BOSTON @ MIAMI (BOS -9.5, 204.5)
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JA CAVALIER REVIEWS
CELTICS VS. HEAT 4/27/24
When the Miami Heat host the top-seeded Boston Celtics in Game 3 of their NBA playoff series in the first round on Saturday, all eyes will be on the three-point line. Boston won Game 1 on Sunday, 114–94. The Celtics shot 44.9 percent from beyond the arc and made 22 three-pointers. Miami shot 32.4 percent and only made 12 threes.
Miami won Wednesday's Game 2 in Boston, 111-101, to square the best-of-seven series at 1-1. The Heat set a franchise postseason record with 23 three-pointers made. The Heat hit 53.5 percent of their shots from behind the arc. Boston shot 37.5 percent and only made 12 three-pointers.
Tyler Herro of Miami only managed 11 points on 4-of-13 shooting in the first game of the series. He finished with a team-high 24 points on Wednesday, making 7-of-13 his shots, including 6-of-11 from beyond the arc. Bam Adebayo and Caleb Martin each scored 21 points for the Heat.
The Heat's spiritual leader is Jimmy Butler, who is sidelined for a few weeks after suffering a knee injury during the play-in round. Butler has anointed Herro as the on-floor team leader. In Wednesday’s Game 2, Herro delivered with 24 points and a game-high 14 assists.
The eighth-seeded Heat have suffered a serious blow with the loss of Butler. With an average of 20.8 points, 5.3 rebounds, 5.0 assists, and 1.3 steals, he contributes to the team in many ways. In addition, he averages a team-high 7.7 free throws per game, making 85.9 percent of them. Late in games, his ability to get to the line is extremely valuable.
Terry Rozier, who has averaged 19.8 points per game in his two stops this season—Charlotte and Miami—is also absent from the Heat. Miami was not given much of a chance in this series because of those injuries and the fact that the Celtics had the best regular-season record in the NBA this year.
Now, though, the Heat go home with some confidence. They are also aware that they defeated the Celtics in the Eastern Conference Finals last season, winning the series 4-3. But, the Heat have had difficulty at home this season (23–18). Miami's performance at home wasn’t as good as the Celtics' road record of 27-14.
The fact that Boston finished the season 18 games ahead of the Heat in the standings should instill confidence in the Celtics. If Kristaps Porzingis improves on his performance from Game 2, when he was limited to eight points on 1-for-9 shooting, including 0-for-4 from deep, Boston could get back on track.
Porzingis averaged 20.1 points per game for the season and had an effective field goal percentage of 58.9. He had 18 points in the first game, hitting 7-of-13 from the field and 4-of-8 from beyond the arc. Porzingis is a solid third option after Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum.
Tatum averages 25.5 points during the postseason and he scored 26.9 points during the regular season. For the season, Brown is averaging 23.0 points, and in the playoffs, he is averaging 25.0 points.
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FREE PICK: BAM ADEBAYO OVER 28.5 PTS + REBS
In the two games of this series so far, Adebayo has gone Over this number in each. He had 24 points and 6 rebounds in Game 1 and 21 points and 10 boards in Game 2. In Bam’s final eight games of the regular season, he only cleared this prop twice. However, in 10 games between March 10 and March 31, Bam went Over this number 9 times. Jimmy Butler missed a few of those games and played less than 30 minutes in a few others. With Butler out tonight again, Bam will pick up the slack and go Over again..
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