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Celtics-Heat Game 5 preview: Both offenses clicking

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The Miami Heat continue to run rampant through the NBA postseason, now holding a 3-1 lead over the Boston Celtics following Wednesday's Game 4 win in the Eastern Conference finals.

Can the C's move back within a game of Miami, or will the Heat punch their ticket to the Finals?

Here's the betting primer for Friday's critical Game 5.

Miami Heat vs. Boston Celtics (-3, 213)

After closing as 3.5-point favorites in each of the last two games, the Celtics are shaded down a bit to just -3. Although three of the four contests in the series so far have easily gone over the total, the number's dropped from 213.5 to 213.

The case for the Heat

There's so much balanced scoring on a nightly basis, it makes it difficult for an opponent to take away any one, single player. Rookie Tyler Herro was the hero in Game 4, as his 37 points paved the way for a Heat franchise one win away from getting back to the Finals for the first time since 2014.

Miami's up 3-1 and Jimmy Butler has yet to lead the team in points in any game this series - that's seemingly unfair. Goran Dragic paced the Heat in the first two games and Bam Adebayo led all players with 27 in Game 3.

Miami's making Boston defend the entire court, and the result is an offensive surge that's resulted in 113 points per game - not too shabby against one of the league's best defenses.

The case for the Celtics

It's win or go home for a Boston team that looked every part of a contender after taking care of the defending champion Toronto Raptors in the previous round.

One of the more underrated storylines of this series has been the Celtics' offense. Miami's catching all the headlines, but Boston's posted a better shooting clip from the floor than its opponent in each of the last three games. The Celtics have actually gone over the total in three of four this series; perhaps bettors shouldn't be so quick to fade them.

Notable betting trends

  • The Heat are 11-2 against the spread the last 13 overall
  • The Heat are 8-2 ATS following a straight-up win
  • The Heat are 6-2 ATS the last eight as playoff underdogs
  • The Heat are 4-1 to the over the last five as playoff underdogs
  • The Heat are 27-12 to the over the last 39 following a straight-up win
  • The Celtics are 7-1-1 ATS the last nine following an ATS loss
  • The Celtics are 23-9-1 ATS the last 33 as playoff favorites
  • The Celtics are 5-1 to the under the last six following a straight-up loss
  • The Celtics are 8-2 to the under the last 10 on one day of rest

(Odds source: theScore Bet).

Alex Kolodziej is a betting writer for theScore. He's a graduate of Eastern Illinois who has been involved in the sports betting industry for 12 years. He can quote every line from "Rounders" and appreciates franchises that regularly wear alternate jerseys. Find him on Twitter @AJKolodziej.

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