Heat vs Celtics

NBA odds, picks, and predictions for the Boston Celtics at Miami Heat on October 21. NBA betting best bet and free pick analysis.

[Bam Adebayo](https://www.covers.com/sport/basketball/nba/players/644/bam-adebayo). [Jimmy Butler](https://www.covers.com/sport/basketball/nba/players/9898/jimmy-butler) was gassed down the stretch of their somewhat shocking loss to the Chicago Bulls in their home opener. Both teams have credible options to defend each other’s best players, both are comfortable switching, and both make a point of denying the rim. These two teams are also highly familiar with one another, having recently fought a grueling seven-game series in the Eastern Conference Finals last season. Boston also saw major contributions from their top offseason acquisition [Malcolm Brogdon](https://www.covers.com/sport/basketball/nba/players/10134/malcolm-brogdon), who provided high-caliber playmaking and scoring off the bench. While not a big number by any means, it’s sizable considering the defensive stature of these two squads. While Oladipo’s loss is damaging to Miami’s depth, the real issue is that short of Jimmy Butler going supernova, the Heat lack a top-end gear to match Boston on their best nights. Now in sum, Boston’s offense last year might not look all that impressive, a ho-hum 114.3 rating, good for 10th overall and just one spot ahead of Miami’s. They’ve been 20-6-1 against the spread in their last 27 away games. It is deeply unpleasant to try to score against Miami (just ask Trae Young). The Celtics’ offense has looked clunky at times against the best of the best opposing defenses, but it seems that potentially both Tatum and Brown have leveled up yet again as on-ball guys. Boston looked brilliant in its opening game against Philadelphia, even though the worst fears about its paper-thin frontcourt rotation came to pass.

The Miami Heat host the Boston Celtics for Game 2 of the NBA season! It's time to continue our NBA odds series with a Celtics-Heat prediction and pick.

Those two are going to be huge for the Heat to be in this game. The Celtics are playing very well and we have no idea what this Heat team will look like. However, they allowed DeMar DeRozen to score 37 Wednesday night and there was nothing the Heat could do to stop him. The Jays were a huge part of the Celtics’ success against the Sixers. Fast forward to this season, they fell to the Chicago Bulls Wednesday night to start the year (0-1). Boston proved that they are still one of the top teams in the Eastern Conference even though it was just one game.

Corey Parson previews the NBA contest between the Boston Celtics and Miami Heat and offers up a betting prediction.

I would back the Celtics up to -5.5. Miami had a good season and finished the regular season as the top seed in the Eastern Conference, but eventually fell to the Celtics in the postseason. More importantly, the Celtics were 4-1 in Miami. The Celtics were 6-4 in those matchups. The Celtics turned up the defense in the second half and gave up 54 points to the 76ers. This game opened up with the Miami Heat as (-1.5) point favorites. The Celtics appear to be picking up where they left off. The Celtics did get off to a slow start, but from January 1st to the end of the regular season Boston posted a 35-12 record. Coming into the season with a projected regular season win Defense was the Celtics calling card and it led them all the way to the NBA Finals. At this time a year ago, people were expecting the Miami Heat to do what the Boston Celtics eventually did. Prior to the start of the 2021-22 NBA season I was fading the Boston Celtics.

The two teams are only a few months removed from going the distance in the Eastern Conference Finals. The series featured some blowouts but Game 7 was a classic ...

Oct. 4:30 p.m. - Time: 7:30 p.m. For a limited time only, Sling subscribers can watch every NBA League Pass game for free! For games on NBA TV, subscribe to Sling Orange & Sports Extra for $46/month. Stream Sling Orange for $35/month to catch all regular season games on TNT, ESPN & ABC. Viewers can also stream the game on Watch ESPN or Sling TV. Heat will air on ESPN. Boston and Miami will be hoping to get back to the mountaintop this season. The series featured some blowouts but Game 7 was a classic, with the Heat coming up can watch the biggest games of the 2022-23 NBA season on Sling TV.