The best team in the NBA this season takes on the top team from the Eastern Conference last season when the Boston Celtics and Miami Heat conclude their season series from South Beach on Tuesday as part of TNT’s doubleheader. The Celtics extended their winning streak to nine games by beating Toronto on Sunday and have won two of three games over the Heat this year and five of the last seven meetings dating back to last season’s playoffs. The Cs won the Eastern Conference title with a dramatic Game 7 win in Miami in the conference finals and are 4-0 SU and ATS in their last four trips.
The matchup between the Celtics and Heat takes place on Tuesday, January 24, 2023 and will air live on TNT with tip off at 7:30 p.m. ET from Miami-Dade Arena in Miami, FL. BookMaker.eu will have betting options for every game on the NBA schedule.
Celtics vs Miami Odds
Boston Celtics (Check Back Later)
Miami Heat (Check Back Later)
Total (Check Back Later)
Season to Date
The Celtics haven’t lost since consecutive games in OKC and Denver in the early part of the year. They’ve strung together their second nine-game winning streak of the season going 5-4 ATS during the current run. They failed to cover the 3.5-point line in the 106-104 win over the Raptors, though the outcome was significant since they were without Jayson Tatum. It was the second straight ATS loss after beating Golden State by three in overtime laying 6.5-points. Boston is the NBA’s best road team at 17-7 with wins in six straight going 4-2 ATS. They also boast a cover percentage of 54.2 in all road games this season.
The Heat are still searching for the consistency that led them to 53 wins last season. So far it’s been an up and down campaign evidenced by them alternating wins and losses over the last five games. They haven’t dropped consecutive games since before Christmas but they’ve been unable to gain ground by going 10-5 SU and 9-6 ATS in 15 games since losing to Indiana and Chicago. The Heat have fared better at home recently winning four straight while going 2-2 ATS improving to 15-9 SU. They’ve dropped four in a row on their own floor to Boston with none more troubling than the 100-96 Game 7 loss in last year’s East final.
Boston Celtics
We’ll see how much the Celtics value this current stretch of games. Dealing with injuries to Tatum, Marcus Smart and Robert Williams and with Malcolm Brogdon out for personal reasons, the Celtics visit Miami in the second of a back to back for their third game in four nights. With Tatum resting a sore wrist, the Celtics were able to beat Toronto behind 27 points from Jaylen Brown and 25 from Grant Williams. However, Smart sustained an ankle injury and is likely out for a few contests taking the team’s top defender off the floor.
Tatum’s injury isn’t considered serious and there’s a chance the NBA’s third-leading scorer is on the court Tuesday. Tatum is averaging 31.2 points and had put together monster games in wins over Charlotte and Golden State. He tallied 51 points to beat the Hornets then had 34 points and 19 rebounds playing 48 minute in the OT win over the Warriors. “It says a lot about our team,” Joe Mazzulla said of the win over Toronto with a shorthanded roster.
Miami Heat
Having four starters out of the rotation can mess with a team, which is a likely reason why the Heat haven’t quite played as well as last season’s edition. A few games last week Jimmy Butler was the only regular in the lineup, and while he did his best to keep the team going it just wasn’t enough. Reinforcements arrived with Bam Adebayo returning then Tyler Herro and Kyle Lowry rejoined the group. The starting five has been intact for the last three games with the Heat winning two of them, both over New Orleans.
Miami throttled the Pelicans last time out with the second-best scoring defense allowing 96 points as the Heat overcame a 16-point deficit for the 100-96 victory. Miami isn’t the flashiest team in the Association and relies on defense to win games. They held three of their last five opponents to fewer than 100 points going 3-0 SU and 2-1 ATS in those games with the UNDER also 2-1. Miami boasts the fourth-best UNDER percentage in the NBA at 54.2 with the last three meetings in Miami cashing the UNDER.
Celtics vs Heat Prediction
Miami definitely has the schedule advantage in this game and with the Celtics dealing with roster issues this is a good time for the Heat to rise to the occasion. If Miami’s plays its game we won’t see a lot of offense and with their roster rounding into form there’s a good chance the Heat take this one, in fact I’m betting on it.
Our Prediction: Miami Heat and UNDER
