NBA Odds: Celtics Not Getting Much Love In Eastern Conference Playoff Picture

The Boston Celtics haven’t convinced everyone they’re serious threats to reach the NBA Finals.

DraftKings Sportsbook set the Celtics’ odds to win the Eastern Conference at +700 on Thursday. Boston’s odds are tied with the Miami Heat for fourth-best, some distance behind runaway favorites Milwaukee Bucks and slightly behind in the Philadelphia 76ers and Toronto Raptors.

The @Bucks are the clear favorites in the East ? pic.twitter.com/i6qDCQKfl9

— DraftKings Sportsbook (@DKSportsbook) February 27, 2020

The Celtics are in third place in the Eastern Conference standings with a 41-17 record. They trail the second-place Raptors by only one game and lead the fourth-place Heat and fifth-place Sixers by five games.

Boston has gone 14-3 since Jan. 20, but the hot streak doesn’t seem to have affected oddmakers’ confidence in their chances of reaching the NBA Finals. It’s easy to point to the Bucks’ superb season as the reason, but we would expect the Celtics’ hot streak to create some separation between them and the Bucks and 76ers in the odds race.

Perhaps the only thing that can do that is six-more weeks of Boston winning.