to 110.9 points per game at home. Scores have gone OVER in five of the Heat’s last eight home games versus Boston.

With Dunkel predicting a Miami home victory by the score of 107-102, take the Heat (-115) to finish OVER their Vegas team total of 101.5 points against the Celtics.

Bam Adebayo (+110) OVER 16.5 Points

Adebayo averaged 19.1 points per game in 56 games during the regular season, which ranked No. 3 on the Heat. That averaged remained relatively steady at 18.9 points per game in Miami wins and 18.8 points per game at home.

With Dunkel predicting a Heat home win, take Adebayo (+110) to finish OVER his Vegas point total of 16.5 points against Boston.

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