Game five returns to Boston when the 8-seed Miami Heat (46-36) take on the 1-seed Boston Celtics (64-18), as the Celtics look to close out the series while holding a 3-1 lead. The Celtics won both games in Miami, and neither were very close, winning game three by 20 and game four by 14. In their most recent game, Derrick White took over, scoring 38 points while shooting over 50% from the floor and three. Boston is currently listed as a 14.5-point home favorite. Tipoff is scheduled for 7:30 EST from TD Garden in Boston and can be found on TNT.

Miami’s Last Stand

The Miami Heat have their back against the wall heading into this elimination game. The only game they were able to win so far has been game two, and they did this by getting red hot from three, shooting 53.5% from deep in the game. This is a difficult game plan to replicate, as they did not shoot higher than 32.4% from distance in any of the other three games. In the most recent game, Bam Adebayo had a monster performance with 25 points and 17 rebounds, but it was not enough to grab a win.

The Heat have found it difficult to replace the scoring of Jimmy Butler and Terry Rozier as they are both out with injuries. The Heat are just 14th out of the 16 teams in the playoffs in team scoring at 94.3 PPG. Bam Adebayo has been their only consistent scorer, he is averaging 22.5 PPG, and has scored 20 or more in all four games. Adebayo is also their top rebounder, grabbing 10.5 per game. Tyler Herro is their next top scorer at 17.3 PPG, he has been the focus of Boston’s defensive efforts, keeping him below his season scoring average in all three Boston wins. Jaime Jaquez Jr. has been thrown into the starting lineup with Butler out, he is averaging 12.8 PPG in this series but was recently ruled out for this game. Caleb Martin (12.0 PPG) and Nikola Jovic (9.8 PPG) round out the rest of the starting lineup.

Miami is not deep with scorers off the bench. Patty Mills played in two games getting 8.0 PPG, and Delon Wright also averages 8.0 PPG in the three games he played. Haywood Highsmith is the only other player off the bench getting significant minutes in the playoffs. The Heat are ranked 21st in offensive efficiency and 5th in defensive efficiency according to dunksandthrees.com. They play slowly on offense, ranking 29th in the league in pace of play.

Injury Report:

Out: Jaime Jaquez Jr., Jimmy Butler, Terry Rozier, Josh Richardson