Happy Monday, welcome back.Tonight's parlay is Celtics -6.5 vs. the Heat and Jayson Tatum Over 27.5 points. More info below on a chance to win $100 👇

Series Recap Pre Game 4

With the Heat and Celtics facing off tonight in Boston for a series-defining Game 4, let's look back at what's been a strange and confusing Eastern Conference Finals to this point 👇

• The Heat capitalized on a short-handed Celtics squad in Game 1, posting a 22-2 run to begin the second half and never looking back

• Boston responded with a dominant Game 2 win to steal home-court, once again confusing Vegas as the series odds continued to change

• Miami got home-court right back with a Game 3 win in Boston this past weekend

On Saturday, the Heat built up a 26-point lead at one point in the first half, but with Jimmy Butler sidelined for the entire second half, Boston found life and cut the lead all the way down to one point. Ultimately, Miami closed it out, setting up what is an unpredictable Game 4. Take a look at the lines 👇

Heat vs. Celtics Betting Preview (subject to change)

• Spread: Celtics -6.5

• Moneyline: Celtics -270 (bet $270, win $100), Heat +220 (bet $100, win $220)

• Over/under: 208

Must Win For Boston

In the history of the NBA playoffs, only 13 teams have ever come back from being down 3-1 in a series. So while Game 4 isn't necessarily a "must-win", it kinda is. Saturday night's loss was nothing short of devastating, as Boston came out embarrassingly flat in front of their home crowd 😩

• The Celtics turned the ball over an unfathomable 24 times, with over half of them coming from Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown

• Ball security has been an issue for the Celtics all season, and this game showcased all of the team's sloppiest habits 👎

Credit should absolutely be given to Miami's ball-hawking defense, but the Celtics' inability to keep possession was flat-out embarrassing. Add in Tatum, who has been getting all the hype this postseason, scoring 10 pts on 3/14 shooting and you're likely going to lose

• While Jaylen Brown picked up the slack admirably with a playoff-high 40 points, he had 7 turnovers

• The Celtics really missed the interior defending of Robert Williams III, as Bam Adebayo toyed with Boston's defense all night

• Still, injuries cannot be used as an excuse — it's put up or shut up time for a Boston squad whose inconsistency has plagued them all season

Playing With House Money

Miami has to be feeling good heading into Game 4, as pulling out a win without your best player is always impressive. If the Heat can keep the momentum going and steal another game on the road, they will all but assure a series win and unlikely Finals berth. While they are the one-seed in the East, they opened the playoffs with just +3500 odds to win it all (now +300) 😴

• Fortunately for Miami, it's looking like Butler intends to return for Game 4, as his knee injury apparently isn't too serious

• Jimmy has often appeared to be the best player in this series, and potentially the entire playoffs, as he's averaging 28/7/5 in 13 games

• The Heat's defense has been so good that their Twitter account put up a three minute video of just defensive stops 🤣

Miami has developed a well-oiled machine, in which their players understand and embrace their roles within coach Erik Spoelstra's proven system. Their defensive intensity in Game 3 was nothing short of incredible, as they set a franchise playoff record with 19 steals 🍪

• Adebayo showed his usual defensive excellence by contributing to four of those takeaways, but also flourished as a lead offensive star in Butler's absence

• Victor Oladipo continued his surprising resurgence as a defensive stopper off the bench

• Miami may not flash the star power of other contenders still in the mix, but it has shown time and again that its formula for success simply and consistently works 🏆

For My Parlay Gurus

Despite all of my assertions to the contrary, I'm betting on Boston to tie up this series with a Game 4 win. The Celtics haven't lost two games in a row yet this postseason, and should bounce back at home. I think Tatum has a big game after his 10 point outing, so I'm pairing his points prop with the C's spread. Check it out 👇

• Celtics -6.5 vs. Heat: -110

• Jayson Tatum O 27.5 points: -110

$100 on this bet would win you $264 — if we hit, make sure you email [email protected] for a chance to win up to $100*. Many will enter, only some will win 😉

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