The Miami Heat and Boston Celtics will square off on Sunday evening for Game 6 of their Eastern Conference Finals series.
Currently, Miami holds a 3-2 lead over Boston.
ESPN recently created a computer model that allows them to predict the outcome of games.
According to this model, the Celtics have a 59.0 percent chance of emerging from this outing victorious.
That prognostication falls roughly along the lines of what odds makers are predicting. Boston is presently listed as a 3-point favorite in Game 6 according to most sportsbooks.
The Celtics seem to have all the momentum following their big 121-108 win on Friday night. It is a sharp reversal from where things stood after Game 4.
“We knew we had to play better,” Jayson Tatum said on Friday.
If nothing else, at least the Sixers will be fun to watch. https://t.co/GTW0lcUCu9
— Game 7 (@game7__) September 27, 2020
“We were fighting for our life. It was going to take a collective effort in the second half, and that’s what we did.”
Miami head coach Erik Spoelstra agreed with that assessment.
“Boston played great in the second half,” he said.
“They deserved and earned what they got. We understand how tough it is to win in the playoffs. We did not compete hard enough defensively and we paid the price for that.”
Heat star Jimmy Butler had a solid performance in Game 5. For the day, he recorded 17 points on 5 of 11 shooting from the field, eight assists, eight rebounds, one steal and one block in 36 minutes of action.
Yikes Clippers. https://t.co/o9mkI9xbhl
— Game 7 (@game7__) September 27, 2020
That said, he obviously wasn’t happy with how things turned out for his squad.
“They were playing harder than we were, which we all knew,” he said.
“We’ve just got to correct that. That’s where it starts for us. Any time anybody is playing harder than we are, we are not playing our best basketball.
“I think a lot of it for us comes from how hard we play, how together we play, and we’ve got to get back to doing that.”
Aside from effort, one big reason for Miami’s loss was Celtics center Daniel Theis really disrupting Bam Adebayo’s flow. He finished with 15 points, 13 rebounds and three blocks in the effort.
“We need him to provide what he provides,” Celtics head coach Brad Stevens said after the fact.
“He was great in the middle of the zone. He caught it twice and scored. He was great there on the glass on both ends. We need him to be good. We got a lot out of that center position tonight. That’s important.”
Israel Adesanya has an interesting way of celebrating. https://t.co/S5LS5jQt4q
— Game 7 (@game7__) September 27, 2020
Adebayo, meanwhile, took the blame for his team’s loss.
“I played like ****,” he said.
“Bottom line. I put that game on me. It’s not my teammates’ fault, it’s not my coaches’ fault, it’s me. … I missed too many shots I should have made. Put that one on me.”
Adebayo finished with 13 points, 8 rebounds and 8 assists in 38 minutes of action.
All in all, the stakes on Sunday evening are clear. If the Celtics win, they live on to fight another day. If the Heat prevail, they make their first NBA Finals since 2014.
Game 6 tips off at 4:30 pm PT on ESPN.
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A graduate from the University of Texas, Anthony Amador has been credentialed to cover the Houston Texans, Dallas Cowboys, San Antonio Spurs, Dallas Mavericks and high school games all over the Lone Star State. Currently, his primary beats are the NBA, MLB, NFL and UFC.
