May 16, 2023 (Jack87 News) – After Sunday’s Game 7 win over the 76ers, the Celtics will battle the Heat for a trip to the NBA Finals. We will have an Eastern Conference Finals rematch between these teams for the third time. BK8 Miami won the series two years ago and faced the Los Angeles Lakers in the finals. Last year, Boston emerged victorious in a thrilling seven-game series against Miami, but the circumstances are much different this time around.
There’s no denying that the Heat have surpassed all expectations in these 2023 NBA playoffs, but they’re now going to be facing a complete, balanced team in the Celtics. Miami was able to get through the #1 seed Milwaukee Bucks, but superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo was injured in that series, and they don’t pose nearly as big of a defensive threat as Marcus Smart and the Celtics.
Looking through a magnifying glass, coach Joe Mazzulla of the Celtics doesn’t have the same level of postseason experience as Miami coah Erik Spoelstra Bet99, and the former has made some questionable decisions in his first season. These Celtics have also shown that they can be inconsistent with their execution. Some of their losses are truly confounding.
But player for player, Boston does have the talent advantage. We’ll give a slight edge to Jayson Tatum and the rest of the Celtics. It took longer than expected, but he’s finally been showing why he was an MVP candidate through the season. The issue with putting the entire defensive focus on Tatum is that the Celtics always have Jaylen Brown to lean on.
On the flip side, Boston will be able to put their sole focus on slowing down Jimmy Butler 22Bet. Even if he’s able to get around 20-24 points per game, the Celtics are still in a great spot. Therefore, our Celtics versus Heat Eastern Conference Finals prediction is for Boston to cover the -1.5 series spread with -185 odds. Boston is a heavy favorite to win the series and advance to the NBA Finals for the second straight year.
