3 bold predictions for Game 7 vs. Celtics in 2022 Eastern Conference Finals

The 2022 NBA Eastern Conference Finals between the Miami Heat and the Boston Celtics will give us the two best words in all of professional sports: Game 7. With that, here are our bold predictions for the Heat in Game 7.

Miami staved off elimination with a 111-103 victory over the Boston Celtics in Game 6. The Heat lived to fight another day led by a masterful Game 6 performance by Jimmy Butler. The 6-time All-Star had the second-best scoring night by a player facing elimination in a road win with 47 points on 16-of-29 shooting. He also had nine rebounds, eight assists, four steals, and even uncharacteristically drained four three-pointers. Kyle Lowry also finally had a great game for the Heat. The 35-year-old veteran notched a double-double with 18 points and 10 assists and made four three-pointers to give Miami the added boost they needed offensively. Max Strus also broke out of his shooting funk, going for 13 points with three triples.

Miami aims to complete the series come back on Sunday and book a ticket to the NBA Finals for the second time in three seasons.

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3 bold Heat predictions for Game 7 vs. Celtics

1. Jimmy Butler will score at least 35 points

Jimmy Butler exploded for 47 points in Miami’s Game 6 win on Friday. That marked the 6-foot-7 wing’s fourth 40-point game in this postseason.

Dating back to the 2020 NBA Finals, Butler has had eight games with 35-plus points. In each of the other seven outings, Butler has failed to replicate a similarly dominant performance he had the game before. In the seven games after he scored at least 35, the 4-time All-NBA member averaged just 19.1 points — the highest being a 29-point game in Miami’s 25-point Game 2 loss earlier in this Eastern Conference Finals series.

With a spot in the NBA Finals on the line, we predict Butler will break this trend and put up another huge scoring line in Game 7. Perhaps at least 35 points with multiple three-pointers should do the trick. But we wouldn’t be shocked if he drops 40-plus again.

2. Miami will win the three-point battle

The Heat drained 15 three-pointers as opposed to Boston’s 11 beyond the arc hits in Game 6. Several Heat players found their rhythm from downtown at the right time. Max Strus broke out of his massive funk over the last couple of games. He scored 11 points of his 15 points in the second half and made 3-of-5 three-pointers in his 19 minutes after the intermission.

Kyle Lowry also broke out of his shooting woes. The veteran guard made four three-pointers, one of which included a crucial game-tying triple with over four minutes left in the fourth. PJ Tucker made both of his three-point attempts. Even Jimmy Butler had four triples to complement his masterclass 47-point performance.

We predict Miami will outduel Boston again in this department. The Heat will need this kind of shooting once again if they want to advance to the NBA Finals to face the Warriors.

3. Heat will prevail in a close game

Though the Eastern Conference Finals is tied 3-3, this series hasn’t been close for the most part. Though it ended in an eight-point Heat win, it was refreshing to see Game 6 get decided within the last couple of minutes.

Game 6 marked the only game that didn’t involve one of the teams holding at least a 20-point lead. The largest lead was 13 points, when Miami got a little bit of separation during the third quarter. Boston managed to come back and even took the lead momentarily after a Derrick White triple with 4:43 remaining in the fourth period. But Miami executed well down the stretch and 17-6 run to close the game and force a winner-take-all on Sunday.

With that, we predict Game 7 to come down the wire, with the home team coming out on top.