boston-celtics-eastern-conference-odds-shorten
Jaylen Brown of the Boston Celtics

After taking control of their Eastern First Round series with the Brooklyn Nets, Vegas oddsmakers have slashed the Boston Celtics’ NBA Championship odds – making them the new frontrunners.

The 114-107 Game 2 victory against the Nets has led sportsbooks to lengthen their NBA title odds from +750 to +475.



Celtics in Cruise Control

Following two victories against the Nets, the No. 2 seed Celtics are on track to win their first NBA Championship title since 2008.

…Boston rallied from 17 points down in the second quarter to pull off an impressive comeback against Brooklyn.

Jayson Tatum’s layup at the buzzer on Marcus Smart’s pass clinched the series opener for the Celtics (115 -114). Although the second matchup in the series wasn’t as close, the Celtics were playing catchup in the first half.

However, Boston rallied from 17 points down in the second quarter to pull off an impressive comeback against Brooklyn.

Jaylen Brown was the main man for the Celtics, scoring 22 points – 10 in the fourth quarter. Brown’s exploits helped Boston outscore the Nets 29-17 to clear a 90-85 deficit after three periods.

Tatum also pitched in with 19 points, Al Horford had 16, Daniel Theis managed 15, and Payton Pritchard scored eight of his 10 in the final period to cap off an impressive team effort.



Celtics Put Clamps on Nets Superstars

The Celtics defended superbly to hand Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving a miserable night at TD Garden on Wednesday – the duo only went 1 for 17 from the field in the second half.

Despite finishing with 27 points, Durant did most of his damage at the foul line: he was just 4 of 17 on field goal attempts and 18 for 20 on free throws. In the series opener, the former MVP went just 9 for 24, scoring 23 points.

Despite scoring 39 points in Game 1, Kyrie Irving also had a forgettable Game 2. The Celtics limited him to 10 points on 4-of-13 shooting – in his 72 playoff games, this was only the fifth time that the seven-time All-Star failed to get more than ten points.

After replying to the Boston fans’ jeers in Game 1 with foul language resulted in a $50,000 fine from the NBA, it seems that the home crowd got under his skin again in Game 2.

Even though Bruce Brown (23 points), Goran Dragic (18), and Seth Curry (16) all chipped in, it wasn’t enough to save the Nets.



Can Brooklyn Turn the Tide in Game 3?

The Nets will be hoping their home crowd can give them an edge in Game 3 – but the stats don’t look good.

At home, the Nets are just 21-21 and have a terrible 9-32-1 against the spread this season, while the Celtics are 23-18 on the road SU and a profitable 25-15-1 ATS. Yet despite these numbers, NBA betting sites have Brooklyn as the moneyline favorites for Game 3.

Also, the Celtics won three of their four games against the Nets in the regular season – including winning two blowouts in Brooklyn – 126-91 on Feb. 8 and 129-106 on Feb. 24. Yet Durant and Irving were absent for both those games.

The Nets turning this series around is unlikely. However, as the Celtics look on fire, futures bettors may place action on them to win the NBA championship before Vegas oddsmakers shorten their odds even more.


Find sports betting odds confusing? Check out our odds calculator to learn how to calculate potential returns, understand different odds systems, and remove the vig from sports bets.


Ben Perks
Writer

Ben is a sports journalist & part-time trader with a passion for finding +EV bets. Ben lives in Madrid, Spain where he enjoys the live poker scene, and sunshine where he covers UFC, MLB, NHL, NBA, as well as tennis betting.