Celtics/Pacers Betting Preview
The Pacers and Celtics will meet in the Eastern Conference finals. The two highest scoring teams in the league will battle for a chance to make it to the NBA Finals. Celtics are -900 series favorites over the Pacers in the Conference Finals — that is the 3rd-largest series price in a Conference Finals in the last 30 years behind the 2016 Cavaliers & 1997 Bulls. The Celtics are 1-4 in Game 1s of the ECF as they play in their sixth over the last eight seasons.
There are plenty of story lines going into this one starting with Rick Carlisle who not only won a championship while playing for the Celtics, but won a championship as head coach of the Dallas Mavericks. Another storyline is former Celtics first round pick Aaron Nesmith making an impact for the Pacers. He has turned into a nice player and was traded last season along with others for Malcolm Brogdon. He will try to defend Jaylen Brown, Jayson Tatum something he struggled with during the regular season. Some have said the Celtics are boring, maybe they are but this series won’t be. The Pacers are coming off a seven game series and don’t have much time to rest before playing game one in Boston on Tuesday night. The Pacers and Celtics have built their rosters through the draft and making trades. Tyrese HaliBurton and Pascal Siakim along with Nesmith have been great acquisitions.
The Celtics have built their team through the draft and by trade. They have been to six of the last eight Eastern Conference Finals trying to figure out how to win a title. There is no MVP remaining of the final four teams remaining. This is Jayson Tatum’s opportunity to become that.
Tatum against the Pacers this season:
32.5 PPG
11.0 RPG
5.8 APG
58/49%
3-1 record
Jayson Tatum averages against the 3 teams left in the playoffs.
Pacers – 33 pts / 11 rebs / 6 ast (4 games)
Timberwolves – 39 pts / 5 rebs / 3 stl (2 games)
Mavericks – 36 pts / 10 reb / 4 ast (2 games)
The Celtics are huge favorites to win this series, they are also the favorites to win the NBA Championship at -150 per Draftkings SportsBook. I’ll take the Celtics to advance to the finals winning in six games +145
