The Boston Celtics put it all together in Game 7 Sunday afternoon, dominating the Philadelphia 76ers to set up a date with the Miami Heat in the Eastern Conference Finals. The initial Heat-Celtics series odds show the Celtics are going to be the heavy favorites to represent the Eastern Conference in the NBA Finals. Bettors looking for all the best NBA value throughout the series can use OddsShopper tools, including the Parlay Builder!
Heat-Celtics Series Odds: Celtics the Heavy Favorites to Reach NBA Finals
Per DraftKings Sportsbook, the Celtics (-475) are extremely high favorites to get passed the Heat (+370) in the Eastern Conference Finals. New users at DraftKings can also get $150 in bonus bets with any $5 wager!
The Celtics have gotten many great playoff performances throughout their storied history, but what Jayson Tatum did on Sunday afternoon ranks right up there with the best of them. The star forward rolled over a strong fourth-quarter performance in Game 6 and set an NBA record with the most points ever in a Game 7 with 51 points.
Boston and Miami met in last year’s Eastern Conference Finals, with the Celtics winning in seven games. The Heat defeated the Celtics in the 2020 Conference Final during the COVID bubble playoffs.
One individual who will certainly not be intimidated by being a heavy underdog is Heat forward Jimmy Butler, who has carried Miami to upset wins over the Milwaukee Bucks and New York Knicks through the first two rounds.
“We’re one step closer to our goal,” Butler said after closing out the Knicks in Game 6, per ESPN. “We already knew what we were capable of from the jump, I’m talking about the beginning of the season. We got eight more to get. I always say we’re always going to be in this thing together. So proud of all of my guys for playing as hard as we did today and like I said, we got eight more.”
The Celtics and Heat split the four games they played during this regular season with Miami taking the win the last time the teams met in January. But a lot has changed since then, and Tatum is playing better than any player left standing in the postseason.
It will be fun to see Tatum and Butler go back and forth throughout the series. Based on the latest Heat-Celtics series odds, Butler is going to have to pull off his best heroics to date if the Heat want any chance of coming away with the upset.
