Miami Heat vs Boston Celtics betting tips and predictions for Wednesday’s NBA Eastern Conference Finals Game 5 on ESPN. We have a pivotal Game 5 between the Heat and Celtics coming our way as the winner will be on the verge of advancing to the NBA Finals. Read on for all our free predictions and betting tips.
Miami Heat
Game 4 exposed a ton of flaws that the Miami Heat have, particularly on the offensive end as they finished the game with just 82 points scored. None of the starters scored in double figures and 2 of them finished with a donut. Victor Oladipo led all scorers from the bench with 23, which is more than all 5 starters combined. It was the first time in NBA history that something like that happened.
Jimmy Butler and other Miami Heat players have to snap out of it, a performance like that will not do them well in front of the home crowd tonight. The good news is Miami is 10-1 SU in their last 11 games at FTX Arena, however, if there’s one thing we learned in this series it’s that home court advantage isn’t much of a factor. They’ve also covered the spread in 9 of their last 11 games played on a Wednesday, so they won’t be lacking any optimism heading into tonight’s game.
Boston Celtics
The injury report will play a big role for the Boston Celtics here as they could once again be without Marcus Smart, but also Derrick White and Robert Williams III as both of them are also questionable. Not having Smart wasn’t an issue in Game 4, but the Celtics won’t be able to sustain that level of play without their defensive player of the year and starting point guard. Jayson Tatum finally had a solid game with 31 points, bouncing back from just a 10-point performance in Game 4.
The Celtics have already won twice in Miami this year if we count the regular season, so they should be no strangers to shocking the home crowd in this one. Over their last 11 road games, they are 10-1 ATS and have won 14 of their last 20 games overall.
I am really feeling the Celtics here, they still have to win one more game on the road in this series in order for them to advance and that is tonight. Miami just isn’t on their level offensively, as the series progresses that just keeps getting more evident. I have Boston covering the spread here, so let’s back them.
Miami Heat vs Boston Celtics Predictions & Odds
Over the last 2 games of the series Miami has scored just 103 and 82 points which is concerning. Kyle Lowry is once again questionable, joining him on the sidelines could be Tyler Herro which is a big loss as he averaged over 20 points per game during the regular season. Jimmy Butler has also had knee issues, that could be one of the reasons why he scored just 6 points in Game 4. Excuses won’t matter much here for the Heat who have gone under in 10 of their last 15 games.
If we look at just games in which they’ve been the underdog, the total has gone under in 6 of the last 9. Boston has a lot of firepower on their roster, but if Miami struggles again they won’t score enough to push us over the total here. Getting back Marcus Smart should improve their defence even further, so don’t expect Miami to go over 100 points here. I think the Celtics win this one just like they won Game 4, locking down the Heat right from the get go. Let’s go with the under once again.
