NBA: Celtics favoured in game 7 against Heat

The Boston Celtics will host the Miami Heat for game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals on Monday with a shot at the NBA Finals on the line. The Celtics chased down the Heat to make this a series, winning three straight games after going down 0-3 which evened the series at 3-3. The Celtics are trying to pull off the largest comeback in NBA playoff history. No team in NBA history won a series after losing the first three games of that series. If the Celtics win on Monday, the 2022-2023 Heat will be the first team to blow a 3-0 lead.

Game 7 Heat @ Celtics

After going down 0-3 and then winning three straight games to tie the series, the Boston Celtics are the betting favourites in game 7 on NBA betting sites. The Celtics have -333 odds to win the game on 888sport. The Miami Heat are the underdogs even though no team in NBA history has blown a 3-0 lead in the playoffs. The Heat have +260 odds to stop the comeback.

The Celtics have all the momentum heading into this game and a lot of reasons to feel confident. The Celtics are the higher seeded team, have won three straight games, at home, and have one of, if not number one, the best duos in the NBA. The Heat will need a couple of strong shooting performances or a huge game from Butler, Martin, or Bam Adebayo to have a chance in this game unless the Celtics collapse. 

Can the C’s do the impossible?! 🤯 pic.twitter.com/ujzLJxmUbD

— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) May 29, 2023

Eastern Conference Finals MVP

Jayson Tatum is the betting favourite to win the ECF MVP. Tatum has -313 odds on Bet99. Jaylen Brown, his teammate, has the fourth best odds at +2100. Tatum has been the Celtics’ best player on offense against the Heat, whether by the eye test or statistics. He’s leading his team in points, assists, and rebounds per game in this series at 27.2 points, 10.2 rebounds, and 5.7 assists. Tatum will most likely be the ECF MVP if the Celtics win. A huge game 7 by Brown probably won’t be enough to take the award from Tatum.

If the Celtics win this series, there’s almost no way a Heat player will win this award considering this will be one of the biggest collapses in NBA history. The Celtics players will also get a couple of points for being a part of the biggest comeback in the playoffs. If the Heat find a way to win, Jimmy Butler and Caleb Martin have the best odds to take home the award. Butler has the second best odds overall at +300 and Martin is third at +2100. Caleb Martin has had a strong series. Martin has been the Heat’s best player on offense for stretches. However, Butler is averaging more points, rebounds, assists, and steals. It will be tough for Martin to win ECF MVP unless he has an amazing performance in game 7 and saves the Heat from elimination. 

Miami Heat

The Heat will need to recover from three straight losses and a heartbreaking loss in game 6 that ended with a winning shot by Derrick White with less than a second left on the clock if they want to win this series. Jimmy Butler has struggled over the last three games, scoring 14 points in game five and shooting 23.8% from the field in game 6.

The Heat will need a big game from Butler unless their role players play like they did over the first three games. Kyle Lowry hasn’t had a huge impact on this series, but is an NBA champion and still has the ability to put up points. If there was ever a time for Lowry to have a big game, game 7 is the game.