Boston Celtics’ NBA Championship Odds Continue to Improve
The Celtics’ odds to win the 2012 NBA Championship also have improved.
Miami Heat: 8-5
Oklahoma City Thunder: 9-2
Chicago Bulls: 5-1
New York Knicks: 18-1
Boston Celtics: 25-1
While they haven’t risen out of seventh place in the Eastern Conference in over a week, the Celtics’ expectations continue to rise at the Bovada sportsbook. They’re putting ground between them and the eighth-place Knicks, while gaining it on the Pacers.
The NBA All-Stars were announced last week and headlining the Eastern Conference’s roster was now 10-time honoree Paul Pierce, who has only missed the midseason event once since 2002.
The 34-year-old forward is averaging a team-best 17.8 points per game. He’s also averaged 34.5 minutes, 5.4 rebounds and 5.5 assists this season. Pierce was held to a single-digit point total for just the fourth time this season last Sunday against Chicago. Follow Bovada for all the best NBA player props.
Pierce recently moved into second on Boston’s all-time scoring list, passing Larry Bird, although he’s still a few seasons’ worth of scoring behind John Havlicek.
The Celtics began a five-game road trip Thursday night against the Eastern Conference’s first-place team, the Chicago Bulls. The trip will take them through Detroit, Dallas, Oklahoma City (which are currently first in the west) and then Cleveland before coming home to face Milwaukee to close out February.
The Celtics do have back-to-back games against the Pistons and the Mavericks. However, their contests against the Thunder and Cavaliers are separated by the All-Star break, where most of the team will get some much-needed rest.
This trip will be a warm-up for the eight-game, 13-day trip they have in mid-March. How the team performs on these trips will go a long way toward establishing whether or not they’re truly contenders on the NBA betting line.
