- What: Eastern Conference Finals
- Who: Boston Celtics vs. Indiana Pacers
- Where: TD Garden in Boston Massachusetts
- When: Thursday, May 23 at 7:30 p.m. ET
- How to watch: TNT and NBA League Pass
Holy smokes, people are still walking about the wild Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals. It was a back-and-forth meeting, with the Indiana Pacers looking like they were going to post a huge upset over the Boston Celtics. Instead, the home team forced overtime and came out on top. Now, all the focus is on Thursday night, as the Celtics are small favorites over the Pacers in Game 2 of their series. Which team will come out on top?
Boston was indeed on the ropes in Game 1 at the TD Garden, but a turnover with 10 seconds left opened the door for Jaylen Brown to drill a game-tying 3-pointer to force OT. Then in the extra session, the Celtics were able to pull out a close win and grab hold early on in this impressive series. Now, though, Brown and Co. know there’s pressure on them to win Game 2, as Indiana has proven they’re going to keep things quite tight.
“All year long, our battle cry has been ‘continue to play, continue to push tempo, continue to execute, keep playing no matter what,’” Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle said. “It’s served us well, and it did tonight too. So, we got — it’s unfortunate we did so many good things in this game that it came down to a couple of mistakes at the end. But this is the NBA playoffs. And we’ve got to learn from it, and we’ve got to bounce back.”
Per the best-rated sportsbooks, which includes the reliable Bovada review, the Celtics hold -110 NBA playoffs betting odds, while the Pacers have been set with their +125 NBA betting odds. We have a feeling this is going to be a close battle, similar to what we saw in Game 1. Countless people out there think the Celtics will post a victory and improve to 2-0 in the Eastern Conference Finals. However, we don’t see that happening.
“BANG! BANG!” 🤯
Jaylen Brown’s wild game-tying triple was just the 𝐒𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐇 time Breen has used his legendary call!
(via @NBA, @Celtics) pic.twitter.com/rFEAJ4liKF
— NBA TV (@NBATV) May 22, 2024
The Pacers are our pick to win Game 2 over Boston
Believe it or not, the Pacers are our pick to win Game 2 over Boston on Thursday night. The Celtics needed a miracle to close out Game 1. Had the Pacers been able to get the ball in with 10 seconds left and forced Boston to foul, the game would have been over and Indiana would have gone up 1-0. However, the silly mistake cost them big time. Now, though, it’s time to forget about that and move.
In recent weeks, we’ve seen how great the Pacers can be. Pascal Siakam and Myles Turner have been amazing around the glass, while Tyrese Haliburton has been sensational shooting the ball too. In the Game 1 loss to Boston, Haliburton led the way with 25 points, while Siakam added 24 and Turner chipped in with 23. In order for Indiana to take Game 2, the Pacers will need all three of those guys to be at their best.
“We’ve been a tough-minded, resilient team…We gotta continue that and come back in here on Thursday night.”
Coach Carlisle on the mindset after Game 1. pic.twitter.com/4i9IzlBgFz
— Indiana Pacers (@Pacers) May 22, 2024
“I think it’s on us,” Haliburton said after Indiana’s heartbreaking loss to Boston on Tuesday night. “They’re a great defensive team, they got great defenders, individual and team defenders, but they’re not a team who forces a ton of turnovers. I just felt like more of them were on us than them. We got to clean that up.”
In their Game 7 win over the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden, the Pacers shot the ball lights out and they could not be stopped. We’ve seen how great they can be when they catch fire. Will that end up being the case on Thursday in Boston? We think so. The Celtics defense has left plenty to be desired of late. With all of that said, we’re going with the Pacers as our pick. It will be interesting to see if they’ll even the series up or not.
The Celtics are big favorites to win the series and move on to the Finals
With Boston up 1-0, the Celtics are big favorites to win the series and move on to the Finals. Not only that, but the Celtics also hold the No. 1 NBA Finals betting odds. In the Western Conference, things are quite tight between the Minnesota Timberwolves and Dallas Mavericks. The expectation is that Minnesota will be able to sneak by Luka Doncic and Co., which would potentially set up a Finals showdown with Boston, should they get through. Both teams are dreaming of winning the title.
With Boston holding +175 Finals betting odds, a lot of people think they’ll finally get over the hump and capture the Larry O’Brien Trophy. First, though, they’ll need to get by Indiana and do so in a convincing fashion. So far, the Celtics have had things go to plan, but a tough Game 2 is on the way. We’ll have to wait and see if they can take down the Pacers in this series and advance, which is something a lot of people think is going to end up going down. We’ll find out soon if it does.
