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With the NBA 2021-22 regular season now in the books, the basketball betting market is hotter than ever. CBS Sports will offer daily picks during the postseason. Sam Quinn will make at least one selection for each game from now until the NBA Finals. All lines are courtesy of Caesars Sportsbook.
Featured game | Boston Celtics vs. Miami Heat
Boston’s three wins in the Eastern Conference Finals have been 58 points combined. His 13-point victory in the fifth game came despite a relatively unobtrusive offensive performance. It’s hard to win with double digits when he makes 15 losses of sand and barely shoots 30 percent from behind the arc, but Boston’s defense and Miami injuries give the Celtics more than enough leeway to do it. Right now, the Heat are too attached to score against such a good defense. Get ready to watch the Celtics win the Eastern Conference on Friday. The selection: Celtics -8.5
The last two games have averaged less than 180 combined points per game. Boston can still score at a somewhat respectable pace, but where are the Miami points supposed to come from? Jimmy Butler doesn’t have the guts to beat the Boston greats, and as such, the Celtics barely keep him on the perimeter. Kyle Lowry has shot 5 of 23 in the series. Tyler Herro is battling a groin injury that usually requires weeks off. If you expect the Heat to score in this series, basically expect the bad shooters to make the shots Boston gives them. In another way? Expect another rock fight. The selection: Less than 201
Robert Williams III returned to the Celtics for the third game of his first-round series against the Nets. He was limited in terms of minutes in that series, so he blocked only one shot in both games he played against Brooklyn. Since then, he has played seven games. He has blocked at least two shots in each of them. Keep riding this wave until it crashes. The choice: Williams more than 1.5 blocks