Miami Heat at Boston Celtics - 5/23/22 NBA Picks and Prediction
Photo by David Butler II-USA TODAY Sports
Boston Celtics (60-36) vs Miami Heat (63-33)
Game Info: Monday, May 23, 2022 at 8:30 pm (TD Garden)
Betting Odds: Boston Celtics -6.5 -- Over/Under: 208.5 Click Here for the Latest Odds
Where to Watch: ABC Stream live sports and exclusive originals on ESPN+. Sign up now! 
The Miami Heat and the Boston Celtics collide in a pivotal Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Finals at the TD Garden on Monday night.
The Miami Heat will be aiming to take a commanding 3-1 series lead after taking down the Celtics in a 109-103 road win in Game 3 on Saturday night. Bam Adebayo led the team with 31 points, 10 rebounds, six assists and four steals, PJ Tucker added 17 points while Max Strus chipped in with 16 points. As a team, the Heat shot 46 percent from the field and 11 of 33 from the 3-point line as they hit the ground running and dominated the first quarter by 39-18 to build an early 26-point lead, before they used a pivotal 7-0 run late in the fourth quarter to escape with the narrow win after their lead was reduced to just one point with 2:40 left on the clock. The Heat got next to no support from their bench players, especially Tyler Herro who shot just four of 15 from the field and zero of six from the 3-point line.
Meanwhile, the Boston Celtics will be looking to bounce back and square up the series after coming up just short in Game 3 on Saturday. Jaylen Brown led the team with 40 points and nine rebounds on 14 of 20 shooting, Al Horford added 20 points with 14 rebounds and three blocks while Marcus Smart chipped in with 16 points and seven assists. As a team, the Celtics shot 48 percent from the field and 12 of 32 from the 3-point line as they fought hard to cut an early 26-point deficit to just one point late in the fourth quarter, only to see the Heat pull away and escape with the narrow win. Jayson Tatum had himself a night to forget as he scored just 10 points on three of 14 shooting from the field and one of seven shooting from the 3-point line while the bench combined for just 16 points.
Looking at the betting trends, the Heat are 13-5-1 ATS in their last 19 road games, 2-5 ATS in their last seven playoff games as an underdog and 4-1 ATS in their last five games overall. The Celtics are 34-16-2 ATS in their last 52 games against a team with a winning record, 5-0 ATS in their last five games following a loss and 12-5-1 ATS in their last 18 games overall.
Head to head, the over is 4-1 in the last five meetings overall and the Heat are 4-1 ATS in the last five meetings in Boston.
The Heat were able to reclaim control of the series with a crucial win in Game 3 on Saturday thanks to a red-hot start and a big game from Adebayo, but the news is that Jimmy Butler is currently listed as questionable as he is dealing with knee inflammation. The Celtics will be kicking themselves as they had home-court advantage and all the momentum, before the Heat ambushed them with a nightmare of a first quarter that had them reeling the entire game. The Heat will be full of confidence following their win in Game 3, but I think we're going to see a response from the Celtics who won't want to lose their second straight home game. It's tempting to take the Heat with the points, but this is a near must-win for the Celtics and I think they get the job done behind a bounce-back game from Tatum.
Risk Free Bets, Free Bets and Deposit Bonuses CLICK HERE!!!!
Peter’s Pick Boston -6.5
The pick in this article is the opinion of the writer, not a PickDawgz site consensus.
AUTHOR: Peter Tran
Mitch's Take...
