Miami Heat (44-38, eighth in the Eastern Conference) vs. Boston Celtics (57-25, second in the Eastern Conference)
Boston; Monday, 8:30 p.m. EDT
FANDUEL SPORTSBOOK NBA LINE: Celtics -8; over/under is 203.5
EASTERN CONFERENCE FINALS: Series tied 3-3
BOTTOM LINE: The Boston Celtics and the Miami Heat square off in game seven of the Eastern Conference finals. The Celtics defeated the Heat 104-103 in the last meeting. Jayson Tatum led the Celtics with 31 points, and Jimmy Butler led the Heat with 24 points.
The Celtics have gone 34-18 against Eastern Conference opponents. Boston is second in the Eastern Conference with 35.6 defensive rebounds per game led by Tatum averaging 9.2.
The Heat are 24-28 in Eastern Conference play. Miami has a 12-13 record in games decided by 10 points or more.
The 117.9 points per game the Celtics score are 8.1 more points than the Heat give up (109.8). The Heat have shot at a 46.0% rate from the field this season, 0.3 percentage points less than the 46.3% shooting opponents of the Celtics have averaged.
This year, the Celtics are averaging 16.2 made three-pointers per game at home and 15.8 on the road (while shooting 37.9% from distance in home games compared to 37.4% on the road). This season the Heat are draining an equal amount of 3-pointers at home and on the road (12.0 per game). But they have a higher 3-point percentage at home (36.0%) than away (32.9%).
TOP PERFORMERS: Marcus Smart is scoring 15.2 points per game and averaging 4.1 rebounds for the Celtics. Tatum is averaging 29.3 points and 11.1 rebounds over the last 10 games for Boston.
Bam Adebayo is averaging 17.1 points, 9.1 rebounds and 3.6 assists for the Heat. Butler is averaging 24.3 points over the last 10 games for Miami.
LAST 10 GAMES: Celtics: 5-5, averaging 107.8 points, 42.2 rebounds, 22.4 assists, 5.7 steals and 6.1 blocks per game while shooting 45.9% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 106.6 points per game.
Heat: 6-4, averaging 107.4 points, 41.0 rebounds, 22.5 assists, 7.3 steals and 3.5 blocks per game while shooting 45.3% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 104.4 points.
INJURIES: Celtics: Danilo Gallinari: out (knee), Malcolm Brogdon: out (forearm).
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
