Boston Celtics bettors can finally exhale.
After dropping back-to-back games at home to open the Eastern Conference semifinals against the New York Knicks, Boston turned in a vintage performance on Saturday afternoon, hitting 20-of-40 shots from beyond the arc in a 115-93 win.
The C’s led wire to wire on Saturday, and they held at least a 20-point advantage for the entirety of the second half. Unlike Games 1 and 2 where Boston blew an advantage of that magnitude, the Celtics were able to hold on against New York on the road.
All season long, Boston has been one of the better road teams in the NBA, and it is favored in Game 4 in the latest odds at DraftKings to even this series with the Knicks before it heads back to Boston.
As a result, Boston’s odds to win the NBA Finals made a major leap after Saturday’s Game 3. The Celtics have remained the No. 2 choice in the odds to win the title despite the two opening losses in the East semis, but they had fallen to +310 after Game 2.
Now, the Celtics are sitting at +215 and are right on the heels of the Oklahoma City Thunder (+185) to be the favorite to win the title.
After winning the Finals last season and dominating on the road (Boston only lost on the road to the Dallas Mavericks in the Finals during the playoffs), Boston is a rightful favorite in Game 4. Even though the Knicks won the two opening games in this series, they have struggled on offense overall.
In the three games in this matchup, New York has an offensive rating of 101.4, which would be the second-worst offensive rating of any team this postseason (only Memphis was worse).
Meanwhile, it appears Boston has gotten its mojo back from beyond the arc. The C’s hit 20 3-point shots in Game 3 after shooting just 25-for-100 from beyond the arc over the first two games of this series.
It seems that things are shifting in the Celtics’ favor, and a Game 4 win may vault them to the favorites to win the title this season.
Odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.
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Find Peter Dewey’s NBA betting record here (futures included). You can also follow my daily plays on BetStamp here.
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