Boston Celtics (57-25, second in the Eastern Conference) vs. Miami Heat (44-38, eighth in the Eastern Conference)
Miami; Tuesday, 8:30 p.m. EDT
FANDUEL SPORTSBOOK NBA LINE: Heat -1.5; over/under is 215.5
EASTERN CONFERENCE FINALS: Heat lead series 3-0
BOTTOM LINE: The Miami Heat look to clinch the Eastern Conference finals over the Boston Celtics in game four. The Heat won the last matchup 128-102 on May 22 led by 29 points from Gabe Vincent, while Jayson Tatum scored 14 points for the Celtics.
The Heat are 24-28 in Eastern Conference games. Miami is second in the Eastern Conference in team defense, giving up only 109.8 points while holding opponents to 48.2% shooting.
The Celtics are 34-18 against Eastern Conference opponents. Boston ranks second in the Eastern Conference with 26.7 assists per game led by Marcus Smart averaging 6.3.
The Heat hit 12.0 three-pointers per game this season, 4.0 fewer makes per game than the Celtics give up (16.0). The Celtics score 8.1 more points per game (117.9) than the Heat give up (109.8).
So far in the 2022-23 season, the Heat are scoring 3.9 more points per home game on average than on the road (111.4 at home, 107.5 on the road), and are also giving up 0.9 more points per home game compared to road games (110.2 at home, 109.3 on the road). The Celtics drain more 3-pointers per game at home (16.2) than on the road (15.8), and have a higher 3-point percentage at home (37.9%) than away (37.4%).
TOP PERFORMERS: Bam Adebayo is scoring 20.4 points per game with 9.2 rebounds and 3.2 assists for the Heat. Jimmy Butler is averaging 24.3 points and 6.5 rebounds while shooting 45.7% over the past 10 games for Miami.
Tatum is scoring 30.1 points per game and averaging 8.8 rebounds for the Celtics. Malcolm Brogdon is averaging 2.6 made 3-pointers over the last 10 games for Boston.
LAST 10 GAMES: Heat: 8-2, averaging 111.6 points, 40.1 rebounds, 24.0 assists, 7.2 steals and 3.9 blocks per game while shooting 45.6% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 105.2 points per game.
Celtics: 4-6, averaging 109.8 points, 42.8 rebounds, 23.2 assists, 5.0 steals and 6.0 blocks per game while shooting 46.2% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 107.5 points.
INJURIES: Heat: Victor Oladipo: out for season (knee), Tyler Herro: out (hand).
Celtics: Danilo Gallinari: out (knee).
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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
The Associated Press
