Boston Celtics at Miami Heat, American Airlines Arena, Miami, FL
Sunday, April 10, 2011, 3:30 pm Eastern, TV: ABC
Opening Line: Heat -5
Current Line: Heat -6
Opening Total: 185
Current Total: 183
Money Line: Click here for latest NBA lines
The Miami Heat (55-24) will not have a bigger game in the regular season than they will on Sunday when they host the Boston Celtics (55-24) with the second seed in the Eastern Conference playoff race on the line. The defending Eastern Conference champion Celtics may own a potential tiebreaker with the Heat (-6) after winning the first three meetings in the season series, but that will be all for naught if they end up with a worse overall record.
Miami is 12-3 straight-up since suffering through a season-long five-game losing streak, going 8-7 against the spread during that stretch. The Heat bounced back from an embarrassing 90-85 home loss to Milwaukee without the injured Dwyane Wade by topping Charlotte 112-103 there on Friday. Wade returned from his thigh injury against the Bobcats and tied teammate Chris Bosh with a game-high 27 points while LeBron James added 23 to go along with nine assists and seven rebounds.
Boston also rebounded from a devastating 97-81 loss at Chicago on Thursday by beating Washington 104-88 at home on Friday. The Celtics saw their very slim chances of earning the top seed in the East disappear when the Bulls won at Cleveland on Friday, so they now turn their attention to holding off Miami for second-best and homecourt advantage in a potential second-round series matchup.
Three losses in the team’s last four road games have put Boston in an essential must-win situation here with only three games remaining in the regular season. The Celtics have a road game against the Wizards and a home game against New York left on their schedule following this compared to the Heat, who visit Atlanta and Toronto in their final two games.
Miami has dropped the last four meetings with Boston both straight-up and against the spread, including all three this season as the favored team. The Celtics will not have center Shaquille O’Neal available due to a calf injury, although he also did not play in the last meeting and was not much of a factor in the first two. Center Kendrick Perkins has been traded as well since the teams last played on February 13 in Boston, possibly giving the Heat an advantage inside.
The Celts may have not come to play against Chicago, but they can still gain a huge edge heading into the postseason if they can win this game at Miami. They are 25-10 ATS in the last 35 meetings with the Heat and 16-5 ATS in the past 21 played in Miami.
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