21st October 2022 - preview, prediction & picks:
Boston Celtics @ Miami Heat
19:30 ET / local
FTX Arena. Miami, Florida
Expected lineups/team news:
Celtics:
PG - Marcus Smart
SG - Derrick White
SF - Jaylen Brown
PF - Jayson Tatum
C - Al Horford
Robert Williams III is out (knee) for 8-12 weeks. Recent signing Danilo Gallinari (knee) is also unavailable.
Head coach Ice Udoka is suspended for the entirety of the ’22/’23 season due to “Team policy violations”. Joe Mazulla steps in as head coach. This cannot fail to cause disruption.
Heat:
PG - Kyle Lowry
SG - Tyler Herro
SF - Jimmy Butler
PF - Caleb Martin
C - Bam Adebayo
Miami have some lower-tier players out on a day-to-day basis but are otherwise in decent shape. Including their only recent signing, rookie Nikola Jović (back)
2021/22 standings:
Boston: 1st in Atlantic - 2nd in Eastern - 6th in NBA
Miami Heat: 1st in Southeast - 1st in Eastern - 4th in NBA
Head-to-head
2021/22:
BOS 2 - 1 MIA
Regular season
BOS 78 - 51 MIA
NBA Playoffs
BOS 2 - 3 MIA
Last game:
Celtics 98 - 106 Heat
Rest days:
BOS: 2
MIA: 1
Home/away (H/A) last 3 games
BOS: - - A
MIA: - - A
NBA Championship odds:
Rationale:
In spite of such tremendous upheavals in the Celtics’ locker room, the markets cannot see beyond them overpowering the Heat in this matchup.
The teams were close last season but BOS edged out the regular season matchups 2:1. They also knocked MIA out of the NBA Playoffs in the Eastern Conference Final.
Miami come into the game with just one day of rest to Boston’s two. But they do retain the home advantage.
Prediction:
The Jump Hub team
2 star pick **
