Filip Tomic
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Revenge will be on the mind of the Boston Celtics players tonight as they host the Miami Heat in Game 1 of their 1st-round series. Miami knocked out Boston in the Eastern Conference Finals last year. Can the Celtics get off to a winning start this time around? Tipoff is at 1:00 pm ET on ABC, and to spice things up I have prepared a Same Game Parlay that you can find below.
For predictions on the side and total for the rest of Sunday’s NBA Playoffs games simply visit our NBA Picks page.
Let’s dive into my SGP bet now!
Jayson Tatum Over 26.5 points (-111)
Kristaps Porzingis 2+ made threes (-260)
Jaime Jaquez Jr. Over 1.5 made threes (+150)
Same Game Parlay odds: +505
Jayson Tatum Over 26.5 Points (-111)
Tatum has a an opportunity to make amends for his poor performance in last season’s series against the Heat. Although 25.3 points per game sounds like a solid average, in today’s games that’s way too little for a player of Tatum’s stature. Not only that, but he also failed miserably in Game 7 — going just 5-for-13 from the field and scoring 14 points as the Celtics flamed out of the postseason. A lot of time has passed since then, but I’m sure Tatum remembers all the criticism he got after that game. He scored 30+ points 4 times in that series last year and with Jimmy Butler not guarding him in Game 1, I think he will deliver a signature performance.
Kristaps Porzingis 2+ Made Threes (-260)
Porzingis enjoyed a lot of success in the 3 meetings with Miami in the regular season, averaging 20.3 points per game on 57% shooting from the field and 50% from downtown. He did all that in just 27.3 minutes per game, so you have to feel good about his chances of knocking down at least 2 threes on Sunday. Rotations generally shrink come postseason time and the starters get way more minutes, so I’m expecting a productive game from the Latvian. He finished the year averaging 41.4% from 3-point land over his last 7 games and is a nightmare matchup for most teams in the NBA. Miami is no exception to that. The Hat do know how to defend the perimeter efficiently, but they will likely struggle against the 7-footer. Let’s back Porzingis to drain a couple from distance.
Jaime Jaquez Jr. Over 1.5 made threes (+150)
Jaquez has been a major contributor in his last 4 games for Miami, averaging 18.5 points per game while shooting 50% or better in 3 of those games. He also knocked down a pair of threes on 2 occasions, so I think it’s well worth backing him at these odds to do so again in the series opener. You won’t find many flaws in this Celtics defense, but with Butler out of the lineup there’s an extra 18 to 20 shots to be taken by the Heat roster and a decent chunk of those should go to the in-form Jaquez. Tyler Herro will undoubtedly be the focal point of the Celtics defensive schemes; that should also work in Jaquez’s favor. Boston has allowed opponents to make 39.4% of their threes in the last 3 games; granted the starters did not play in those games. Following such a long layoff, there could be some rust out there. I’m counting on Jaquez to deliver.
