Tip-off: Tuesday, 8:05 p.m. ET
Line: Miami -6, Total: 184.5

The NBA season is underway and the cream of the crop in the East find themselves with an early matchup when the NBA Champion Heat host the Celtics on Tuesday night.

Boston gets the chance to go into Miami and avenge its playoff loss to LeBron James and the rest of the Heat. In the past 10 games played between the two teams, the Heat are 8-2 SU, but just 3-7 ATS. However, the Total has gone Over in eight of the past nine meetings in Miami, which suits the Heat (98.5 PPG last season, 7th in NBA) much more than the Celtics (91.8 PPG last season, 26th in NBA).

Which team will open its season with a victory? For the answer, connect to NBA Best Bets for all the Expert picks throughout the entire 2012-13 season. Last year, StatFox Dave won 62% ATS Best Bets in the regular season and was 5-0 ATS in the NBA Finals. StatFox Brian finished 59% ATS Best Bets in the 2011-2012 regular season.

Last season, the Heat defeated the Celtics in seven games on their road to winning the NBA championship. This season the supporting cast around LeBron, Bosh and Wade is the best it’s ever been. The Heat have added firepower in the offseason, including a familiar face for the Celtics as Pat Riley was able to lure Ray Allen down to South Beach. Also new to the Heat is Allen’s ex-Sonic teammate, Rashard Lewis, who could provide another outside shooting threat on a team that gets its shooters tons of space.

The Celtics, however, have made their own impact moves. Danny Ainge cycled out Ray Allen, but was able to pick up the Mavericks highly-coveted sixth man, Jason Terry, who will add a heavy scoring punch to the Celtics and should be a nice replacement for the sharpshooter Allen. The Celtics will also be aided by the return of Jeff Green, who was sidelined last season when he found out he needed surgery on his heart. Green can play multiple positions and could be a valuable player for the Celtics as they move to the post big-3 era.