Heat look to close out conference finals against the Celtics in game 5
Miami Heat (44-29, fifth in the Eastern Conference during the regular season) vs. Boston Celtics (48-24, third in the Eastern Conference during the regular season)
Lake Buena Vista, Florida; Friday, 8:30 p.m. EDT
LINE: Celtics -3; over/under is 214
EASTERN CONFERENCE FINALS: Heat lead series 3-1
BOTTOM LINE: The Miami Heat look to clinch the series over the Boston Celtics in game five of the Eastern Conference finals. The Heat won the previous meeting 112-109. Tyler Herro scored 37 points to help lead Miami to the victory and Jayson Tatum recorded 28 points in the loss for Boston.
The Celtics are 30-13 in Eastern Conference games. Boston averages 46.1 rebounds per game and is 33-10 when winning the rebound battle.
The Heat are 30-13 against Eastern Conference opponents. Miami is fifth in the Eastern Conference scoring 112 points per game and is shooting 46.8%.
TOP PERFORMERS: Marcus Smart leads the Celtics with 4.9 assists, and scores 12.9 points per game. Tatum is averaging 25.3 points and 10.5 rebounds while shooting 42.8% over the last 10 games for Boston.
Jimmy Butler leads the Heat averaging 6.0 assists while scoring 19.9 points per game. Goran Dragic is averaging 20.9 points and 4.2 assists over the last 10 games for Miami.
DURING THE PLAYOFFS: Celtics: Averaging 108.3 points, 45.1 rebounds, 22.0 assists, 6.7 steals and 5.1 blocks per game while shooting 45.6% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 102.7 points on 41.3% shooting.
Heat: Averaging 111.5 points, 43.5 rebounds, 24.6 assists, 7.9 steals and 4.2 blocks per game while shooting 45.2% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 105.7 points on 45.4% shooting.
INJURIES: Celtics: Vincent Poirier: out (personal), Romeo Langford: out for season (right adductor strain).
Heat: KZ Okpala: out (personal), Gabe Vincent: out (right knee), Chris Silva: out (groin).
___
The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
