Heat vs. Celtics NBA Playoffs First Round Lines

Miami Heat 2024 NBA Playoffs Betting

Miami Heat 2024 NBA Championship Odds

The Miami Heat survived the play-in round by beating the Chicago Bulls 112-91 as two-point home favorites. The game went under the total of 207.5. Now the Heat have the unenviable task of facing the #1 seed Boston Celtics. Boston posted the best record in the NBA and is the prohibitive favorite to win it all. But as we have seen the past few years, the NBA Playoffs offer more surprises than in the past. While Miami is the underdog, they are a capable one. Most importantly, the Heat may provide enhanced value.

2024 NBA Championship Betting Odds

Miami Heat NBA Betting Lines

The Miami Heat are 46-36 straight up, 40-40-2 against the spread, and 35-47 over/under the total. Late on, Miami has covered four out of their last six games. While the Heat have gone over the total in nine of its previous ten matchups. Miami is 8th in the Eastern Conference playoff standings. Miami is 18 games behind the Boston Celtics in the Eastern Conference playoff race.

Miami has NBA metrics of 26th for scoring offense, 22nd for field goal percentage, 12th for 3-point field goal percentage, 5th for free throw percentage, and 26th for offensive rebounding. On defense, the Heat have NBA metrics of 3rd for scoring defense, 10th for field goal percentage permitted, 5th for 3-point field goal percentage allowed, and 11th for defensive rebounding.

Tyler Herro recorded 24 points, ten rebounds, and nine assists as the host Miami Heat punched their ticket to the playoffs with a convincing 112-91 victory over the Chicago Bulls.

Jaime Jaquez Jr. had 21 points, six rebounds, and six assists in the one-sided win in the final Eastern Conference play-in game. Miami and Boston met in the two last East finals, with Boston prevailing in 2022 and the Heat winning last season.

Miami dominated Friday's contest even with star Jimmy Butler sitting out with an MCL injury to his right knee. Butler was injured in the Heat's play-in loss against the Philadelphia 76ers on Wednesday.

Kevin Love contributed 16 points and seven rebounds for the Heat, and Bam Adebayo scored 13 points.

The Miami Heat will face the Boston Celtics in the first round of the NBA Playoffs. The best of seven series opens on Sunday, April 21, 2024.

Miami Heat Key Players

SF Jimmy Butler was the 30th overall pick of the Chicago Bulls out of Marquette in the 2011 NBA Draft from Marquette. Butler led Miami this year with 22.9 points, 5.9 rebounds, and 5.3 assists per contest, Butler has averaged over 21 points per game the past three seasons. Last year, Butler averaged 26.9 points, 6.5 rebounds, and 5.9 assists per contest. Butler has a career average of 21.3 points per game in the postseason. He is a 6-time NBA All-Star.

C Bam Adebayo is a 3-time NBA All-Star. This year, Adebayo averaged 20.4 points and 9.2 rebounds per contest. In the playoffs, Adebayo has averaged 17.9 points and 9.9 rebounds per contest.

Miami Heat Head Coach

Head coach Eric Spoelstra is in the elite class of NBA bench bosses. The one-time wonderkid is now age 53 and a 2-time NBA champion. Spoelstra has been the head coach of the Heat since 2008-09 and is a disciple of former Heat coach and current team President Pat Riley, a Hall of Fame legend. Spoelstra has a career regular season record of 749-527. In the playoffs, he is 109-75.

Season-by-Season Record (Last 6)

SEASON GAMES WINS LOSSES FINISH PLAYOFFS
2023-24 82 46 36 2nd, Southeast TBD
2022–23 82 44 38 1st, Southeast Lost in NBA Finals, 1–4 (Nuggets)
2021–22 82 53 29 1st, Southeast Lost in Conference finals, 3–4 (Celtics)
2020–21 72 40 32 2nd, Southeast Lost in First Round, 0–4 (Bucks)
2019–20 73 44 29 1st, Southeast Lost in NBA Finals, 2–4 (Lakers)
2018–19 82 39 43 3rd, Southeast Did not qualify
Basketball Betting Bonus

Miami Heat History

The Miami Heat have had more success than any other professional sports team in South Florida. This is the one team largely supported by the fickle fans of the Miami metro area, and the Heat have been very competitive over the last two decades.

Dwyane Wade is the most accomplished player in the history of the franchise. He was taken with the 5th overall pick in the 2003 NBA Draft, and he was a 13-time All-Star and eight-time All-NBA selection that led the Heat to their first NBA title in 2006. Veterans Shaquille O’Neal, Alonzo Mourning, Gary Payton, and Antoine Walker played crucial roles. Still, Wade was the superstar, with franchise favorite Udonis Haslem coming into his own.

Of course, perhaps the best thing that Wade did was convince LeBron James and Chris Bosh to come to Miami in the summer of 2010. That made the Heat the preseason favorites to win the NBA title for four straight years. They could not live up to the lofty expectations of King James, who talked about winning seven championships during the introductory press conference. Still, they did win the Eastern Conference four straight times. Miami won back-to-back NBA titles in 2012 and 2013, yet the Heat needed a miracle three-pointer from Ray Allen to win the second title.

Miami wasn’t truly competitive for a few years after LeBron James left the team, but the Heat surprised everyone by winning the East in 2020. Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo proved to be an excellent combination, and Miami received solid three-point shooting from Duncan Robinson, Jae Crowder, and Tyler Herro. The Heat nearly made the NBA Finals again in 2022, but they lost to the Boston Celtics in seven games.

NBA Teams

Eastern Conference - Atlantic

Eastern Conference - Central

Eastern Conference - Southeast

Western Conference - Northwest

Western Conference - Pacific

Western Conference - Southwest

Log into BookMaker Sportsbook and get the best Basketball Betting Odds, Basketball Betting Articles and information about this and all other sports betting events!

Join Now!

Back to Top