The Boston Celtics begin their NBA 2K23 2022 Summer League slate on Saturday evening, or rather Saturday afternoon Las Vegas time, in ‘Sin City’ as they are set to take on the Miami Heat in a loose rematch of the 2022 Eastern Conference finals.
Of course, Boston’s (and Miami’s) marquee stars will be absent from the affairs as recently drafted players (like JD Davison and Juhann Begarin), two-way contracted players with cap holds on the 2022-23 cap sheet (like Matt Ryan and Broderic Thomas), recently signed undrafted free agents (like Trevion Williams and Sam Hauser from a year ago) and prospective training camp invites (like everyone else) take center stage at the Cox Pavilion.
The Summer League of course doesn’t count towards the NBA regular season standings, but it has become a point of pride for teams that are able to make it through the annual summer sprint and claim victory at the end of it — so much so that rings have been created to commemorate the July mini-campaign’s champion.
So today’s opener for the Cs SL squad, against an organization who has met Boston in two of the last three conference finals series’, is not merely a lifeless exhibition that provides Las Vegas locals with somewhere to be inside to stay away from the outside heat. Instead, it’s an opener with more buzz than any baseball game outside of the Yankees-Red Sox from Fenway taking place Saturday.
Hardwood Houdini has your odds and a prediction for the NBA TV-televised Summer League tilt between the Boston Celtics and Miami Heat Saturday night:
Boston Celtics vs. Miami Heat odds, spread, over/under
The Celtics are 2-point favorites against the Heat on the road. Miami is a +105 underdog, with the Cs moneyline set at -125. The over/under for the game has been placed at 164 points.
Celtics vs. Heat prediction
The key to Miami’s offense will be their rookie Nikola Jovic, who made five 3-pointers on 71% deep-ball efficiency to make up 15 of his 25 points and grabbed nine rebounds in just 28 minutes against the Golden State Warriors during the ‘California Classic’. It will be up to Boston’s frontcourt of Mfiondu Kabengele and Trevion Williams to slow him down.
The Houdini sees Williams as a potential rotational big man for the Celtics in 2022-23, and is going to lean towards a big game from the Purdue product. Jovic will be slowed, and the Cs will cover the spread and continue flashing Summer League swagger after making last year’s title game.