Our free NBA picks are out for Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals series between the Boston Celtics and Miami Heat! Make sure you check our expert NBA picks before the action kicks off.
Look below to find our free NBA picks for the first game of the Eastern Conference Finals between the Celtics and Heat!
Boston Celtics @ Miami Heat – 8.30pm ET
We have reached the Conference Finals, and in the Eastern Conference we will see the Boston Celtics and Miami Heat do battle. In the first round, the Celtics swept the Nets, but it was a different story in the second round, as they were pushed to seven games by the defending champions, the Bucks. The Heat dropped one game in the first round to the Hawks, and then in the second round they managed to defeat the 76ers, 4-2.
Jeffery Thomas
The Eastern Conference Finals are here and we have the top two seeds in the East squaring off for a chance at the NBA Finals. The Miami Heat were the one seed and so far have had a pretty stress-free path to this point. They took care of the Atlanta Hawks in five games in Round 1 and followed that up with a 4-2 series win over the Philadelphia 76ers in the second round. Jimmy Butler has been their go-to-guy all postseason so far, upping his scoring to 28.7 a game from 21.4 in the regular season. With only three losses so far, the Heat have not been tested much but that all will surely change with this Boston Celtics team now in their path. The Cs just took out the defending champion Milwaukee Bucks in 7 games, which was the encore to sweeping the Brooklyn Nets in the first round.
Jayson Tatum is leading the way, averaging over 28 points a game and his sidekick Jaylen Brown is pitching in 22.2 a game. If these two stay scoring at that pace the Celtics will be very hard to beat in this series. It’s hard to gauge how the Celtics will come out Game 1 after such a hard fought series and just getting that one days rest. The Heat on the other hand have been off for four days and that’s the perfect amount of rest to get without going too long and getting rusty. I think that perfect balance will propel them to this Game 1 win at home, as they’ll just have that extra step on a tired Celtics team. Boston’s goal is to get a split of these first two games so a loss here shouldn’t deter them but I do think this one will go to Miami.
Jeffery’s NBA Pick: Miami Heat (-124)
Noah Dunlap
The Conference Finals are finally here, and we open up with the Eastern Conference’s Game 1 on Tuesday night. This series gives us the Miami Heat taking on the Boston Celtics in what should be an intriguing matchup, as Miami comes into this one looking like an extremely balanced machine, while the Celtics have looked more like a high-powered offense that wants to throw up a lot of threes. Although, honestly it didn’t look all that balanced in their second round series against Milwaukee. That worked for Boston against a short-handed Bucks squad, as they dominated Game 7 by shooting 22-55 from deep in that one, but against the Heat, I’m not sure that’s going to get the job done, unless they’re able to shoot that well throughout the entire series, which seems doubtful. I think this is a series where Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, and company are going to have to find more balance if they want a shot to win the series.
On the Miami side, the biggest key is doing what they’ve done all year long, which is lean on Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo to lead the way, and expect to get good production from guys like Tyler Herro and Duncan Robinson (who is going to have to play more minutes) to create that spark off the bench that would lead them to the series win. It may be too early to predict a winner for the series, but for Game 1, I think a more rested Miami Heat team at home should be able to get the win. Don’t expect a blowout, but I think the Heat get a comfortable win, by 8-12, as they take the early lead in this Eastern Conference Finals matchup.
Noah’s NBA Pick: Miami Heat (Alternate Spread) -5.5 (+162)
Tony Battalio
The Boston Celtics are coming into this one after an incredible series with the defending NBA champions the Milwaukee Bucks. It went to seven games and in Game 7 Jayson Tatum outplayed Giannis Antetokounmpo. Now the Celtics will meet the Miami Heat in the Eastern Conference Finals with a trip to the finals on the line in this seven game series. The Celtics are a serious threat to win their first title in over a decade this season.
The Miami Heat are looking to make their second trip back to the NBA Finals in three years. They had a great Conference Semifinals win over the Philadelphia 76ers and now they will be looking to get past the Boston Celtics again. They have been a consistent winner throughout the season and finished as the number one seed in the Eastern Conference. As for the result of this game, I am going with the Miami Heat to win Game 1.
Tony’s NBA Pick: Miami Heat (-124)
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*Odds and spreads correct at time of publication, courtesy of FanDuel.
