Celtics vs Heat: Head to Head History

by James Idayi
Celtics vs Heat: Head to Head History

While the rivalry between the Boston Celtics and the Miami Heat has existed for well over 4 decades, it has blossomed into perhaps the best rivalry in the entire Eastern Conference in recent years. Not only are each of these teams extremely talented, have both made it to the NBA Finals in the past two seasons, are two large market teams with passionate fanbases, seem to have a genuine dislike toward each other, and each team also has larger than life personalities that make this rivalry feel even more grand than it already is, but they have gone to battle in the playoffs for a majority of the past few seasons. In other words, this rivalry has all of the ingredients to be an all-time classic — and is already well on its way there.

In this article, we’ll discuss the head to head history of the Celtics and Heat, note a bit about this rivalry’s background, break down their iconic 2023 Eastern Conference Finals series, and predict how they’ll match up in 2023-24.

Celtics vs Heat Head to Head History

The Miami Heat and Boston Celtics have faced each other a total of 171 times. Boston holds the all-time edge in the series, 98-73. Yet, when it comes to playoff matchups, Miami holds a 20-17 edge.

The first matchup between the Boston Celtics and the Miami Heat came on November 15, 1988, in a game that the Celtics win 84-65. Most recently, these teams faced off on October 27, 2023, in a game that the Celtics won 119-111.

The longest active regular season winning streak in this series is held by the Celtics, who have won 8 straight games against the Heat two times; the most recent of which came between November 30, 2015, and October 28, 2017.

Here a game log of Miami Heat and Boston Celtics from 2023-24 Season to 2014-15 Season

Miami Heat vs. Boston Celtics Game Log

GameDateHome TeamAway TeamResultScoreOvertime (OT)StreakHead-to-Head MIA-BOS
134Oct 27, 2023Miami HeatBoston CelticsL111 – 119Celtics won 153 – 81
133Jan 24, 2023Miami HeatBoston CelticsW98 – 95Heat won 253 – 80
132Dec 2, 2022Miami HeatBoston CelticsW120 – 116OTHeat won 152 – 80
131Nov 30, 2022Miami HeatBoston CelticsL121 – 134Celtics won 251 – 80
130Oct 21, 2022Miami HeatBoston CelticsL104 – 111Celtics won 151 – 79
129Mar 30, 2022Miami HeatBoston CelticsW106 – 98Heat won 151 – 78
128Jan 31, 2022Miami HeatBoston CelticsL92 – 122Celtics won 250 – 78
127Nov 4, 2021Miami HeatBoston CelticsL78 – 95Celtics won 150 – 77
126May 11, 2021Miami HeatBoston CelticsW129 – 121Heat won 250 – 76
125May 9, 2021Miami HeatBoston CelticsW130 – 124Heat won 149 – 76
124Jan 6, 2021Miami HeatBoston CelticsL105 – 107Celtics won 148 – 76
123Aug 4, 2020Miami HeatBoston CelticsW112 – 106Heat won 148 – 75
122Jan 28, 2020Miami HeatBoston CelticsL101 – 109Celtics won 547 – 75
121Dec 4, 2019Miami HeatBoston CelticsL93 – 112Celtics won 447 – 74
120Apr 3, 2019Miami HeatBoston CelticsL102 – 112Celtics won 347 – 73
119Apr 1, 2019Miami HeatBoston CelticsL105 – 110Celtics won 247 – 72
118Jan 21, 2019Miami HeatBoston CelticsL99 – 107Celtics won 147 – 71
117Jan 10, 2019Miami HeatBoston CelticsW115 – 99Heat won 347 – 70
116Dec 20, 2017Miami HeatBoston CelticsW90 – 89Heat won 246 – 70
115Nov 22, 2017Miami HeatBoston CelticsW104 – 98Heat won 145 – 70
114Oct 28, 2017Miami HeatBoston CelticsL90 – 96Celtics won 844 – 70
113Mar 26, 2017Miami HeatBoston CelticsL108 – 112Celtics won 744 – 69
112Dec 30, 2016Miami HeatBoston CelticsL114 – 117Celtics won 644 – 68
111Dec 18, 2016Miami HeatBoston CelticsL95 – 105Celtics won 544 – 67
110Nov 28, 2016Miami HeatBoston CelticsL104 – 112Celtics won 444 – 66
109Apr 13, 2016Miami HeatBoston CelticsL88 – 98Celtics won 344 – 65
108Feb 27, 2016Miami HeatBoston CelticsL89 – 101Celtics won 244 – 64
107Nov 30, 2015Miami HeatBoston CelticsL95 – 105Celtics won 144 – 63
106Mar 25, 2015Miami HeatBoston CelticsW93 – 86Heat won 144 – 62
105Mar 9, 2015Miami HeatBoston CelticsL90 – 100Celtics won 143 – 62
104Feb 1, 2015Miami HeatBoston CelticsW83 – 75Heat won 243 – 61
103Dec 21, 2014Miami HeatBoston CelticsW100 – 84Heat won 142 – 61

Celtics vs Heat Rivalry Background

While these teams have been circling each other in the Eastern Conference since the late 80s, their first playoff matchup wasn’t until 2010, when the Celtics beat the Heat in the Eastern Conference First Round in five games. This series started a three-year stretch where these two teams played each other in the playoffs.

But the difference maker for the Heat came after that loss to 2010 playoff loss, once they signed LeBron James and Chris Both. Once these two joined Dwyane Wade on Miami, the Heat gained the upper hand in this rivalry; proven by them beating the Celtics in the 2011 Eastern Conference Semifinals in 5 games, then again in an extremely evenly matched, 7-game 2012 Eastern Conference Finals series. The Heat also went on to win the NBA Championship in this 2012 season.

It wasn’t until 2020 where these two teams — each with completely different rosters from those playoff battles one decade before — met in the playoffs once again. The Heat and Celtics squared off in the 2020 Eastern Conference Finals, and the Heat won the series in 6 games (although they ultimately lost in the NBA Finals to the Los Angeles Lakers).

These two teams met in the Eastern Conference Finals two years later, in 2022. In what was an intensely physical, hard-nosed series from start to finish, the Celtics ultimately emerged and won the series in 7 games — advancing to the 2022 NBA Finals, which they lost to the Golden State Warriors.

Therefore, this rivalry was already operating at full stream when these two juggernauts collided once more in the 2023 playoffs.

2023 Eastern Conference Finals

After the Boston Celtics finished the 2022-23 regular season with a 57-25 record, they entered the 2023 NBA Playoffs as the #2 seed in the Eastern Conference. They beat the Atlanta Hawks in the first round then bested the 76ers in 7 games to earn a trip to the Eastern Conference Finals.

The Miami Heat struggled during the 2022-23 regular season, producing a 44-38 record and having to make the playoffs via the Eastern Conference play-in tournament. Once they did so, however, they pulled off a massive upset against the #1 seeded Milwaukee Bucks, then beat the New York Knicks in a 6-game Eastern Conference Semifinals matchup — which meant they were facing the Celtics once again.

Game 1 of this 2023 Eastern Conference Finals series took place in Boston. Due to a sensational, 35 point performance from the Heat’s Jimmy Butler (along with 20 points from Bam Adebayo), the Heat entered Boston and emerged with a 123-116 Game 1 win.

Game 2 was also in Boston — and despite the Celtics leading for most of the game, a fourth quarter rally from Miami (led once again by Jimmy Butler), allowed the Heat to win Game 2 111-105, and head back home with a 2-0 series lead.

Game 3 in Miami was all Heat. An off night from both Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown, combined with an otherworldly performance from the Heat’s Gabe Vincent, allowed the Heat to cruise to a 128-102 win, putting them up 3-0 in the series.

Most people believed the Celtics were finished at that point. Yet, Boston rallied on the road in Game 4, and utilized a 33 point performance from Jayson Tatum to defeat the Heat 116-99 in Miami; allowing them to return to Boston for Game 5.

Game 5 was Boston’s from start to finish. After jumping out to a 35-20 first quarter lead, the Celtics never really had to fight off the Heat from that point on, and won a relatively non-competitive Game 5 by a score of 110-97.

Which brought the series back to Miami for Game 6 — a game that turned out to be the most exciting in the series by far. After a back and forth, rollercoaster affair, Boston’s Derrick White made a buzzer-beating putback as time expired to give the Celtics a 104-103 victory — tying the series 3-3 and putting Boston on the brink of a legendary comeback.

Then came Game 7 in Boston. Unfortunately for the Celtics faithful, their team never got going, and a combined 54 point performance from Jimmy Butler and Caleb Martin allowed the Heat to crush the Celtics 103-84, ending Boston’s season and letting Miami advance to the NBA Finals (where they lost to the Denver Nuggets.)

Celtics vs Heat 2023-24 Matchup Analysis

The Celtics and Heat play 3 times during the 2023-24 regular season: on October 27 (which the Celtics won 119-111), on January 25 (in Miami), and on February 11 (in Miami).

 Aside from the departure of Marcus Smart and addition of Kristaps Porzingis for the Celtics, Boston and Miami have very similar rosters from last season. Yet, Smart was Boston’s best defender, and often guarded Jimmy Butler. While this could be a big blow for Boston, they seemed to do just fine during their first matchup this season, as Butler only scored 14 points in the loss.

Yet, that was only one game — and Butler is known for his pristine playoff performances. All of basketball fans should hope that these teams meet again in the 2024 playoffs.

James Idayi
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Posted in NBA