A pair of familiar foes will meet in the opening round of the NBA Eastern Conference playoffs when the top-seeded Celtics play the Heat.

Boston and Miami have played against one another in the postseason four times in the last five years The series is also a rematch of the last two Eastern Conference finals. 

Miami knocked off the Bulls, 112-91, in a Play-In Tournament elimination game to reach the first-round series. Tyler Herro had 24 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists, while rookie Jaime Jaquez Jr. added 21 points.

The Heat will face a tougher test against Boston without six-time All-Star Jimmy Butler, who is out for the entire series with a knee injury.

However, Miami is in a familiar position. Last season, the Heat became the sixth No. 8 seed to beat the No. 1 seed in the first round of the playoffs after eliminating the Bucks in five games.

The Celtics finished the regular season with the league’s best record and is poised for a title run. Boston is led by All-Star Jayson Tatum, who averaged 26.9 points, 8.1 rebounds and 4.9 assists in the the regular season.

Defensively, Boston is stout with Jrue Holiday, who recently signed a four-year, $135 million contract extension. In his first season in Boston, Holiday was the starting point guard, taking the place of Marcus Smart, and averaged 12.5 points, 5.4 rebounds and 4.9 assists.

Celtics vs. Heat schedule, scores, results

Games 1, 2, 5 and 7 will be played in Boston while Games 3, 4 and 6 will be played in Miami.

The complete schedule for Celtics vs. Heat is below.

How to watch Celtics vs. Heat

• TV channel: ABC, TNT
• Live streaming: Sling

The Celtics vs. Heat series will air on a variety of channels, including ABC and TNT. All games can also be streamed on Sling.

Sling is the home for the avid sports fans offering a range of sports channels so you can always cheer for your favorite teams with channels like ESPN, TBS, TNT, NFL Network, FS1 and more.

If the Masters is not available to watch live in your location or if you’re traveling abroad, you can use a Virtual Private Network (VPN). VPNs provide a secure and private online connection, allowing you to bypass geographical restrictions to access your favorite streaming services from any device anywhere in the world.

Celtics vs. Heat tickets

Tickets to the first round playoff series between the Celtics and Heat, as well as all the action across the 2024 NBA Playoffs, are available on StubHub.

NBA Playoffs 2024 bracket