The Celtics exciting journey to the NBA Finals

Read Time:2 Minute, 52 Second

The Boston Celtics faced a date with destiny on Thursday evening as they attempted to take their NBA Finals series against The Golden State Warriors to a seventh game. A disappointing fourth period in Game 5 saw the Celtics slip to a 104-94 defeat at the Chase Center and send them to the point of no return. With home advantage in their favor, leading bookmakers rated them as favorites to tie the series and set up a winner-takes-all shoot-out.

A quick look at this 10bet review suggests the sportsbook may well be inundated with punters eager to back the Celtics on the points spread market. They are priced at 10/11 to give four points to the Warriors and that looks exceptional value given how the series has gone to date. All five games have been won by at least a ten-point margin, which suggests the Celtics (-4) are a banker bet to win Game 6.

The Celtics have endured a roller-coaster ride in the NBA playoffs since completing a clean sweep of the Brooklyn Nets in the opening round. They were 3-2 down against defending champions Milwaukee Bucks in the Eastern Conference semi-finals, before tying the series with a road win in the sixth game. A 109-81 victory in Game 7 secured their place in the Eastern Conference final against Miami Heat and that series also went all the way. They survived a late fourth-quarter fightback by the Heat to claim a 100-96 road success and finally get the job done in the Eastern finals.

The Celtics reached that stage of the post-season in 2017, 2018, and 2020, but they were unable to get over the line on each occasion. The team’s ability to bounce back from difficult positions has been evident throughout head coach Ime Udoka’s first season in charge. They won just two of their first seven matches and still had a losing record in late January. After 50 games they had recovered to 25-25. However, a 26-6 run fired them into the play-offs and sparked talk that the team was destined to get their hands on the trophy this season.

If the Celtics are to take the series to a decisive seventh game, they will have to rectify their ongoing issue with turnovers. They committed 18 in Game 5 and are now 1-7 when they have 16 or more. By contrast, they are 13-2 when committing 15 or fewer turnovers. Star man Jaylen Brown was particularly culpable, giving up five turnovers during another performance where he was short of his best. His 21.4-point average during this series is almost ten points lower than his tally in the previous two rounds, but he remains confident about the Celtics’ title chances. “We know what’s at stake,” Brown told CBS. “So, like I said, all the motivation in the world to come out on our home floor and leave it all out there. “We’re looking forward to the challenge. We got to embrace it. Ain’t no other way around it. Last game on our home floor to kind of embody our whole season. “We’re looking to give it everything we got. We are not scared. We do not fear the Golden State Warriors. We want to come out and play the best version of basketball that we can.”