Miami Heat (34-41, ninth in the Eastern Conference) vs. Boston Celtics (56-19, second in the Eastern Conference)
Boston; Wednesday, 7:30 p.m. EDT
BOTTOM LINE: Boston looks to keep its nine-game win streak going when the Celtics take on Miami.
The Celtics are 35-11 in Eastern Conference games. Boston is last in the league scoring 11.9 fast break points per game.
The Heat are 22-25 against Eastern Conference opponents. Miami is 3-9 in games decided by 3 points or fewer.
The Celtics average 17.9 made 3-pointers per game this season, 4.2 more made shots on average than the 13.7 per game the Heat allow. The Heat average 13.6 made 3-pointers per game this season, 0.7 more makes per game than the Celtics give up.
TOP PERFORMERS: Jayson Tatum is scoring 27.1 points per game with 8.8 rebounds and 5.9 assists for the Celtics. Kristaps Porzingis is averaging 15.2 points and 5.4 rebounds while shooting 54.6% over the past 10 games.
Bam Adebayo is averaging 17.7 points, 9.7 rebounds and 4.3 assists for the Heat. Tyler Herro is averaging 22.6 points and 4.7 assists over the past 10 games.
LAST 10 GAMES: Celtics: 9-1, averaging 116.7 points, 45.5 rebounds, 27.7 assists, 7.0 steals and 5.0 blocks per game while shooting 46.9% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 104.4 points per game.
Heat: 5-5, averaging 108.2 points, 40.5 rebounds, 25.5 assists, 9.2 steals and 4.0 blocks per game while shooting 49.7% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 105.4 points.
INJURIES: Celtics: Jaylen Brown: day to day (knee), Luke Kornet: day to day (illness).
Heat: Dru Smith: out for season (achilles), Davion Mitchell: day to day (stomach), Nikola Jovic: out (hand), Kevin Love: day to day (personal), Andrew Wiggins: day to day (hamstring), Duncan Robinson: out (back).
___
The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
The Associated Press
