Miami Heat To Face The New-Look Boston Celtics Featuring Kristaps Porzingis
The Miami Heat are facing the Boston Celtics for the fourth time in the last five years.
The one difference is the Celtics acquired forward Kristaps Porzingis in the offseason. Heat center Bam Adebayo offered his thoughts on the addition ahead of Sunday's series-opener.
"Obviously, he's 7-2 shooting the ball at a high clip," Adebayo said. "So it just gives him a lot of spacing."
Here's the game preview:
Time: 1 p.m.
Where: TD Garden, Boston
TV: ABC
Betting line: Heat +13.5
Vitals: : The Heat and Celtics met three times this regular season with Boston winning each matchup. The Heat are 53-83 all-time versus the Celtics during the regular season, including 30-40 in home games and 23-43 in road games. The teams enter this postseason having faced each other six times in the playoffs, including four times in the Eastern Conference Finals (2012, 2020, 2022, 2023), once in the Semifinals (2011) and once in the First Round (2010). The HEAT has recorded a 4-2 playoff series record against Boston over that span, resulting in a 20-17 postseason record against the Celtics.
PROJECTED STARTERS
HEAT
G Caleb Martin
G Tyler Herro
C Bam Adebayo
F Jaime Jaquez
F Nikola Jovic
CELTICS
F Jayson Tatum
F Jaylen Brown
C Kristaps Porzingis
G Jrue Holiday
G Derrick White
INJURY REPORT
HEAT
Josh Richardson: Out - Right Shoulder Surgery
Jimmy Butler: Out - Knee
Terry Rozier: Out - Neck Spasms
CELTICS
Derrick White: Probable - Ankle
Jrue Holiday: Probable - Knee
Heat forward Kevin Love on the series: "It's an old underdog story, right? David vs. Goliath. We've been the eighth seed before, last year. That's why you've got to roll the ball out and play. You've got to understand that anything can happen in this game. Beating a team like Boston is going to be an incredibly uphill battle. They've played like the best team all year. I know some teams would have something to say about that but they've certainly made some moves with Jrue and Porzingis that have them so much better ... We know what they're capable of. Again, coach will have us ready to certainly compete on Sunday and go out there and try to get a win."
