Boston Celtics (48-24, third in the Eastern Conference) vs. Miami Heat (44-29, fifth in the Eastern Conference)
Lake Buena Vista, Florida; Sunday, 7:30 p.m. EDT
LINE: Celtics -3.5; over/under is 214
BOTTOM LINE: The Miami Heat and the Boston Celtics meet in a matchup of two of the top-ranked teams in the Eastern Conference.
The Heat have gone 30-13 against Eastern Conference opponents. Miami ranks second in the Eastern Conference with 25.9 assists per game led by Jimmy Butler averaging 6.0.
The Celtics are 30-13 in conference play. Boston is sixth in the Eastern Conference shooting 36.4% from downtown. Jayson Tatum paces the Celtics shooting 40.3% from 3-point range.
The Heat won the last meeting between these two teams 112-106 on Aug. 4. Bam Adebayo scored 21 points to help lead Miami to the win.
TOP PERFORMERS: Butler leads the Heat with 6.0 assists, and scores 19.9 points per game. Duncan Robinson is averaging 15.5 points and 3.1 rebounds while shooting 44.6% over the last 10 games for Miami.
Tatum is averaging 23.4 points and 7.0 rebounds for the Celtics. Gordon Hayward is averaging 18.2 points and 6.9 rebounds while shooting 44.2% over the last 10 games for Boston.
LAST 10 GAMES: Heat: 4-6, averaging 108.7 points, 42.6 rebounds, 25.6 assists, 8.2 steals and 5.4 blocks per game while shooting 45.8% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 108.2 points on 44.1% shooting.
Celtics: 6-4, averaging 116.9 points, 46.7 rebounds, 23.7 assists, 8.4 steals and 5.7 blocks per game while shooting 46.5% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 110.8 points on 44.3% shooting.
INJURIES: Heat: KZ Okpala: out (personal), Gabe Vincent: day to day (right knee), Chris Silva: out (groin).
Celtics: Romeo Langford: out for season (right adductor strain).
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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
