Miami Heat (44-38, eighth in the Eastern Conference) vs. Boston Celtics (57-25, second in the Eastern Conference)
Boston; Friday, 8:30 p.m. EDT
FANDUEL SPORTSBOOK NBA LINE: Celtics -9; over/under is 215.5
EASTERN CONFERENCE FINALS: Heat lead series 1-0
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BOTTOM LINE: The Miami Heat visit the Boston Celtics in the Eastern Conference finals with a 1-0 lead in the series. The Heat won the last matchup 123-116 on May 18 led by 35 points from Jimmy Butler, while Jayson Tatum scored 30 points for the Celtics.
The Celtics are 34-18 against Eastern Conference opponents. Boston ranks second in the league averaging 16.0 made 3-pointers per game while shooting 37.6% from downtown. Tatum leads the team averaging 3.2 makes while shooting 34.9% from 3-point range.
The Heat have gone 24-28 against Eastern Conference opponents. Miami averages 12.8 turnovers per game and is 6-2 when committing fewer turnovers than opponents.
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The 117.9 points per game the Celtics score are 8.1 more points than the Heat give up (109.8). The Heat are shooting 46.0% from the field, 0.3% lower than the 46.3% the Celtics' opponents have shot this season.
The Celtics have scored at a much higher rate when playing at home than away from home in the 2022-23 season (120.5 at home versus 115.4 on the road), though they have allowed fewer points in home games than away from home (110.5 opponent points per home game versus 112.4 on the road). This season the Heat are making an equal amount of 3-pointers at home and away (12.0 per game). But they have a higher 3-point percentage at home (36.0%) than on the road (32.9%).
TOP PERFORMERS: Tatum is averaging 30.1 points, 8.8 rebounds and 4.6 assists for the Celtics. Jaylen Brown is averaging 24.9 points, 5.8 rebounds and 3.8 assists over the last 10 games for Boston.
Bam Adebayo is averaging 20.4 points, 9.2 rebounds and 3.2 assists for the Heat. Max Strus is averaging 2.4 made 3-pointers over the last 10 games for Miami.
LAST 10 GAMES: Celtics: 5-5, averaging 113.6 points, 42.6 rebounds, 24.0 assists, 5.3 steals and 6.7 blocks per game while shooting 48.1% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 107.5 points per game.
Heat: 8-2, averaging 111.7 points, 41.2 rebounds, 23.5 assists, 7.8 steals and 3.9 blocks per game while shooting 45.7% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 105.8 points.
INJURIES: Celtics: Danilo Gallinari: out (knee).
Heat: Victor Oladipo: out for season (knee), Tyler Herro: out (hand).
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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
