Filip Tomic
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The Boston Celtics are just 2 wins away from making history in their Eastern Conference Finals series against Miami. Game 6 in South Beach has the potential to be the best game of these NBA Playoffs. Tip-off is Saturday at 8:30 ET on TNT. I’ve prepared a Same Game Parlay which is available below.
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Let’s dive into my SGP bet now!
Boston Celtics -3 (-106)
Derrick White Over 13.5 Points (-106)
Jimmy Butler Over 0.5 Made Threes (-178)
Same Game Parlay odds: +412
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Boston Celtics -3 (-106) over Miami Heat
Coming back home for Game 5, the Celtics made sure not to make the same mistakes they made during the opening 2 games of this series in the same building. They outrebounded the Heat, had more steals, more blocks, less turnovers and were more dominant from three-point land. That’s been the recipe for success this season for the men in green. When they shoot 40% from deep, they are an incredible 37-2 SU in regular season and postseason games. After these back-to-back wins, their confidence has gone up, while the pressure has shifted to the Heat. Game 6 for Miami is their Game 7 as I highly doubt they can win on the road if Boston manages to win another game.
Why do I like the Celtics in Game 6? They’re finally playing like the team that we saw for the majority of the season, which ended with the 2nd best record in the NBA. They’ve also won 7 of 8 games played on a Saturday and are 5-1 SU in their last 6 games played on that day away from home. Miami could be without Gabe Vincent for another game, and his stellar play has propelled him into the 2nd best player in this series behind Jimmy Butler. I also like drama, and Boston can become only the 4th team in NBA history to push a series into a Game 7 after losing the first 3 games. I’ll take my chances by backing Tatum and co. here.
Derrick White Over 13.5 Points (-106)
Derrick White was one of the 4 Celtics players that scored 20+ points Game 5. He actually led all scorers with 24, on a very efficient 8-for-11 from the field and 6 threes made on 8 attempts. He has completely taken over the role of Malcolm Brogdon who, as we’ve learned a couple of days ago, is dealing with a partially torn tendon in his right elbow. That basically eliminated the 6th Man of the Year from making any significant impact moving forward, so White will have to step up once again here. He’s averaging 13.2 points per game on almost 52% shooting this postseason, while in this series he’s cleared this line in back-to-back games and has scored double-digit points in 4 of the 5 games played.
His minutes have gradually gone up in every single game and with the season being on the line once again for Boston, I expect their rotation to shorten even further so White should have plenty of playing time here. My only worry here is that Tatum goes off for 50 points and White doesn’t get enough shots, but I’m hopeful he plays a similar game like on Thursday and gets his teammates involved.
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Jimmy Butler Over 0.5 Made Threes (-178)
Jimmy Butler is showing no signs of panic or anything similar, despite his team collapsing over the past 2 games. That’s exactly the behavior you want from your best player as it gives a confidence boost to the rest of the players so they don’t fold under pressure. Thursday’s game wasn’t the best for Jimmy as he finished with just 14 points scored, while attempting only 10 shots per game which is way down from his 18.8 that he’s averaging during this series. Gabe Vincent not playing has had a negative impact on him, the Heat are hopeful he can return for Game 6 following his ankle injury.
Butler attempted 33 and 22 shots in the past 2 closeout games of Rounds 1 and 2 vs Milwaukee and New York, so I’m expecting him to be far more aggressive here than he was on Thursday. Although he isn’t shooting a flashy percentage from deep, he can hit them when it matters the most as we’ve seen a number of occasions in these Playoffs. This is basically the biggest game of the season for Miami, so I think we can count on Butler to come out swinging.
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