Heat Odds Surge to Beat Celtics in Eastern Conference Finals
By Reed Wallach
Statement made.
The Miami Heat erased an 8-point deficit at halftime in Game 1 to beat the Boston Celtics in convincing fashion, 118-107 behind 41 points from Jimmy Butler. The Heat, who were considerable underdogs before the series started despite having home court advantage, are now the favorites to advance to the NBA Finals.
Here are the updated odds for the Eastern Conference Finals from WynnBET Sportsbook:
Celtics vs. Heat Updated Series Price
- Boston Celtics: +110
- Miami Heat: -130
Marcus Smart, Al Horford Availability Cause for Concern
Marcus Smart was on the injury report for Game 1 with a foot sprain and was a surprising scratch ahead of Tuesday's tip, but the bigger one was Al Horford entering Health and Safety Protocols hours before tip.
The Celtics were in a tough in Game 1, 2 days removed from a Game 7 victory over the defending champion Milwaukee Bucks, and then down 2 starters on short notice. The line shifted from the Heat -2 to the Heat -5 upon the news and Miami's second half showed that the Celtics are going to struggle if they aren't at full strength.
Payton Pritchard may have scored 18 points in more minutes for Smart at guard, but 30 minutes is way too many minutes for an undersized guard who was targetted down the stretch as the Heat held off any Celtics run down the stretch.
Head coach Ime Udoka also dusted off Aaron Nesmith for 11 minutes, who made some plays on defense, but also committed 3 fouls in 11 minutes and missed all 3 of his shots.
Moving forward, Smart's injury appears to be short term and I expect we see him in Game 2, but Horford is likely going to miss another game as well as potentially Game 3 in Boston. Boston got a big lift from Robert Williams, who was the only starter to boast a positive +/- with a +5 in 28 minutes, but missed the last 4 games of the Bucks series, will there be diminishing returns for Williams as he is only several weeks removed from knee surgery?
Heat Home Court Advantage Pivotal
The Celtics were favorites heading into this series, but the Heat held home court in order to take the 1-0 series lead. As we project the series out, if this were to go the distance, Miami would likely be slight favorites against a (healthy) Celtics team.
The Heat have their own injury concerns with Kyle Lowry still nursing a hamstring injury that has kept him out since Game 5 of the second round, but a mix of questions around the Celtics injury report and home court advantage are enough to shift the Heat to favorites following the Game 1 win.
Celtics vs. Heat Game 2 Odds
The Heat are -4 for Game 2 on Thursday night with a total of 207. If you are wagering on that game make sure you do so at WynnBET Sportsbook:
You can find all of Reed's bets HERE!