Boston Celtics vs Miami Heat Prediction, 1/15/2026 Preview and Pick

Game: Boston Celtics vs Miami Heat

Date: Thursday, January 15, 2026

Location: Kaseya Center in Miami, FL

TV: FanDuel Sports Network

The Boston Celtics (24-15) are hitting the road to Kaseya Center on Thursday where they will take on the Miami Heat (21-19).

The Celtics faced off with the Pacers and went home with a loss by a final score of 98-96 in their last contest. When discussing fouls, the Celtics ended up finishing with 7 while the Pacers had 7 fouls. They buried 16 of their 37 shots from downtown. Indiana finished shooting 66.7% at the free throw line by converting 4 of their 6 tries. Moreover, Indiana pulled down 40 rebounds (5 offensive, 35 defensive) and added 1 block. Indiana earned 29 dimes and had 8 steals for the contest. In the matter of defense, Boston allowed their opponent to shoot 46.4% from the floor on 39 out of 84 shooting. They also recorded 22 dimes in this game in addition to forcing 12 turnovers and earning 9 steals. Pertaining to rebounding, they earned 46 with 10 of them being on the offensive end. When they shot from the charity stripe, the Celtics made 7 of their 9 tries for a rate of 77.8%. Boston finished the contest with a 45.5% field goal percentage (40 out of 88) and made 9 of 35 shots from beyond the perimeter.

Payton Pritchard is someone who played a role for this contest. Pritchard finished 45.5% from the floor and also totaled 8 assists. He saw the court for 37 mins and also totaled 4 rebounds. He racked up 23 points on 10 of 22 shooting.

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Boston comes into this matchup with a win-loss record of 24-15 on the campaign. They currently have an average of 116.6 points per contest (14th in the league) while hitting 47.3% from the floor. The Celtics are hitting 36.8% on shots beyond the perimeter (612 of 1,661) and 79.0% from the charity stripe. As a team, Boston is pulling down 44.5 rebounds per game and has tallied 929 assists this year, which has them ranked 28th in the league in terms of passing the rock. They turn the ball over 11.9 times per game and as a unit are committing 20.5 personal fouls every game.

When they are on defense, the Celtics have forced 13.7 turnovers on a nightly basis while drawing 18.4 personal fouls. They are 6th in the league in giving up assists to their opponents with 999 relinquished on the campaign. The Celtics defensively are allowing an opponent FG percentage of 45.0% (1,514 of 3,362) and they surrender 41.7 rebounds per game as a basketball team. They are giving up 37.0% from 3-point land while they are 2nd in the league in PPG from their opponents (110.1).

The last time they took the hardwood, the Heat got the victory with a final of 127-121 when they played the Suns. The Heat were able to pull down 32 defensive boards and 9 offensive rebounds totaling 41 for the contest. They turned it over 12 times, while getting 8 steals for the matchup. The Suns were called for 22 fouls for the contest which took the Heat to the free throw line for a total of 22 tries. They were able to bury 18 of the free throw tries for a percentage of 81.8%. Regarding 3-point attempts, Miami buried 13 of their 38 tries (34.2%). Overall, the Heat shot 48 out of 92 from the floor which had them at 52.2%. The Heat allowed the Suns to convert 44 of 102 tries from the floor which gave them a percentage of 43.1% in this contest. They finished the game shooting 29.2% from behind the 3-point line by shooting 14 out of 48 and walked away from this one shooting 19 out of 20 at the free throw line (95.0%). When discussing cleaning the glass, Miami permitted Phoenix to snag 48 in all (18 on the offensive side).

Bam Adebayo was important for the Heat for this game. He converted 11 of 15 for this game for a rate of 73.3%, and had 9 rebounds. Adebayo had 29 points in his 32 mins on the hardwood and totaled 4 assists in the game.

Miami has a win-loss record of 21-19 so far this year. As an offensive unit, the Heat are connecting on 47.0% from the field, which has them ranked 16th in the NBA. Miami has 4,782 pts for the season (119.6 per contest) and they pull down 45.5 boards per game. They are earning an assist 28.6 times per contest (7th in the league) and they are turning it over 14.7 times per game. The Heat commit 19.1 personal fouls every game and they shoot 79.0% from the charity stripe.

The Miami defense allows 34.4% from downtown (554 of 1,612) and opponents are making 80.6% of their free throw attempts. They allow 27.2 assists and 47.4 boards per game, ranking them 19th and 29th in the league. The Heat are ranked 22nd in the NBA in points allowed per contest with 117.8. They are forcing their opponents into 16.1 turnovers on a nightly basis and allow teams to shoot 45.9% from the floor (4th in the NBA).

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

Josh Schonwald's Pick: Take Boston

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