Can Celtics Turn Off Heat Tonight – January 25

It’s Celtics-Heat tonight and could it be another prelude to an Eastern Conference final? The Celtics sure look like the type of team that could not only make the conference final, but win the NBA title. Boston has the best record in all of basketball at 34-10. The Celtics have won two in a row and five of their last six heading into tonight.

Miami has been struggling as of late. The Heat have lost four in a row and are now 24-20 overall, which is good for sixth place in the Eastern Conference. Keep in mind that a year ago, Miami finished the regular season in eighth place. The Heat played their way through the play-in tournament to reach the playoffs and then beat the Celtics in the conference finals.

Celtics Favored to Win Tonight

Despite losing to Miami in last year’s Eastern Conference finals, the Boston Celtics have won four of the last five against the Heat. The only Miami victory in the last five meetings was Game 7 of last year’s conference finals. The two teams play tonight in Miami and the Celtics are a 7-point favorite. Boston opened at -6 and the line has ticked up a point already. The line movement could be the result of steam, or sharp bettors making large bets on the Celtics.

Bettors might be lining up to back the Celtics because the Heat just played last night. Plus, Miami lost to a short-handed Memphis team 105-96. Over the course of their four straight losses, the Heat have now been held to less than 100 points three times. The offense averages 110.9 points per game, which ranks 26th in the NBA. The Celtics are one of the top-scoring teams in the league, averaging 120.3 per game (4th).

Celtics-Heat Preview

Last night, Terry Rozier made his debut for Miami. Rozier was acquired in a trade from Charlotte and came off the bench last night to score just nine points. Rozier is averaging career highs of 23.6 points and 6.6 assists this season. He is expected to give the Heat offense a boost. Miami definitely needs it. Over their last ten games, the Heat are averaging 102.4 points a game and have been held under 100 six times.

Boston has won its last two, the most recent of which was a 119-110 win over Dallas. Jayson Tatum (27.0 ppg) scored 39 points to lead the Celtics and Jaylen Brown (23.1 ppg) added 34. The Celtics have beaten the Heat once already this season. In Boston’s second game of the 2023-24 season, the Celtics beat the Heat 119-111 at home. All five Boston starters scored in double figures led by Derrick White’s 28. Brown had 27 and Tatum had 22. The Celtics failed to cover as an 8.5-point favorite.

Cappers Crush the Books Yesterday

We had handicappers that made over 50 picks yesterday and we cappers that made just one. They were all winners as the top of yesterday’s leaderboard absolutely crushed the books. Yesterday’s top-10 made 122 total picks. They won 67.2 percent of those picks and were flooded with nearly $4000 in winnings! What a day for Sports Hub handicappers. 

Let’s see how they did.

• Sas Insider: The big dog on the board yesterday was our partner in crime, Sas Insider. The Insider made a total of 51 picks. Yes, 51! There were 31 wins for a total of $877 added to the bankroll. 

• Knup Sports: Our friends at Knup Sports finished No. 2 on yesterday’s board after hitting 16 of 25 picks. Knup made eight NBA picks and missed on only two. Yesterday, they won $630, which now gives Knup Sports a 30-day total of $2990! Looks like someone is a model of consistency.
• One and done: While the top two cappers on the board combined to make 76 picks, Frankie the Fan needed just one pick to finish among the top-5. Frankie had Alexander Zverev beating Carlos Alcaraz at +381 in the Australian Open quarterfinals. Zverev won and Frankie pocketed $381 to finish fifth on the board.
• Scott’s Picks: Scott’s Picks are No. 1 on the 30-day leaderboard for a reason. Yesterday, Scott went 7-3 and won $456. That was the third-best performance yesterday. 
• Gotta include Sal: We’ve been talking about Sal Lombardi for pretty much the last month. Sal was back at it yesterday with 17 picks. He went 10-7 and finished up $290. His three-day total puts him up $610 and he is still No. 1 on the 7-day leaderboard ($2205), 14-day leaderboard ($2845), and the 7-day basketball leaderboard ($1890).

Harbaugh to the Chargers

The big news heading into today is the new head coach of the Los Angeles Chargers. The team got exactly what they were searching for in former Michigan head coach and national champion Jim Harbaugh. 

• New Chargers coach: For those that didn’t know, Harbaugh has a long history in southern California. He played for the Chargers when they were in San Diego. He spent two seasons as the QB coach for the Oakland Raiders. Harbaugh’s first head coaching job was at the University of San Diego. He spent four years as Stanford’s head coach before moving on to lead the San Francisco 49ers for four seasons. Now, he’ll try to repeat what he did at Michigan with Chargers QB Justin Herbert and a talented defense.

• Who takes over at Michigan:  It appears that the Wolverines will try and keep last season’s staff together, as much as possible. The target to replace Harbaugh is offensive coordinator Sherrone Moore.
• Heat lose again: Miami was a double-digit favorite last night against Memphis, the 13th-place team in the Western Conference standings. The Grizzlies won 105-96. Now, the Heat host the Celtics tonight. Miami is now a 7.5-point home underdog. The line moved another half-point while you were reading this.

Celtics-Heat Leads Tonight’s Schedule

The Boston Celtics seek their third straight victory and second over Miami this season when they travel to South Beach to take on the Heat tonight. As mentioned, Miami has lost four straight, including the game to Memphis just last night. The Heat are 2-3 SU this season with no rest and 0-4 SU as a home underdog.

Here’s tonight’s schedule.

1. NBA: There are seven games again tonight. The Celtics playing at Miami is the first game in the TNT doubleheader. The late game pits Sacramento at Golden State.
2. NCAAB: After three AP Top 25 teams lost last night, it’s another huge night on the college hardwood. Only one ranked team – No. 9 Arizona – plays tonight. The Wildcats visit Oregon State in a Pac-12 matchup.
3. NHL: There are nine games on the NHL schedule and all eyes will be on the Chicago-Edmonton matchup that starts at 9:00 p.m. ET in Edmonton. The Oilers have won 14 straight and take on a Blackhawks team that is tied with San Jose for the lowest point total (30) in the NHL.

4. Soccer: AFC Bournemouth and Swansea City meet in an English FA Cup match today. That’s the big one on the international soccer schedule today. There are a number of matches in the South American professional leagues.
5. Australian Open: No. 1 seed Novak Djokovic takes on No. 4 Jannick Sinner in the first semifinal. The match starts at 10:30 p.m. ET. The women’s semifinals are completed. No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka will face No. 12 Zheng Qinwen in the women’s final on Saturday.
6. Golf: Kevin Yu holds an early one-shot lead in the Farmers Insurance Open. Round 2 gets underway today.

There is plenty of betting value out there today. At least, that’s what our expert handicappers are telling us with their four dozen or so picks that they’ve already put into our database for events today. There will be plenty more too. Check the members’ area throughout the day for winning picks. Come back tomorrow a winner and check out our recap of all the action. See you then!