Expect Plenty of Unders in the Eastern Conference Finals Between Celtics and Heat

The Eastern Conference Finals are finally here and basketball fans will have at least four games to enjoy watching the Boston Celtics and Miami Heat battle it out. And while this series should prove to be exciting from start to finish, that doesn't necessarily mean that these two teams are going to shoot the lights out. 

On Twitter this week, Kirk Goldsberry shared a chart that beautifully illustrates the efficiency of each team during the playoffs.

As you can see quite clearly, the Boston Celtics' defense nearly played off the charts well. They ranked first in defensive efficiency and net rating against the Bucks in the first round. Because of the Celtics' stifling defense, the defending champions were held to just 102.8 points per game during the postseason. That is a huge drop off from the regular-season average of 112.1 points per game. 

Thanks to that performance, the Celtics have the second-highest ranked defense left in the playoffs. Interestingly, the Heat have the first and are the only team in the playoffs holding opponents to under 100 points (97.5). The Celtics, for their efforts, average 101.8 points per game against in the playoffs so far. 

So, what does this all tell us? Well, for starters, this series is likely to be a defensive showcase on both sides. These are the two best defensive teams left in the playoffs with the Mavericks a close third. This also suggests that this series is going to have a lot of games flying under the total. 

This idea is further reinforced by the recent results from these two teams. During the last two playoff series, the UNDER is 9-2 for the Heat and 7-4 for the Celtics. I don’t see any reason for these two teams to abandon their defensive-first strategy for this series. So, keep an eye on those totals at WynnBET Sportsbook and try to exploit this trend.