Two strong teams, the Miami Heat and Boston Celtics are set to lock horns on Wednesday. This exciting fixture will be a small recap of last year’s Eastern Conference Finals, but the Celtics will be looking to get their revenge this time around.
Venue: AmericanAirlines Arena
Time: 7:30 PM ET (January 6, 2021)
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Both the Heat and Celtics won their previous games and will look to extend their winning run heading into this fixture. It would be a battle of two tactical head coaches and hence, a victory wouldn’t be straightforward for either team.
Miami Heat vs Boston Celtics – Injury Report and Lineups
Miami Heat
The Heat are coming off a comfortable victory against the Oklahoma City Thunder. Bam Adebayo is currently leading the statistic charts for Miami, as Jimmy Butler has been on and off with his injury.
Miami isn’t enjoying the best of starts to their regular-season campaign, but they’re still a well-balanced unit capable of taking down the big guns. As they prepare for Boston, only two players are listed as questionable for the game.
The Heat might play without 24-year-old point guard Gabe Vincent (knee), and swingman Maurice Harkless (forearm contusion), but the others in the roster are healthy and ready to go.
Possible Lineup
Tyler Herro (G)
Duncan Robinson (G)
Jimmy Butler (F)
Kelly Olynyk (F)
Bam Adebayo (C)
Boston Celtics
As for the Cs, their situation is similar to what it was at the start of the season as Kemba Walker is sidelined due to injury. However, the dynamic duo of Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown has been massively filling in the void and getting the Ws.
Brown is the leading scorer of the team with 26.9 PPG in eight fixtures, but Tatum isn’t far behind. This combo has been on fire since the start and is expected to fire big when they travel to Miami for their fourth-successive road game of the season.
Besides the obvious absentees, Boston also has a couple of more players who are added to the questionable list. Point guard Jeff Teague (ankle) is listed as probable, while Marcus Smart’s participation is also doubtful against the Miami Heat.
#NEBHInjuryReport vs. Miami:
Javonte Green (Health and Saftey protocol) – OUT
Romeo Langford (right wrist surgery) – OUT
Marcus Smart (right thumb sprain) – QUESTIONABLE
Jeff Teague (left ankle sprain) – QUESTIONABLE
Kemba Walker (left knee injury recovery) – OUT— Boston Celtics (@celtics) January 5, 2021
Possible Lineup
Marcus Smart (G)
Jaylen Brown (G)
Jayson Tatum (F)
Daniel Thies (F)
Tristan Thompson (C)
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Prediction
This game will go right down to the wire, and that’s for sure. The Celtics have been better in terms of scoring when compared to the Heat. On the other hand, Miami has been good defensively, so it will be a good battle between attack versus defense.
This fixture can go either way, but the odds are leaning towards the Boston Celtics due to their impeccable form. If Tatum or Brown get going, the Celtics will undoubtedly run away with the win and improve their record to 6-3 in the regular-season!
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