Heat vs Celtics

Jimmy Butler put on a show for the ages with the Miami Heat facing elimination. He may have to deliver another one on Sunday as a spot in the NBA Finals is ...

They lost to the Los Angeles Lakers in the 2020 Finals. "You put yourself in this position, going up 3-2, to have two games to win one," Udoka said. They last reached the NBA Finals in 2010. Limiting Butler will be the Celtics' top priority -- and probably the second and third as well -- in Sunday's affair. I've played with some great players, and he's one of the best players I've played with. "They've got so much belief in me," Butler said.

The Boston Celtics and Miami Heat will play Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals at FTX Arena on Sunday night with the winner earning a trip to the 2022 ...

Here's everything you need to know to watch Sunday's Celtics vs. The Celtics also own a 6-2 record on the road in the 2022 playoffs. The C's have allowed the Heat to score a ton of points in this series off turnovers and from second-chance opportunities. The Celtics had a chance to reach the Finals for the first time on Friday night but couldn't protect a late fourth-quarter lead in Game 6. Celtics Pregame Live begins on NBC Sports Boston at 7:30 p.m. ET. Watch the show live here and in the MyTeams app. Celtics vs.

SportsLine's Zack Cimini has revealed his 2022 NBA playoff picks for Game 7 of Celtics vs. Heat in the Eastern Conference finals.

- Celtics vs. He's only sharing what it is, and which side of the Heat vs. Heat? And which side of the spread is a must-back? Center Bam Adebayo also is due for a big game, as he is averaging 13.3 points, well below his 19.1 season average, and two fewer rebounds (10.1-8.0). The Heat also have been strong on the defensive end all season. Miami led the league in 3-point shooting (37.9 percent), but is hitting just 31.5 percent in the series. Miami is 20-10 against the spread this season as an underdog (4-2 at home) and 10-7 ATS in this postseason. Tip-off in Miami is set for 8:30 p.m. ET. Boston is favored by three-points in the latest Celtics vs. The Celtics' top scorers started Game 6 hot, with Tatum and Jaylen Brown each scoring 18 on a combined 12-of-18 shooting. Heat, and just locked in his picks and NBA playoff predictions. Heat NBA odds at Caesars Sportsbook, and the over-under for total points scored is set at 197. Both teams are really banged up after the long season, and the winner will head to the NBA Finals to face the Golden State Warriors, which start Thursday.

It's fitting that such a chaotic Heat-Celtics series comes down to a final decisive game. But good luck trying to figure out who will win.

Larry Starks: Heat. I originally picked the Heat to win the series in six games. "We've been a resilient group, overcome a lot of things this year, and just in general within the series and the playoffs, nothing has been easy," he said. When the Celtics are on, they clearly have a lot of advantages. "What you hope is that brings out the best in you and a different level. Boston in seven was my pick before the series, so there's no reason to change now. It’s almost like we need to take the harder route at times." This is one of the strangest series I have covered — the blowouts, wild point swings from game to game, the road team winning four of the six games. But we have guys that will just pick themselves up and get onto the next fight." Over the course of a long series like this, you're going to get pushed, uncomfortably so. Not much has transpired indicating that will happen, but there hasn’t been much rhyme or reason to the matchup. The first time came after Game 2, a Celtics blowout victory. His veteran presence and championship experience is required.

The Boston Celtics will meet the Miami Heat in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals on Sunday night from the FTX Arena.

Newsrooms are independent of this relationship and there is no influence on news coverage. The Heat have Tyler Herro still listed as questionable at the time of writing. The Boston Celtics will meet the Miami Heat in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals on Sunday night from the FTX Arena.

Eastern Conference finals MVP Jayson Tatum led the way with 26 points, Jaylen Brown and Marcus Smart each added 24 and the Celtics beat the Miami Heat 100-96 on Sunday night to earn a berth in the NBA Finals against the Golden State Warriors.

Heat: Butler was the second NBA player this season to play every second of a game. The other was Houston in the 2018 Western Conference finals; the injury-plagued Rockets were 6.5-point underdogs and lost to Golden State 101-92. “You certainly have to credit the Boston Celtics organization and their team and their coaching staff. Celtics: Derrick White had to leave early in the fourth quarter because he was bleeding after his head got struck by Adebayo under a basket. Butler was up to 24 points at the break and Miami had gotten within 55-49 going into the third. “Today was the biggest test," Brown said. This Celtics team roared to life down the stretch and is still roaring. Miami thought it had gotten within 56-54 when Strus rattled in a corner 3 early in the third. ... It's one of the worst feelings into the world to address your locker room after a game like this." “The road that we took to get here, not a lot of people believed in us,” Tatum said. Ime Udoka’s first season as coach of the Celtics was not without immense challenges. Tatum — wearing a purple-and-gold armband bearing the number “24” of Los Angeles Lakers Hall of Famer Kobe Bryant, his favorite player — had lost two East finals in his young career.

If the best two words in sports are Game 7, the best four words in Boston might just be "no more Jimmy Butler." While the Miami Heat star kept his team's...

However, Butler missed the pull-up three-pointer in transition that would have given his side the lead, and the Celtics iced it from there on the free-throw line. Miami's offense was far too stagnant with 17 points in the opening quarter, although Butler put the team on his back and clawed to within six by halftime. No matter what happens from here on out -- Jimmy can take solace in the fact that he has left everything out on the floor.

See odds, expert picks and analysis for Game 7 of the Eastern Conference finals between the Miami Heat and the Boston Celtics.

The Boston Celtics have to regroup but do enter Game 7 as the favorite on the road. Miami’s nonexistent offense in games 4 and 5 made sure the unders hit in those games. The total has also plummeted to a comically low 195.5. In the series, the over is 4-2. When he wasn’t able to lead the way on the offensive end, and with Tyler Herro out injured, Miami’s offensive was anemic. After sitting out the second half of Game 3, Butler didn’t look as assertive when returning for games 4 and 5. After two ugly losses in games 4 and 5, it looked like a beat-up Miami Heat team was headed to vacation.

Here's everything you need to know about Celtics vs. Heat, including updated odds, trends and predictions for Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals.

The last defeat was a rough one considering Boston had a chance to lock up its spot in the NBA Finals on its home floor, but the Celtics also suffered a brutal loss in Game 5 of the second round and bounced back to eliminate the Bucks. Under 195.5. Historically, Game 7s aren't shootouts. In two of his past three games, Tatum has cleared this particular prop. Herro has missed the last three games because of a groin injury. He went scoreless in Game 5, missing all six of his field goal attempts. He hasn't always been consistent or efficient in the postseason, but he could at least take some of the creation burden off Butler's shoulders. After missing the start of the Eastern Conference Finals, Lowry returned for Games 3, 4 and 5, and his play was... Multiple players on both teams have been dealing with injuries during this series. Jaylen Brown committed seven turnovers in Game 3. He also appeared to be moving with more energy and purpose. The margin for error on both sides is so small. - Game 2: 9 Celtics turnovers, Win

Who will advance to face the Warriors in the NBA Finals? Here's the full breakdown.

The Celtics have two dominant wins in this series at FTX Arena already, and have not lost twice in a row for the entire postseason. And while the Heat have pushed them, for large stretches of this series Boston has controlled the action on the floor. Tatum’s 46-point performance in Game 6 of the previous round shows he can rise to the challenge in a hostile environment. A lot of this is easier said than done against a ravenous, hyper-intelligent group that’s constantly reaching for the ball, stunting in and out of passing lanes. Brown’s 19 turnovers in the series are tied for the second most he’s ever tallied in the playoffs over a six-game stretch. Pina: Boston. In the history of the conference finals, there have been 25 Game 7s. In the regular season, the Heat were second in the league attempting 11.1 corner threes a game, and second best in converting them at a 41.9% rate. Butler is constantly lurking in passing lanes, and the Heat do a great job of crowding Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown whenever they crash the paint. Udoka will ride hot hands and see how small Miami is willing to go before he commits to any one group in a close game, but it’ll be interesting to see how soon he deploys this five-man unit, which didn’t make its first appearance in the conference finals until the second quarter of Game 5. If the Heat continue to dig, strip, steal and intercept in Game 7, they’ll give themselves an opportunity to score enough points to win. In the regular season, Miami led the league in three-point shooting at 37.9%. In the conference finals, the Heat are shooting only 31.5% from deep, the worst of any team from the final four. In Games 3–5, Jimmy Butler scored 27 points total, missing half of Game 3 due to a knee injury and returning only to be a shell of himself in Games 4 and 5, both Heat losses.