The Eastern Conference’s Elite

Just last week, Cleveland hosted one of the hottest teams in the NBA coming into an early Tuesday night matchup. Remaining close throughout, the Mavs ended up losing on a heartbreaking Max Strus desperation heave. Will we be treated to a similar back-and-forth effort tonight with Tatum and co visiting the Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse? One can hope 🙏

As expected, the Celtics have been incredible this season. They are stacked with two-way players, have size and athleticism, while also being versatile enough to match-up with whoever stands across from them. Tatum is a legitimate Top-7 to 10 player. Oh and in case you didn’t see — they smoked the Warriors by 52 points on Sunday night, marking the worst loss of Steph’s career 😏

While normally I’d be excited to draw some conclusions, however premature, about a game like this it will be tough given the injury circumstances 👇

• Donovan Mitchell will be missing another three games — he missed the last two with a left knee bone bruise. The Cavs are 7-6 without him this season

• Max Strus is also injured with a right knee strain and won’t be available

• Caris Levert is questionable and Issac Okoro is day-to-day

Maybe Cleveland is able to rally around the adversity, but I wouldn’t bet on it. After the ecstasy of the Strus game winner, it seems Cavs fans are going through it at the moment, reading into the Josh Hart chain snatch from last week as evidence for being soft 😮‍💨

Right now, after the Celtics and Nuggets wins from this weekend, the media is coalescing around a looming Finals matchup between the two teams…and I can’t blame them. The two best teams in the league meeting in June seems like the obvious choice 👀

At the moment Boston is the favorite to win this year’s championship at +210, with Denver right behind them to repeat at +420. Here’s how the oddsmakers view the field a the moment 🏆

NBA Championship 2023-24 Betting Preview

• Celtics: +210

• Nuggets: +420

• Clippers: +500

• Bucks: +700

• Suns: +1800

• Thunder: +2000

My favorite future though would probably be Boston to play Denver in the Finals, which is currently +420 🤝

As for tonight, expect Cleveland to play with some heart, but the Celtics are the team to beat in the NBA right now 🙌

Celtics @ Cavs Betting Preview

• Spread: Celtics -7

• Moneyline: Celtics -295 , Cavs +240

• Over/Under: 218.5

• When: 7:30PM EST on TNT

Trivia Question: How many games have the Celtics won by at least 50 points this year?

For My Parlay Gurus

I think the Celtics continue their winning ways, despite playing on the road in Cleveland. Donovan Mitchell has been experiencing knee issues, and will not play in tonight’s contest. Give me Boston’s spread, the over and Jaylen Brown to score 25+ if you can find it. Brown was just named the Eastern Conference player of the week for Week 19, and I like him to continue pouring it on 💵

• Celtics -7 @ Cavs: -110

• OVER 218.5 Total Points: -110

$100 on this bet would win you $247 — if we hit, make sure you email [email protected] for a chance to win an Overtime hoodie*. Many will enter, only some will win 😉

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Trivia Answer: Boston has won three games by 50+ this season, which has never been done before in the NBA. This includes Sunday’s 52 beatdown of the Warriors, a 51 point win against the Pacers and a 50 point drubbing of the Nets

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