NBA Basketball
2026-02-06 - Miami Heat at Boston Celtics
A Sports Betting Pick by FirstDown
United States : NBA Basketball
Friday 6th February 2025 - Scheduled 7:30pm
12:30am (British Time)
Preview
It feels a long time since the Miami Heat (27-25) were seen as a top destination for NBA players and a well Coached team is treading water- that may be a harsh assessment of a tough, grizzled group, but the Heat look far too good to be involved in any Draft Lottery, while at the same time looking someway short of the quality needed to have a deep Playoff run in the Eastern Conference.
Over the last several days, the Heat have been struggling for any kind of consistency having interchanged losses with wins and they will be looking to bounce back and avoid consecutive defeats for the first time since January 11th.
That looks a tough task when visiting the Boston Celtics (33-18) who have won four in a row to sit third in the Eastern Conference standings.
The Celtics made one or two quiet moves around the trade deadline that should keep them very competitive at the top of the East, while the danger for the rivals is that Jayson Tatum is going to be available for the Playoffs.
Even without him, Boston continue to be far more effective than many considered they would be and they have been really well balanced during this winning run.
Defensively the intensity has made it very difficult for opponents, but Boston are backing that up with some very strong shooting displays when they have the ball. The effectiveness from the three point arc is always going to be a big factor in how well Boston are playing and they should be capable of exposing what has been a Defensive vulnerability for Miami over the last couple of weeks.
A positive for Miami is that they could have Norman Powell and Andrew Wiggins back in the lineup, although both remain Questionable at the time of writing. Tyler Herro has also been a miss and is most likely to be unavailable of the trio mentioned and it is going to take a big effort to find a way to consistent Offensive output.
Slowing down the three point shooting is going to be the challenge for Miami- if they can be more competitive at getting out and making things difficult for those spotted up, they can keep this one closer on the scoreboard than the layers may think. However, failure to do that and allowing the Celtics to have the same kind of successes as both the Atlanta Hawks and Chicago Bulls have had over the last week against the Heat will lead to a very tough day in the office.
Confidence is with the Celtics though and that is why they deserve the edge to cover the spread that has been set.
The Celtics have won both regular season games against the Miami Heat this season and covered the spread as a favourite both times.
With the continued Defensive intensity that has been shown, the Celtics may do enough to cover here too.
Boston do play rivals New York Knicks on Super Bowl Sunday, but they should be focused enough to want to head into that game with a winning run and momentum behind them and that should see them pull clear of the Miami Heat.
Prediction
Lay the points with the home favourite in this battle of Eastern Conference rivals.
The Pick :
Boston Celtics 112-101 Miami Heat
