Miami Heat (44-38, eighth in the Eastern Conference) vs. Boston Celtics (57-25, second in the Eastern Conference)
Boston; Thursday, 8:30 p.m. EDT
FANDUEL SPORTSBOOK NBA LINE: Celtics -7.5; over/under is 215.5
EASTERN CONFERENCE FINALS: Heat lead series 3-1
BOTTOM LINE: The Miami Heat look to clinch the series over the Boston Celtics in game five of the Eastern Conference finals. The Celtics defeated the Heat 116-99 in the last meeting. Jayson Tatum led the Celtics with 33 points, and Jimmy Butler led the Heat with 29 points.
The Celtics have gone 34-18 against Eastern Conference teams. Boston averages 12.7 turnovers per game and is 6-2 when it turns the ball over less than its opponents.
The Heat are 24-28 against conference opponents. Miami averages 12.8 turnovers per game and is 8-2 when turning the ball over less than opponents.
The Celtics connect on 16.0 three-pointers per game this season, 4.0 more made shots on average than the 12.0 per game the Heat give up. The Heat are shooting 46.0% from the field, 0.3% lower than the 46.3% the Celtics' opponents have shot this season.
This year, the Celtics are averaging 11.2 three-pointers conceded per game at home and 12.0 on the road (conceding 32.7% shooting from deep in home games compared to 36.5% on the road). The Heat put up more points per game at home (111.4) than away (107.5), but also concede more at home (110.2) than on the road (109.3).
TOP PERFORMERS: Tatum is averaging 30.1 points, 8.8 rebounds and 4.6 assists for the Celtics. Jaylen Brown is averaging 20.4 points, 5.4 rebounds and 3.6 assists over the last 10 games for Boston.
Bam Adebayo is scoring 20.4 points per game and averaging 9.2 rebounds for the Heat. Max Strus is averaging 2.5 made 3-pointers over the last 10 games for Miami.
LAST 10 GAMES: Celtics: 5-5, averaging 109.9 points, 42.9 rebounds, 23.4 assists, 5.5 steals and 6.4 blocks per game while shooting 45.6% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 105.5 points per game.
Heat: 7-3, averaging 108.7 points, 40.0 rebounds, 23.3 assists, 7.1 steals and 3.6 blocks per game while shooting 45.5% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 104.2 points.
INJURIES: Celtics: Danilo Gallinari: out (knee).
Heat: Victor Oladipo: out for season (knee), Tyler Herro: out (hand).
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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
The Associated Press
