In their third seeding game of the Disney restart, the Boston Celtics play the Miami Heat in one of the most important contests of the remaining 2019-20 season, at least as far as seeding goes.
With the Celtics trending up after beating the Portland Trail Blazers Sunday and the Heat dropping a game with the Indiana Pacers now just one game behind them in fifth place in the East, a win for Boston Tuesday would come close to locking them into the third seed.
Miami’s zone defense should be an interesting challenge for the Celtics, though with their shooting and athleticism, a superable one so long as the team comes to play and game plans for Jimmy Butler’s interminable ability to draw fouls as if out of thin air — an issue plaguing the Celts of late.
Boston turned in its third clean injury report in a row, virtually unheard of in recent years for a team that’s come to be known as the ‘Hospital’ Celtics for stretches of the last few seasons.
Miami has a clean bill of health as well besides nearly-recovered (and yet to play since being drafted last summer) KZ Okpala, so both teams will be close to their best, save the conditioning still in progress.
Boston’s Kemba Walker will see his minutes limit jump to as high as 22 minutes however, as the UConn product continues to ramp up his a activity out of concern for an oft-sore knee.
While the Heat can be sneaky deadly, the Celtics ought to win this one barring a low-effort affair, our prediction being a 101-90 Boston win.
Most online sports books tend to agree, granting the Celtics a -3.5 spread.
