The Heat used a huge third quarter to take the opener of this Eastern Conference finals and now shoot for the 2-0 series lead Thursday night in Miami. The Heat, who own home-court advantage for this best-of-seven affair, opened this series as +155 underdogs to win it, with Boston chalked as a -175 favorite. Now, with a game in their pocket, Miami is lined as a -140 favorite to win this series, with the Celtics now getting +120. Here’s how we homeworked this Game 2 with our free NBA playoffs betting pick.
NBA Playoffs Betting Odds
The NBA playoffs betting lines opened Miami at -4.5 for Game 2, with an over/under of right around 206. Early betting action then dipped the Heat to -3.5 and now -2.5. The total has hopped around landing on 206.5.
Celtics-Heat Game 2 Betting Preview
Miami grabbed Game 1 of this Eastern Conference finals series Tuesday night 118-107. The Heat trailed Boston by 13 points in the second quarter and 62-54 at the half. But Miami exploded out of the locker room, outscoring the Celtics 39-14 in the third quarter, and basically cruised from there to the victory and the cover as a 4.5-point favorite. Also, while the Game 1 total opened at 206, then got bet down 2.5 points, the game played over anyway. The Heat shot 49 percent from the floor Tuesday night, Boston 46 percent. But perhaps most importantly, Miami also won the turnover battle 16-13. With Tuesday’s victory/cover, the Heat are now 9-3 SU, 8-4 ATS this postseason. With Tuesday’s loss, the Celtics are now 8-4 SU, 7-4-1 ATS this postseason. Miami finished two games ahead of Boston in the regular-season standings, but the Celtics took the season series from the Heat two games to one. On the injury front Boston G Marcus Smart, this season’s League Defensive Player of the Year, missed Game 1 with a sore foot while F Al Horford sat out on the stupid virus list. Smart apparently will play Thursday night while Horford is still out. Meanwhile, Heat G Kyle Lowry (13 ppg, 7.5 apg this season) is out with a bad hamstring.
- Get more details: Boston at Miami Game 2 Betting Stats
NBA Betting Trends
- Miami is 7-0 SU and 6-1 ATS at home this postseason.
- Boston is 4-2 SU, 4-1-1 ATS on the road this postseason.
Totals Report
- The Under is 7-5 in Celtics games this postseason, which are averaging 212 total points.
- The Under is 9-3 in Heat games this postseason, which are averaging 206 points.
- The totals are split 2-2 in Celtics-Heat games this season, which are averaging 204 total points.
