Celtics vs. Heat Game 1 Top Parlay Odds & Picks for Tuesday, May 17 (2022)
We have a chalk matchup for the Eastern Conference title with the 1 & 2 matching up and the 2020 Eastern Conference Finals rematch. No one would have thought the Heat and Celtics would be the ones playing for a chance to go to the NBA Finals in the preseason. Especially the Celtics under new coach Ime Udoka as they struggled for the first half of the season before becoming the hottest team in the league. After both of these teams went through lengthy conference semi-finals, they have to regroup and turn around quickly.
(Odds courtesy of FanDuel)
Boston Celtics vs. Miami Heat (-1.5) O/U 204
(Tip-Off 8:30 p.m. ET)
Miami had some ups and downs in their series against Philadelphia, but one person that stayed consistent was Jimmy Butler. He played really well during those tough losses and finished the series averaging 27.5 points and shooting 51.3% from the floor.
One of Miami's strong suits that they will need to win is their pressing defense. They finished the regular season third in points allowed (104.6), defensive efficiency (1.050), and shooting percentage(44.6). They will need to bring that type of pressure like in Game 6 against Joel Embiid and James Harden against Jason Tatum, Jaylen Brown in the backcourt with Al Horford, who's turned back the clock during the playoffs.
No one would have thought before January the Celtics would be at this point. They were below .500 before the late-January surge, which included winning 22-of-25 and pushing them to the No. 2 seed.
While Miami is one of the top defenses, Boston is THE top defense. This year they lead the regular season in scoring defense (104.2), defensive efficiency (1.035), opponent effective shooting (50.1), and anything else you can imagine.
Obviously, with a defense like that, they have the Defensive Player of the Year in Marcus Smart and Robert Williams, who was third in blocks (2.17) and offensive rebounding (3.83).
While Miami has shown greatness during these playoffs, they've also struggled. They've put up offensive duds against a below-average Philadelphia defense. The games they lost were because they could not get contributions from anyone not named Jimmy Butler. The Celtics have the defensive abilities to contain Butler and anyone else on the floor, and the Heat needs others to pull the focus away from Butler.
This will be a very short turnaround for the Celtics. Still, they have shown their resilience against the defending champions, and now they do it against the previous Eastern Conference winners.
Leg 1: Celtics +1.5
Total Pick: O/U 204
Vegas has a pretty accurate total at 204. As mentioned, these are two of the best defenses in the league, and this will undoubtedly be a matchup. It’s hard to imagine either one of these teams put up 100 points in this first game.
Leg 2: Under 204
Tyler Herro’s point prop O/U 14.5
Tyler Herro has been outstanding off the bench with 13.8 points in the playoffs. The moment he became popular was in the playoffs against these Celtics back in the 2020 bubble, where he had 37 points in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Finals. This is a much different Boston team from two years ago, and they’ve held Herro to under 13 points in the three regular-season games and should contain him again in Game 1.
Leg 3: Tyler Herro under 14.5 points
Total parlay odds on FanDuel: +444
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