NBA Playoff Betting – Celtics vs Heat

A wave of lower seeded teams have begun to make their stands in NBA playoff betting action, and on Friday night, the #5 Miami Heat will get a chance to make a stand and get back into their series with the #4 Boston Celtics in their nationally televised Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals.

The Celtics were a dominating team in Boston, winning Games 1 and 2 by an average of 19.0 points per game. Game 2 was a total annihilation, as the Heat was crushed 106-77 in spite of the fact that F Kevin Garnett was suspended for the game.

#4 Boston Celtics (52-32, 35-47-2 ATS) vs. #5 Miami Heat (47-37, 42-41-1 ATS)

Game Date/Time: Friday, April 23rd, 7:00 ET
Game Location: American Airlines Arena, Miami, FL
TV/Radio Broadcast: ESPN, Cox Sports New England, Sirius

NBA Playoff Odds
Boston Celtics +4
Miami Heat -4
Game Total 182

F Glen Davis picked a great time to come up with his best game of the season.

With the aforementioned KG out of the lineup thanks to that elbow he threw in Game 1 at G Quentin Richardson, Davis went 7/14 from the floor and 9/11 from the foul line, totaling 23 points to go with his eight boards. Boston was +24 in Davis’ 29 minutes on the court, and even though that was the lowest margin for any of the five starters, he was clearly the difference maker in a game that could’ve been very ugly for the home team.

G Rajon Rondo came up just a tad short of both a double-double and a triple-double. He scored just eight points, but also had seven rebounds and 12 assists against just three turnovers.

The starting five for Boston in Game 2 totaled 82 points, as all four outside of Rondo scored in double digits. Just those five alone outscored Miami by five.

For the Heat, the story is unfortunately exactly the same over and over again. In Game 1, G Dwyane Wade scored 26 points and no one really came to his aid.

In Game 2, "Flash" went 11/18 from the field, 5/8 from beyond the arc, scored 29 points, dished out five assists, blocked a pair of shots, and only committed three fouls and one turnover.

On any other night, he’d be an MVP. On this night, he was merely a spark of good fortune on an otherwise awful team.

Miami got 13 points out of F Michael Beasley, but no one else scored more than 10. The rest of the Heat outside of those two stars made just 12 shots, something that has to change to keep them alive in this series.

NBA Playoff Insider Tip: The Celtics have covered seven of their L/8 NBA betting battles in Miami.

It’s very difficult to see how Miami is going to win a game in this series after that woeful performance in Game 2. If there’s a ‘W’ anywhere left in its season though, tonight is the night.

However, we believe that, with the way that this series has gone, winning by more than four points is going to be a very, very tough chore for the hosts.

Back the C’s in NBA playoff betting action in tonight’s Game 3.

My NBA Playoff Prediction: Miami by 2