We’re now down to the final four teams here in the NBA playoffs as the Heat, Celtics, Warriors and Mavericks all advanced after a tough second round.
The Celtics’ revenge tour has one more obstacle in the Heat before reaching the finals for the first time since 2010. On the other hand, the Warriors are trying to reclaim their lost glory, but they’re in for a huge battle against one of league’s top young stars.
Both the ECF and WCF series are going to be a dogfight, so SBOTOP basketball fans can expect more NBA 2022 highlights to come their way in these next few days.
Boston Celtics @ Miami Heat
The upcoming series between the Heat and the Celtics, which will start later, is basically a rematch of the 2020 conference finals in the bubble where Miami won 4-2.
Whereas having the higher seed didn’t matter much before, now it does since there is home-court advantage and the Heat have it this time since they were the top seed in the East during the regular season.
At lot has changed since they last met, but their respective cores are largely the same.
Jimmy Butler, Tyler Herro, and Bam Adebayo are leading the way for the Heat. However, this time, they’re reinforced by Kyle Lowry, PJ Tucker, and the improvements of Max Strus and Gabe Vincent.
Meanwhile, the Celtics are being spearheaded by the dynamic duo of Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum once more, but their defence is much improved thanks to Al Horford and Robert Williams instead of Kemba Walker and Gordon Hayward.
Both teams have been able to overcome an injury in their starting lineup as Kyle Lowry sat out games due to a hamstring strain while Robert Williams is still recuperating from his knee injury few weeks earlier.
So both the Heat and the Celtics are high in confidence heading into this series. However, Boston are slightly favoured by the NBA 2022 odds after having gone through a gauntlet, while Miami only went through Trae Young and an injured Joel Embiid.
Just like before, the key matchup for this series is Jayson Tatum and Jimmy Butler. Tatum has emerged as a bona fide star after having bested Durant and Antetokounmpo, while Butler has took things up a notch in the playoffs after a subpar regular season.
Tatum is averaging 28.3 points, 6.1 assists, and 5.6 rebounds per game this playoffs, while Butler has similar norms with 28.7 points, 5.4 assists, and 7.6 rebounds per game.
With those two likely to cancel each other out, depth will play a role in this series and both the Heat and the Celtics have it. Jaylen Brown and Bam Adebayo will be the other stars to watch out for in this series, while both benches can produce too.
Grant Williams was huge in Boston’s Game 7 against Milwaukee as he dropped 27 points, while Tyler Herro is this season’s Sixth Man of the Year winner, although he’s only averaging 13.8 points per game on 42-per cent shooting thus far.
Betting Tip: Boston Celtics Asian Handicap -1.50 @ 2.21
Dallas Mavericks @ Golden State Warriors
The WCF matchup between the Warriors and he Mavericks is unexpected to say the least, but overall this should be a fun series.
Steph Curry and Klay Thompson, albeit older, will look to re-establish themselves as the league’s best duo while Luka Doncic will continue to carry the Mavericks on his broad shoulders.
Golden State dispatched the Nuggets in the first round only to meet a testy Grizzlies side that pushed them to six games. On the other hand, Dallas knocked off Utah in six games and almost singlehandedly shocked the Suns in seven games.
The Warriors may be expected by many to return to the NBA Finals given their stronger lineup, but they can’t afford to take the Mavericks for granted.
No team has found a solution for Luka Doncic in the playoffs thus far as he’s averaging 32.7 points, 9.3 rebounds, and 8.3 assists per game.
But compared to the prior rounds, the Warriors have experience on handling guys like Doncic and they have multiple bodies to throw at him – from Klay Thompson, Andrew Wiggins, Jonathan Kuminga, and Draymond Green.
With majority of the focus on Doncic, the key for Dallas is to get consistent production from his supporting cast. Jalen Brunson was instrumental against Utah while Spencer Dinwiddie is fresh from a 30-point game against Phoenix, and they need those two to get going in order to have a chance.
Betting Tip: Golden State Warriors Asian Handicap -1.50 @ 1.96
Disclaimer: Odds are correct at time of publish.
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