While the Kentucky derby odds will be the story as the week plays out, for now, it’s all NBA.
The Heat vs. Celtics odds are not exactly 50-50 at this point in time. A lot of NBA betting considerations have to be carefully weighed and measured before a single-game prediction can be made, but not in this particular series. It shouldn’t be hard to come up with the winner when Miami makes one more plane flight to the Northeast and takes on the Boston Celtics.
Eastern Conference First Round: Miami @ Boston, Game 5
Tuesday, April 27
If sports betting is a science, it’s not a very complex one heading into Game 5 of this Eastern Conference clash. The Miami Heat defied NBA playoff odds by avoiding a four-game sweep on Sunday afternoon in South Florida, but this is definitely not the type of team that appears ready to prolong this series even further. It would be a huge shock if coach Erik Spoelstra coaxed one more victory from his ballclub. The Heat’s next plane flight home should be followed by an immediate cleaning of their lockers, not a practice session in preparation for a potential Game 6 on Thursday.
If you think the Cleveland Cavaliers are a one-man act under LeBron James, Miami is even more of a single-person team. Dwyane Wade had to max out (and that’s really saying something) in order for the Heat to win Game 4 and avoid a Boston broom. Wade scored 30 points in the second half and 19 in the fourth quarter on Sunday. After the Celtics turned an 18-point deficit into a six-point lead entering the final period, Wade simply took over. The Marquette star banged in four treys in the last 12 minutes of regulation while adding five free throws en route to a franchise-record 46 points. No Miami player had ever scored as many points in a postseason game. The Heat needed almost every one of those points in order to prevail.
How dominant was Wade in Game 4? The best player on the floor – who will enter free agency on July 1 – proved to be so prolific from three-point range that the Celtics and coach Doc Rivers had to shift their defensive strategy. As soon as No. 3 crossed the midcourt line, the Celtics double-teamed Wade and forced him to give up the ball. Sure enough, Wade stopped scoring, and his painfully limited Miami teammates couldn’t put the ball in the bucket. The only problem with Boston’s maneuver was that it came too late. The Heat – thanks to their superstar – built a double-digit lead and held on to win thanks to three straight missed foul shots by Celtic guard Ray Allen, a 90-percent free throw shooter.
Yes, a lot of improbable events carried Miami to victory on its home floor. Now that the series is back in Boston, and now that Dwyane Wade might be double-teamed a lot more frequently, it’s hard to expect the Heat to string together consecutive victories. The 2006 Miami Heat had multiple weapons on the floor at all times. This 2010 version of the Heat is extremely thin and is waiting to be blown up in the coming offseason. That offseason should arrive Tuesday night at the end of Game 5.
Online basketball betting pick: Boston
