In this battle between the 5th and 6th best teams currently in the Eastern Conference, the Miami Heat -looking to end their current small losing streak-, is hosting the Boston Celtics this Thursday night, who have lost only once in their last 6 games.
Boston hosted Indiana in a team playoff in the image of the playoffs on Wednesday night. Miami looks to break their 2-game losing streak after losing to the Denver Nuggets (103–99). The Celtics lead the all-time regular series of the 70-46 season, but the Heat took the last two meetings, including a 90-89 road win in the last showdown on December 20, 2017.
The Heat have played 7 games over the past two weeks. At that time, their record of wins and losses is 3-4 with an average point differential of 2.3. Their record against spread is 3-4, with an average pre-game line of -4.5 and an average of -2.2 against spread.
On the other hand, in the last two weeks, the Celtics have played 7 games. At that time, their direct record is 4-3 with an average differential of 5.9 points. Their record against the spread is 4-3, with an average line of play of -4.9 and an average ATS score of 2.
Regarding betting trends, the Celtics have 1-5 against the spread playing their last 6 games without rest days, 25-9 ATS in their last 34 games against a team with a lost record and 5-1 ATS in their last 6 games in general. The Heat have 8-2 ATS in their last 10 games against a team with a winning record, 5-2 ATS in their last 7 games against the Eastern Conference and 1-4 ATS in their last 5 games overall.
The Celtics beat a tired Pacers team last night but they really look like they passed the critical point and start to improve, as they looked great in their last games. The Heat have had their nice runs this season, but they are not in their best moments now and actually come into this one with a losing home record.
However, it will be difficult for the Celtics, since they will play this time on a zero-day rest, but that should not be an important factor since any starter played more than 25 minutes last night. This could go either way, but the Celtics is 5-1 against the spread in the last 6 meetings in Miami and maybe the trend continues here.