Boston's Celtics suffer defeat at home in the opening match of the NBA's 2022/23 semifinal tournament
The 2022/23 NBA Eastern Conference Finals kicked off on May 18th, as the Boston Celtics hosted the Miami Heat at the TD Garden in Boston.
Jayson Tatum led the charge for the Celtics, scoring 30 points and grabbing seven rebounds. Jaylen Brown came close to achieving a double-double, finishing with 22 points and nine rebounds. However, it was not enough to secure a victory for the home team.
The Heat won the third quarter of the game (45:25), but the Celtics dominated the first, second, and final quarters, with scores of 30:28, 36:29, and 23:30 respectively.
Jimmy Butler was the standout player for the Heat, scoring 34 points, making five rebounds, and assisting seven times. Bam Adebayo also had a strong performance, contributing 20 points, eight rebounds, and five assists. Goran Dragic, Caleb Martin, Max Strus, and P.J. Tucker each scored 15 points for the Heat.
Dennis Schröder managed a double-double for the Celtics, but his performance was below his usual standards, with 13 points and 11 assists.
The Heat won the game away with a score of 123:116, taking a 1-0 lead in the series. The next game is scheduled for May 20th.
During the series, the Boston sports betting markets saw a surge of interest, with the launch of legal sports betting in Massachusetts in March 2023. Popular bets on NBA playoff series like the Eastern Conference Finals typically include moneyline bets, point spread bets, over/under bets, and prop bets. Given Boston's strong support for the Celtics and the prominence of the Eastern Conference Finals, bets on the Celtics to win individual games and the series outright would be expected to be among the most popular locally.
The starting time for the game in Moscow will be 03:30. The series will continue to be closely watched by basketball fans around the world.
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