The Miami Heat and Boston Celtics meet Saturday in game 3 of the NBA Eastern Conference Finals at the TD Garden. The Miami Heat look for a bounce back showing to take a 2-1 series lead. The Boston Celtics look for back-to-back wins to take a 2-1 series lead.
The Miami Heat are averaging 107.5 points on 46.4 percent shooting and allowing 100.5 points on 44.8 percent shooting. Jimmy Butler is averaging 29.8 points and 7.6 rebounds, while Tyler Herro is averaging 13.9 points and 4.3 rebounds. Bam Adebayo is the third double-digit scorer and Max Strus is grabbing 4.4 rebounds. The Miami Heat are shooting 32 percent from beyond the arc and 80.5 percent from the free throw line. The Miami Heat are allowing 34.6 percent shooting from deep and are grabbing 41.2 rebounds per game.
The Boston Celtics are averaging 109.8 points on 45.9 percent shooting and allowing 103.1 points on 44.7 percent shooting. Jayson Tatum is averaging 28.2 points and 5.8 rebounds, while Jaylen Brown is averaging 22.5 points and 3.7 assists. Marcus Smart is the third double-digit scorer and Al Horford is grabbing 8.8 rebounds. The Boston Celtics are shooting 37.7 percent from beyond the arc and 80.8 percent from the free throw line. The Boston Celtics are allowing 32.6 percent shooting from deep and are grabbing 41.2 rebounds per game.
The Heat are 18-8 ATS in their last 26 games as an underdog and 14-6 ATS in their last 20 games overall. The Celtics are 6-2-1 ATS in their last 9 Saturday games and 18-7-1 ATS in their last 26 games overall. The under is 9-4 in Heat last 13 overall. The under is 4-1 in Celtics last 5 home games. The Heat are 10-3 ATS in the last 13 meetings in Boston.
It’s easy to fall in love with the Boston Celtics with how they looked in game 2 and with them getting key players back. The Celtics should be favored here at home. However, this was expected to be a long, competitive series, and you shouldn’t be giving up on the Heat after one terrible showing. The Heat have bounced back all year, and they’ve actually played some of their best on the road, where they win by an average of 3.1 points and are 12-5-1 against the spread in their last 18 road games. The Heat have also covered 10 of their last 13 trips to Boston. We should expect the most physical game of the series yet, and points should be hard to come by for both sides. Expect a close, competitive contest. Give me the Heat and the free buckets.