Our bracket challenge will come down to the wire, with Garrett H riding Villanova and Zach K picking Kansas 👀

The Celtics And Raptors Are Surging

It's hard to remember a more tightly contested seeding race than this year's Eastern conference. While the Heat held a decent lead only a week ago, their four straight losses have evened the field, with Boston, Miami, Milwaukee and Philly now only separated by .5 games going into the home stretch. Of all these squads, the most surprising inclusion is the current one seed: the red-hot Celtics ☘️

• Back in early January, the Celtics had compiled a lowly 18-21 record, good for 11th in the East

• Since then, they have rattled off a 29-7 stretch behind a dominant defense and Jayson Tatum's brilliant play

The competition in the East doesn't stop after the top four though, as Chicago, Toronto and Cleveland are all jockeying to escape the play-in tournament. Whoever falls to the seven seed will likely face Brooklyn's superstar duo, a matchup in which none of them would be favored. Toronto has experienced a surge similar to Boston's, and looks to be the strongest of the three 🦖

• The Raptors are 8-2 in their last 10 games, while the Bulls and Cavs are both 4-6

• Clearly, there will be a lot on the line for both Toronto and Boston when the red-hot squads face up tonight...

Celtics vs. Raptors Betting Preview (subject to change)

• Spread: Raptors -2.5

• Moneyline: Celtics -140 (bet $140, win $100), Raptors +120 (bet $100, win $120)

• O/U: 218

A Tale Of Two Seasons

Very few teams have experienced the type of turnaround that the Celtics have seen this year. For the first half of the season, Boston looked like a team without an established identity. Calls to fire first year head coach Ime Udoka and break up the star duo of Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown were common across social media. What's happened since has defied even the most optimistic Celtics fans' expectations 🔥

• Boston found their identity on defense — they have climbed to the top of the league's defensive rankings

• They've surrounded blossoming rim protector Rob Williams with a legion of versatile perimeter stoppers

• Marcus Smart has played his usual superb defense, while Tatum and Brown have both taken leaps in translating their elite athleticism into stops

While the team has found another gear on defense, the offensive end is where the Celtics truly struggled to start the season. The fix on that end has been relatively simple: handing the keys to their burgeoning superstar. Tatum's ascent as an offensive centerpiece over the past few months has been remarkable to watch 📈

• He's continued to improve his numbers over the course of the season, peaking with his ridiculous averages this month 👇

• 33.7 points, 6.8 rebounds and 4.8 assists on 54/47/91 shooting splits

• Even more importantly, Tatum's been leading the Celtics to W's, as they've amassed an 11-1 record in March and grabbed the East's top seed

Watch Out For Toronto

Toronto has definitely found its stride in 2022 -- the Raptors' record of 27-15 since the new year is good for third in the East. They've seamlessly integrated strong additions to an already well-balanced attack 💪

• Rookie sensation Scottie Barnes has consistently been near the top of the ROTY standings all season

• His stout defense and playmaking ability have perfectly complimented Toronto's star duo of Fred VanVleet and Pascal Siakam

• VanVleet was named to his first All-Star team this season, becoming just the fifth undrafted player ever to do so

The player who has truly caught fire for the Raptors is Siakam, who's found his footing as the lead offensive weapon. After a disappointing playoff performance two years ago, and an up-and-down season splitting time between Toronto and Tampa due to the pandemic, Siakam is flashing the star upside that he showed during the Raptors' title run 🏆

• He's averaging 26.4 points, 7.8 rebounds and 5.3 assists over his last 12 games

• Siakam taken a leap as a shooter, connecting on 41.7% of his three-pointers in 2022

• This improvement has opened up the rest of Siakam's game, creating opportunities for strong drives to the rim that set himself and his teammates up for easy baskets

For My Parlay Gurus

I'm betting on the Celtics to stay hot and take out their division rival behind Tatum's insane scoring, and I also like the Grizzlies at home, given how the Warriors have struggled without Steph Curry. Take a look 👇

• Celtics +2.5 @ Raptors: -110

• Grizzlies -10.5 vs. Warriors: -110

$100 on this bet would win you $264 -- if we hit, make sure you email [email protected] for $100*. First come, first serve 😉

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