Miami Heat vs Boston Celtics Prediction, 5/9/2021 NBA Pick, Tips and Odds

Game: Miami Heat vs Boston Celtics

Date: Sunday, May 9, 2021

Location: TD Garden in Boston, MA

TV: NBC Sports Boston

The Miami Heat (35-31) head to TD Garden on Sunday where they'll take on the Boston Celtics (35-31).

The Miami Heat faced the Dallas Mavericks and went home with a loss by a final score of 127-113 in their last contest. Miami finished the game having earned a 46.4% field goal percentage (39 of 84) and knocked down 18 out of their 41 three-point attempts. At the charity stripe, the Heat knocked down 17 of their 21 attempts for a percentage of 81.0%. With respect to hauling in rebounds, they earned 39 with 8 of them being offensive. They also distributed 30 assists for this contest as well as creating 13 turnovers and earning 9 steals. Pertaining to defending, Miami allowed the other team to shoot 52.9% from the field on 46 out of 87 shooting. Dallas earned 26 dimes and had 6 steals in the game. Additionally, Dallas totaled 44 rebounds (12 offensive, 32 defensive) and had 2 blocks. Dallas finished 72.2% when shooting free throws by making 13 of 18 shots. They knocked down 22 out of their 48 shots from long range.

Duncan Robinson is one guy who was a factor in the game. He ended up finishing with 19 points on 6 of 14 shooting. He played for 37:39 minutes and snagged 9 boards. Robinson walked away from this one shooting 42.9% from the field and also recorded 3 assists. One more player that came through in this game for the Heat was Trevor Ariza. He pulled down 4 rebounds in 25:59 min on the basketball court. He finished the game shooting 63.6% from the field in the game by going 7-of-11 (18 points). When the time ran out, Ariza accounted for 1 assist.

Miami will play this game with a win-loss record of 35-31 so far this season. They have an average of 107.1 pts per contest (27th in the NBA) while connecting on 46.3% from the floor. The Heat are connecting on 35.1% on shots from beyond the arc (839 of 2,391) and 79.0% from the free throw line. As a unit, Miami is pulling in 41.7 boards per game and has racked up 1,730 assists on the year, which ranks 9th in the NBA in terms of passing. They cough up possession 14.1 times per game and as a basketball team they commit 18.9 personal fouls every game. Defensively, the Heat are forcing 15.2 turnovers on a nightly basis and they draw 19.6 fouls. They rank 22nd in the league in giving up assists to their opponents with 1,695 conceded so far this year. The Heat defense is allowing a FG percentage of 45.5% (1,004 of 1,293) and they surrender 43.5 rebounds per contest as a basketball team. They are conceding 36.6% on shots from distance while they are 4th in the league in points per game from their opponents (107.6).

The last time they took the court, the Boston Celtics walked away with a victory by a final of 132-96 when they faced the Orlando Magic. The Celtics corralled 36 defensive rebounds and 9 offensive boards totaling 45 for the matchup. They turned the ball over 11 times, while recording 8 steals for this game. The Magic earned 11 fouls for the contest which got the Celtics to the free throw line for a total of 12 tries. They were able to convert 9 of the free throw tries for a clip of 75.0%. In terms of shots from downtown, Boston buried 21 of their 45 tries (46.7%). When the final whistle was blown, the Celtics ended up going 51 out of 96 from the floor which gave them a shooting percentage of 53.1%. The Celtics permitted the Magic to make 33 of 85 attempts from the field which gave them a rate of 38.8% for the matchup. They finished 24.0% from beyond the arc by shooting 6 of 25 and finished the contest at 24 out of 28 from the free throw line (85.7%). In the matter of how they attacked the glass, Boston permitted Orlando to snag 45 in all (10 on the offensive side).

Kemba Walker was important for the Celtics for the matchup. He made 11 out of 18 in this game for a rate of 61.1%, and had 3 rebounds. Walker earned 32 points in his 28:20 mins on the court and had 4 dimes in this contest. Another guy that was pivotal for Boston was Jayson Tatum. He came away with 3 dimes in his 30:52 minutes played, and he shot 10 out of 22 from the floor. Tatum ended up shooting 45.5% from the floor in addition to totaling 27 points and 7 boards.

Boston has a win-loss mark of 35-31 so far this year. Boston has totaled 7,455 pts so far this season (113.0 per contest) and they average 44.5 boards per contest. The Celtics have committed 20.4 personal fouls every game while shooting 77.7% from the charity stripe. As an offense, the Celtics are connecting on 46.8% from the floor, which is 15th in basketball. They are assisting teammates 23.5 times per contest (23rd in basketball) and they cough up possession 14.2 times per game. The Celtics on the defensive end are ranked 10th in basketball in points per game surrendered with 110.9. The Boston defense concedes 37.2% on shots from beyond the arc (849 of 2,280) and their opponents are making 78.3% of their free throw shots. They have given up 24.0 dimes and 42.2 total rebounds per game, ranking them 8th and 5th in the NBA. They have forced 14.3 turnovers per game and have allowed teams to shoot 46.3% from the field (11th in the league).

Who will win tonight's NBA game against the spread?

Tony Sink's Pick: Take Miami

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