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Of all of the teams in NBA betting action, the two that were built to be star-studded squads to lead a team to a title are the Boston Celtics and the Miami Heat. These two duke it out for the first time on Monday night in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals in South Beach.

If the Celtics are going to win this first game of this series, they are going to have to find the Fountain of Youth in a hurry. They really have looked like the older team in the first two rounds of the playoffs, and though age and veteran savvy has prevailed, that probably won’t be the case this time around without a surge of energy. Rajon Rondo might be the man for the job. He outscored the Philadelphia 76ers in the final five minutes of Game 7 on Saturday night after Paul Pierce had fouled out, and in the end, he finished with his second triple-double of these playoffs and the ninth in the postseason in his career. Pierce and Kevin Garnett are averaging 39.5 points per game between them, and KG is averaging a double-double with rebounds as well. Though teams have had a hard time getting a ton of points on the board against the Celtics, they still haven’t looked like the greatest defensive team in the world. Ray Allen’s shooting touch just isn’t there this year, and he looks to be slow off of the ball, and going against LeBron and D-Wade isn’t going to help him any.

The Heat have been resting just a bit after taking care of the Indiana Pacers in six games in the second round of the playoffs, but they aren’t getting any healthier for the start of this series. Chris Bosh is out of the fold with his abdomen strain, and Dexter Pittman is going to be serving the second game of his three-game suspension on Monday as well. Udonis Haslem is going to have the tall task of having to guard KG for the most part. However, there are mismatches all over the rest of the court for Miami. LeBron James is averaging 29.0 points per game in these playoffs, and he has had some massive games when they have counted most. Dwyane Wade hasn’t always been his dominating self, but in the end, he is still one of the most talented players in the league and cannot be stopped when he is at his best. Watch out for Mario Chalmers as well, as he is shooting 40.0 percent from beyond the arc and is the only other healthy man on the roster averaging more than 5.3 points per game here in the second season.

In the end, we just don’t see how the Celtics are going to be able to come down to Miami and win on just one day of rest after the ending of such a grueling series against the Sixers. The Heat should jump out of the blocks early and never look back en route to what should be a romp to set the tone for this series.

Boston Celtics @ Miami Heat Game 1 Pick: Miami Heat -8