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Boston Celtics v Miami Heat NBA Pick
Lebron James and the Miami Heat will look to close out their best-of-seven Eastern Conference semifinal series on Wednesday night when they host the Boston Celtics, a team that has goaded them for too long.
Date/Time: Wednesday May 11, 7:05 PM ET
Venue: American Airlines Arena in Miami, FL.
Broadcast: TNT
Money Line: Boston +260, Miami -320
Spread: Miami -7
Over/Under: 181
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Trailing 2-0, the Celtics snatched a victory at home, but then blew the opportunity to knot the series at two after losing Game 4 on Monday, 98-90 in overtime.
Now James, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh are on the threshold of doing something together that none of them could accomplish on his own—beat Boston, notching the Heat’s first appearance in the Eastern Conference finals since its 2006 championship run.
Miami’s Trio of Terror combined for 83 points with James putting up 35, Wade 28, while Bosch chipped in with 20. The threesome also raced up 35 of Miami’s 45 rebounds, while scoring all 12 of the Heat’s points in the extra period. The Celtics scored just four points in overtime, shooting 1 for 6 and making four of their 18 turnovers.
Paul Pierce led the charge for the Celts, scoring 27 points including the game-tying bucket in the waning seconds. Ray Allen added 17 and Kevin Garnett had seven points and 10 rebounds. Rajon Rondo, who dislocated his left elbow Saturday night in Game 3, played 39 minutes contributing 10 points with five assists.
Boston has reached the NBA finals in two of the last three seasons, both times knocking James and the Cavaliers out along the way. The Celtics eliminated the Heat in the first round last year, one round after again eliminating Cleveland, but they must now win three in a row—two of them in Miami—to have a chance to defend their Eastern Conference championship.
It doesn’t appear that the Heat will make any changes to their Game 5 starting lineup, while it’s not clear what C’s head coach Doc Rivers will do to put some spark into his squad.
Big man Shaquille O’Neal, who played for the first time in this postseason and just the second time since Feb. 1, played eight minutes in Game 3′s win over the Heat, scoring two points, but looked extremely slow and hobbled on Saturday night. Still, his presence in the paint could itself be enough to thwart some Miami drives. However, I wouldn’t be a surprised if Rivers went back to Jermaine O’Neal who has posted 27 points and 20 rebounds in this series with 49 points in the postseason.
I guess right about now, Boston might be asking why they ever got rid of Kendrick Perkins at the trade deadline.
Matt’s Free Prediction: Heat – While Miami has taken much criticism about its lack of depth after their big three, and whether or not it would haunt them during the postseason, they have consistently proven in this series that Lebron, Wade, and Bosh possess the ability to carry this club to a Championship. I expect that assumption to come to fruition as the Heat close out their series with a tired and beaten up Boston Celtics on Wednesday night in South Florida.
The odds makers have the Miami Heat as a -7 point favorite with an over/under of 181.
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Boston Celtics Betting Trends:
- Boston is 6-3 SU in its last 9 games
- The total has gone OVER in 4 of Boston’s last 6 games
- Boston is 2-6 SU in its last 8 games on the road
- Boston is 2-6 ATS in its last 8 games on the road
Miami Heat Betting Trends:
- The total has gone OVER in 4 of Miami’s last 5 games
- Miami is 11-2 SU in its last 13 games
- Miami is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games at home
- Miami is 6-19 SU in its last 25 games when playing Boston
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