00:00 Eastern Conference finals, a preview of the series, a look at game number one.
00:10 Tonight in Beantown, it's the Boston Celtics, the NBA's best team for the entirety of the
00:16 season.
00:17 The NBA title favorites for the entirety of the season getting ready for the opening game
00:22 of the ECF against the Indiana Pacers.
00:25 And, J.Y., when you look at this series outright price, it just indicates how heavily the oddsmakers
00:32 favor the Boston Celtics.
00:35 Minus 1,100 in fairness to Indiana.
00:38 It was minus 1,250 yesterday, but minus 1,100 in favor of the Celtics.
00:43 They are laying two and a half games in that series spread as well.
00:48 I ask you then simply, will this series be as easy for the Cs as the oddsmakers expect?
00:55 Yes, but I do think, as crazy as it sounds, I think Indiana covers the spread and this
01:04 may be the wildest take.
01:05 I wouldn't be completely stunned if they stole game one.
01:11 Because of the fact that Boston has kind of been resting a little bit, Indiana can ride
01:17 the momentum of the Knicks series.
01:19 They get up and down, fast-paced.
01:21 And we know this, guys, Boston will lay an egg at some point in the first three games.
01:32 It's kind of their MO.
01:33 They did it first round.
01:34 They did it second round.
01:35 Both of them game twos at home.
01:38 Indiana has a team that shoots over 50% from the floor.
01:41 The only team in the NBA to do that.
01:42 I saw them, I still have nightmares of them hitting shots in Madison Square Garden from
01:48 all angles shooting 71, 73% in the first half of a game seven.
01:53 You know what that means, Ben?
01:54 They're not going to be scared of the moment.
01:56 They're going to take their shots.
01:57 Now the problem with them is, they can't defend worth a you-know-what and they're actually
02:01 playing a team, once poor Zingas gets back, when he comes back, and that it's finally
02:06 healthy.
02:07 So, rubber's going to meet the road with Indiana.
02:09 But I think they have enough that they can steal a game.
02:13 I can't do a -1100.
02:15 If you want to go -2.5 games for Boston, go ahead.
02:18 If you just want to go this one, one of my favorite bets, Boston up two games to one,
02:23 even money.
02:24 I think there's a game that Indiana steals in the first three.
02:26 They close it out in five.
02:28 So you can take Celtics 2-1 at even money right now in Fandul.
02:33 When we took a look at this to open the show yesterday, I had the same opinion, J-Y.
02:37 I do think it's an easy series win for the Celtics, but there is something to saying
02:41 to yourself, "Okay, it's a -180 price, let's just say on the series."
02:44 You take it, maybe a guy or two gets injured on the Celtics, you can live with that.
02:47 The one thing you can't live with is a -1100 price where it's like, "Hold on, there's still
02:51 two NBA teams and we've seen injuries happen multiple times this season already in the
02:55 playoffs to key players."
02:57 I'm not saying that's going to be the downfall of the Boston Celtics, but that price point
03:00 doesn't measure up.
03:01 I think you're smart here, betting the series a different way to say, "If you think it's
03:04 going to be an easy victory, lay the -2.5.
03:06 Take them to win in five games.
03:08 Take them to have a 2-1 lead."
03:09 Because I agree with you here.
03:10 I do think the Indiana Pacers are going to be game, but also, the approach to the series
03:13 for us, as you brought up, Coach, not much defense here played in Indiana.
03:17 And quite frankly, over the first two series that we take a look at with the Boston Celtics,
03:21 no offense for Miami, not a lot of offense for Cleveland.
03:24 At least now you get offense out of Indiana.
03:26 How do we approach the tempo of the series?
03:28 Because even looking at line number one here, or game one, I should say, on the total, it's
03:31 221.5.
03:32 We should be getting points routinely, each team over 100 on a game-to-game basis here.
03:37 Obviously, yeah.
03:38 If you look at the track record of the games that they've played during the regular season,
03:43 129-124, 133-131, the outlier, 118-101, 122-112, and then 155-104.
03:50 Here's the thing, folks.
03:54 When Indiana's going to do what Indiana's going to do.
03:58 See, if you look at what happened in the Knicks series, the Knicks had to try and slow them
04:01 down because they were a mass unit by the end of it.
04:04 So to me, Boston has the guys that can get up and play up-tempo pace.
04:10 They have the depth when you bring guys like Hauser and Pritchard off the bench that can
04:14 keep the game going and flowing offensively.
04:16 Indiana's going to run because that's the way Rick Carlisle's going to play it, and
04:20 you can't change your stride from when the playoffs start.
04:23 So I think points are a point.
04:24 It's interesting that it's 221.5 as compared to what, 206, 207.5 in the West.
04:29 I think game one goes over.
04:31 I think it's going to be a lot of points.
04:33 Yeah, when you look at that total, 221 and a hook, it's because of how the Pacers play.
04:38 We'll get a deeper breakdown into this opening game tonight inside TD Garden, looking at
04:43 the players that will affect the outcome of this first game of the Eastern Conference
04:47 Finals in just a little bit.
04:50 But, J.Y., now we go individual perspective for this series overall.
04:54 When you look at the odds to win the Eastern Conference Finals MVP, named after Larry Bird,
05:00 the Celtics really are the front of this table.
05:04 Jason Tatum, hefty favorite, minus 220.
05:07 Jalen Brown, plus 350.
05:09 If you believe the Celtics are going to win this series, maybe doing so in as little as
05:14 five games, who would be your bet to win the Eastern Conference Finals MVP award?
05:19 It's going to be Jason Tatum, but I can't bet that at minus 220.
05:24 I don't see the value with it, Ben.
05:27 This is a spot where Jason Tatum should step up and do it.
05:29 Now, when you look at defensively, who's going to guard him?
05:32 Probably going to be Pascal Siakam, but Siakam's going to have to worry about scoring because
05:36 you figure Naismith, because of how he played on Brunson, probably goes on to Jalen Brown.
05:40 So I think that's where you kind of look at it.
05:42 So it's Tatum to me, but I can't bet that.
05:45 To me, when you start looking at the market, where do you want to go?
05:48 You've got to start looking at some of the props.
05:51 For instance, to me, most threes made, I like Derek White at plus 170.
05:56 Why?
05:57 Just look at what Dante DiVincenzo did in the last series.
06:00 I think he's going to have the shot volume.
06:02 I think you're going to put Halliburton on him.
06:04 Halliburton falls asleep defensively at times, and Derek White can get loose.
06:08 Derek White at plus 170 to lead this series in three-pointers made.
06:14 By the way, Coach, if we're looking at this series prices here on those MVP odds, usually
06:18 from a Celtics perspective, and rightfully so, Tatum, Brown right there, one and two.
06:22 But if the Pacers were to force a game seven and possibly win this series, which player,
06:27 from your perspective, would it be like, "You know what?
06:29 This guy put that team and that town on his shoulders"?
06:34 I would have to go with, Brady, I would go Siakam.
06:37 Yeah, me too.
06:39 Because defensively, Drew Holliday's taking Halliburton, so I think Drew's going to take
06:43 him out.
06:44 To me, it's going to be Siakam, or if you want to really throw a wild one, I would say
06:51 it would be Miles Stark.
06:52 Don't say it.
06:53 Okay.
06:54 I thought TJ McConnell was getting a shout to an Eastern Conference Finals MVP.
07:06 That's what I thought.
07:07 When JY said, "If you want to get wild and you see TJ McConnell with that 10th best price
07:13 at 380 to one," I thought we were getting really, really wild.
07:18 Yeah.
07:19 Yeah.
07:20 Yeah.
07:21 Yeah.
07:21 (bells chiming)
