Free NBA Pick: Heat vs. Celtics NBA Odds
Looking for Miami Heat vs. Boston Celtics free NBA picks & NBA odds? NBA betting sees the Heat taking on the Celtics on Friday, May 27th, 2022 at TD Garden. Cappers Picks provides complimentary expert handicapping picks on all NBA basketball matchups so stay tuned for more FREE daily NBA hoops predictions like this Heat Celtics matchup.
2022 NBA Playoffs Handicapping Eastern Conference Finals
(2-3) Miami Heat vs. Boston Celtics (3-2)
Date: Friday, May 27th
Time: 8:30 PM EST
Venue: TD Garden, Boston, Massachusetts
NBA Moneyline Odds: Heat +352 | Celtics -380 (Bet Now!)
NBA Betting Odds: Celtics -8.5
NBA Betting Total: 201
The Eastern Conference Finals can come to a close on Friday, May 27th as the second-seeded Boston Celtics host the top-seeded Miami Heat. Boston won Wednesday, 93-80 in Miami to put themselves in a position to clinch the Eastern Conference Finals.
While both teams have dealt with copious injuries the Heat core is the group most dramatically impacted and is the team on the brink of playoff elimination.
If the Celtics win Game 6, they’ll clinch a berth to the NBA Finals to face the Golden State Warriors while the Heat is on the brink of elimination needing to win Friday to force a Game 7 winner take all.
Miami Heat
Although both squads have dealt with injuries the Heat have arguably the worse ailments with superstar Jimmy Butler a shadow of his typical self.
Butler was the best player on the court in Game 1, posting 41 points, nine rebounds, five assists, four steals, and three blocks en route to a Heat victory. In Game 3, he played only one half after re-injuring his knee and his production has been on a steady decline since.
Through the last three matches, Butler’s production has plummeted to 9.3 points shooting 25.0 percent from the field.
Hamstring injuries are hampering both Kyle Lowry and Max Strus who combined for 0-15 in Game 4, and 1 of 13 in Game 3.
PJ Tucker is playing through a sore knee and like his teammates struggled in the last two games shooting 0-4 in Game 3 and 3 of 7 in Game 4 for seven points.
Tyler Herro has missed the last two games with a groin injury so that’s five of the Heat core group playing at well under 100 percent and it’s equating to a struggle for Miami to put points on the board and cost them two games in a row.
Bam Adebayo had the best outing Wednesday delivering a double-double of 18 points and 10 rebounds. Gabe Vincent (15) and Duncan Robinson (11) were the other double-figure contributors.
While it’s likely all of the core will make an effort to play the same five players are listed on the injury report including Lowry, Strus, Vincent, and Tucker (knee) listed as probable while Herro is questionable.
Boston Celtics
Miami managed to keep Game 5 close until the half holding a five-point lead, but the Celtics took control in the third quarter doubling up the Heat 32 to 16, and never looked back.
Robert Williams III and Marcus Smart have dealt with injuries throughout the series but were both in the lineup and made an impact particularly defensively.
Jayson Tatum played through the neck stinger is suffered recently, coming just shy of a triple-double with 22 points, 12 rebounds, and nine assists while Jaylen Brown led the scoring with 25 points.
Once again Al Horford was the x-factor for Boston keeping his team in the mix early and finished with 16 points, seven rebounds, five assists, a steal, and two blocks.
Smart (ankle) and Williams (knee) are questionable for Friday while Sam Hauser (shoulder) is out.
NBA Betting Trends:
- Miami is 13-7 SU in their last 20 games.
- Boston is 15-5 ATS in their last 20 games.
- The total has gone UNDER in 11 of Miami’s last 16 games.
- The total has gone OVER in 10 of Boston’s last 15 games against Miami.
Free Miami Heat vs. Boston Celtics NBA Prediction:
Unlike the initial four games in this series, Game 5 was more of a dog fight with neither team pulling away until the third quarter. The Heat is maintaining their defensive intensity but struggling to score – – especially the starting unit.
Despite their offensive malaise, there are several positives for Erik Spoelstra to pull from the loss and apply to Friday. The Heat reserve unit outscored Boston 38-19 so if the starters can channel even slight upticks offensively they might be able to steal the match in Boston.
Miami also won the glass (49-46) including the offensive boards (19-6) and had a slight edge in paint scoring (40-36) in spite of being much smaller.
While the Heat held the Celts under 100 points (93) again, their issue is finding a way to score enough to beat a deeper arguably more talented Celtics team.
To counter that, Miami needs to push the pace offensively while increasing ball and player movement. Defensively, they’ve shown the ability to handle perimeter and transition details but they also need to stop allowing Tatum and Brown specifically from taking them off the dribble.
It’s unlikely Butler, Lowry et al will suddenly be much healthier with just one day’s rest so it’s essential Adebayo offers a performance similar to what Butler did in Game 1 and allow everyone else to supplement his output.
Although anything is possible, it just feels like Boston has too many weapons and their top talents will lead the Celtics to the NBA Finals.
4* Free NBA Betting Pick: Celtics ATS
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