Our free NBA picks are out for Game 5 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 fifth game of the Eastern Conference Finals between the Celtics and Heat!
Boston Celtics @ Miami Heat – 8.30pm ET
Well, the Boston Celtics did what they needed to in Game 4, and that was to win and level this series with the Miami Heat. The Celtics won Game 4, 102-82, and now they will head back to Miami with the hopes of stealing a game on the road. The Heat need a bounce back performance in front of their home crowd tonight.
Jeffery Thomas
The topsy-turvy series between the Miami Heat and Boston Celtics took another big turn in Game 4 when the Celtics responded to a blowout loss by getting a blowout win of their own to even up the series at two apiece. Now the teams head to Miami for a critical Game 5 that could very well determine who is representing the East in the NBA Finals. For the Celtics, they’ve been in this position already, outlasting the Milwaukee Bucks in seven games in the previous round. The Celtics actually never led in that series until they won Game 7, so a loss here wouldn’t be ideal but it also wouldn’t be the end of the world for a team this resilient.
Miami on the other hand, hasn’t faced any real adversity in these playoffs. They beat Atlanta in 5 games and a very beat up Philadelphia team in 6 games, so it’s fair to question how they will look under these circumstances. It’s very hard to predict how these two teams are going to come out but I tend to think it will be Miami coming out on top on this one. They’ve been good at home all postseason and it’s just hard to trust Boston to win back-to-back games right now as they haven’t done that since the first round. Give me the Heat here as short underdogs to put all the pressure on Boston and set them up for an elimination Game 6.
Jeffery’s NBA Pick: Miami Heat +1.5 (-106)
Noah Dunlap
This has turned into one of the more bizarre Conference Finals we’ve all seen in a while, as it currently looks as if none of the games are going to end up being remotely close at all. Everything is currently tied up at two games a piece, and with all but one game so far being decided by double digits, I think we get a similar situation here. The only question is who gets the win. With it being back in Miami, I’m leaning with the Heat, though after seeing the way they played in Game 4 without Tyler Herro, if he’s unable to go in this one either, I think that may change. Currently it looks as if he’s going to try to play, and I think with Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo being due to bounce back from bad games, and with Kyle Lowry slowing getting back into game shape after a lengthy absence, the Miami Heat should have enough to get by, in order to go up 3-2.
For Boston, the easy answer is that they’ve just been too inconsistent so far in this series, and that’s going to have to change if they want to actually manage to finish off the series and get the win. Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown are clearly the biggest pieces to this Celtics team being successful, but I think there’s something behind the notion that Marcus Smart is the real heart and soul of the lineup. If he plays well too, this is a tough C’s team to beat, so the question becomes whether they can get good performances from all of those guys. If the answer is yes, Boston gets the win, but if not, I think we get another Miami win. In the end, I think the Heat come out looking to respond, after an extremely ugly performance on the road in Game 4. Give me Bam and Butler with big performances, with a good showing from their bench to get the win here, probably by double digits, just because that’s how this series looks to be playing out.
Noah’s NBA Pick: Miami Heat (+106)
Tony Battalio
This series is now tied at two games apiece heading into Game 5. The Boston Celtics got a huge blowout victory in Game 4 to send this series back to South Beach all tied up. Now it’s feeling like a brand new three game series for both of these teams and they will both be desperate to get the win here in Game 5 to grab a 3-2 advantage. The winner of this one will put themselves on the doorstep of reaching the NBA Finals. For the Heat it would be the first time since 2020 and for the Celtics it would be the first time in a while.
The Boston Celtics hold all the momentum in this series as they got a massive win in Game 4. As long as Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown can remain healthy they may honestly be the current favorites to bring home the NBA Championship and add another ring to their impressive legacy. They will be looking to grab a win in Miami on the road this time around as they will play in one of the most hostile home crowd environments in the entire National Basketball Association at least once, depending on how the result of Game 5 and 6 goes. As for the result of this one, I am going with the Miami Heat to get the win.
Tony’s NBA Pick: Miami Heat (+106)
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*Odds and spreads correct at time of publication, courtesy of FanDuel.
