2024 NBA Season

[Yaunfitda]

[....]but I think it will be easier for the Celtics to win this time because I'm sure Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla will make some adjustments.

Easier huh? Are you willing to bet on them with -handicap?

I think this is going to be another close game with less than 10-point gap but I don't know who will come out as the winner. I'm still betting on the Pacers +10.5 since they are the underdogs just like in game 1. It just makes more sense to pick that with odds @1.7

And it's really hard to predict this game. Yes, it was very close in Game 1 and it can go either way. Pacers had a great chance though, they blew it away by allowing Brown to have that good shot at the corner.

People are talking about adjustments here in the part of Celtics. But that's how they play, high scoring game and not concern about playing defense.

And money are pouring on the Celtics, but I will change my betting here with a Under 58.5, 1st Quarter - Total.

Good bet on this one mate, the first quarter score was just 52 points. Pacers though in the second quarter is still scoreless with still 6:45. So the Celtics made the critical adjustment and make it hard for the Pacers to score unlike in the first game. And if I'm not mistaken, Wolves did a great defensive job on the Nuggets and allowing them to score just 9 points in a quarter, not sure what game it is. Perhaps the Pacers can tie or even score less if their shooting continues to go down and Celtics putting a clinical defense on them. You can see the frustrations of Haliburton already after the Pacers calling a timeout. But still very early, this is just the second quarter so let's see how the game will pan out. We wanted a close game and not one team leading huge specially in a conference finals so that it's going to be worth to watch this games.

[Harkorede]

And money are pouring on the Celtics, but I will change my betting here with a Under 58.5, 1st Quarter - Total.

That was a solid pick, the first Quarter ended with 52 points, with Pacer earning a 2 points lead.

Congratulations mate!

[EFS]

Celtics is going to Indiana with 2-0 lead in the series. Haliburton is injured, it's alarming for Pacers. Brown is having his best game in the play-off. It looks like Celtics will finish this series pretty fast and have time to rest before the finals. The Pacers' regret of not winning the first game seems to be growing even more now.
BTW if the Celtics win the championship, the Finals MVP could be Brown instead of Tatum. It would be very interesting if Brown, who was mocked in the dunk contest, becomes the FMVP in the same year.

[LogitechMouse]

Celtics is going to Indiana with 2-0 lead in the series. Haliburton is injured, it's alarming for Pacers. Brown is having his best game in the play-off. It looks like Celtics will finish this series pretty fast and have time to rest before the finals. The Pacers' regret of not winning the first game seems to be growing even more now.
BTW if the Celtics win the championship, the Finals MVP could be Brown instead of Tatum. It would be very interesting if Brown, who was mocked in the dunk contest, becomes the FMVP in the same year.

I really thought that the Celtics' Game 2 curse will continue on this one since in their first 2 series, they lost in both Game 2's.
Now the Celtics are up 2-0 and with Haliburton's left hamstring injury, it really indeed is alarming. Also add the fact that Porzingis "MAY" return in their next games of the team already after being out because of an injury.

The Pacers are 1-12 all-time when they are down 0-2 in a series, and 1-8 all-time in best of 7 series. We know that the Celtics have the upper hand from the start of the series already, but I hope that Haliburton will come back in the next games and hopefully we will see a 6-7 game series between these 2 teams. Brown had one of the best playoff games of his career scoring 40 points while Tatum and White both scored 23 points respectively.

Brown for Finals MVP? Does he know how to dribble using his left hand already? Because that's his problem in the past and surprisingly, he got the currently highest contract despite having a problem with his dribbling skills. Well, let's see, but first they need to defeat the Pacers.

[inthelongrun]

Celtics is going to Indiana with 2-0 lead in the series. Haliburton is injured, it's alarming for Pacers. Brown is having his best game in the play-off. It looks like Celtics will finish this series pretty fast and have time to rest before the finals. The Pacers' regret of not winning the first game seems to be growing even more now.
BTW if the Celtics win the championship, the Finals MVP could be Brown instead of Tatum. It would be very interesting if Brown, who was mocked in the dunk contest, becomes the FMVP in the same year.

That was the Boston Celtics that I am expecting this playoffs. Physical and driving strong. They dominated the game. Jalen Brown showed up with a big 40. So it seems like Hali will most likely miss several games. Indiana is done without Hali IMO. Boston should grab the opportunity so they can rest early.

I always see Jalen Brown as the more accurate of the two. One thing I do not like on Tatum is his habit for easy threes when he could drive the ball that could also lead to open more opportunities for his teammates to shoot.

[OgNasty]

The Indiana Pacers couldn’t even stay near the spread tonight. Looks like the Boston Celtics have their number. They’re probably really glad to be doing this without Krystaps Porzingis in the lineup. I think it would probably be smart to leave him out the rest of the series to rest if they can. Boston in four?

[Finestream]

The Indiana Pacers couldn’t even stay near the spread tonight. Looks like the Boston Celtics have their number. They’re probably really glad to be doing this without Krystaps Porzingis in the lineup. I think it would probably be smart to leave him out the rest of the series to rest if they can. Boston in four?

Too early to make a conclusion, Pacers were able to come back against the Knicks, so I think they'll take care of the business at home. What I'm worried about the Pacers is the injury of Hali, if he could not come back in game 3, then I think you might be correct with Boston in 4.

I bet on the Celitics spread and I'm happy I got it right, I was thinking that maybe Celtics will play better in game 2 which is opposite of what they did in the past 2 rounds where they loss in game 2, and I was right on the money.

[Oasisman]

Boston Celtics will play the Indiana Pacers tonight.
Boston Celtics are the favorites in the East, I think they will win the first game without much difficulty, the team is well rested and ready for this game.
It will be a nice and enjoyable game.

Boston Celtics might have just survived a major disaster in game 1, after having multiple double digits lead, they were just about 8 seconds away from throwing the game away, or the better way to describe it would the Pacers very close to earning a win in game 1... I think the Celtics because complacent during those minutes, and it almost ended badly for them, Jaylen Brown had quite a number of big plays, like the 3 point bucket, a steal and a block in those final minute and OT to help Celtics avoid a loss. They sure would need to do better against this hungry Indiana Pacers roster.

The Celtics almost lost that one very important game, but that was supposed to be much more important for the Pacers. If you saw that Haliburton pre-celebrated silently when they were up 5 with seconds more left down the stretch, you could easily tell how important that game was for them to get the W. That was suppose to build momentum for the Pacers to move forward and increase their chances of winning this series. Also, to clear some doubts against them about their wins in 1st round and conference semis against an injury troubled teams.
I think the Celtics' experience just prevailed in the last seconds of the game. They tighten their defense, while the Pacers were getting too excited on getting their first conference finals win.
Now that the Celtics learned the Pacers are not an easy team to beat despite of all the critics against them for reaching the conference finals, I don't think they'll get too complacent moving forward.

I see it differently mate, it seems like the refs are trying to help the Celtics win. There were plenty of moves by Jaylen Brown that should have been called as traveling, yet the refs didn't call them. The refs favored the Celtics in terms of calls, but that does not happen every game. So, again, I'm rooting for the Pacers to win—not just betting on the handicap. Also, the Celtics seem unable to stop the offense of the Pacers, who are really moving at a fast pace. So, I think it's going to be an easy over for the Pacers in game 2.

Well, I agree there was a couple or more bad calls against the Pacers or rather non calls that supposed to be a foul, but a team should not give up over those missed calls. If you remember how the Wolves won against the Nuggets in game 7, there was a lot of bad calls and non calls against them, though they were complaining but they never stop fighting.
Now, like I said, that game 1 the Pacers' must win game but they blew it up, that should be one of the key points to win this series against the Celtics. I'm sorry If you see this match up differently, but before this series started, people knew the Celtics are just too much for the Pacers.
Just like what I've thought, the Celtics didn't take the game 2 too lightly for the Pacers. The Pacers have the talent and size, but I haven't seen them using it against the Celtics yet. Seems like JB is too locked in for the Finals over everyone else on the court.
And, I'm sorry man, I just don't bite the refs excuses. Yes, there are some biased calls and that really sucks, but I hate it when the team give up over those bad calls.

[Kelvinid]

Well, this is just game 1, there's still more game to be played but Dallas winning on the road is big, they don't need to win game 2, they are still ahead IMO. what I'm surprise with this is that Dallas have more points in the paint compared to the Wolves which is suppose to be the opposite.

True, but as a Mavericks fun this already bring safisfaction, one win at a time, I trust Kyrie and Luka to deliver so I'm very positive with the possible outcome of the series that will favor the Mavs. There will be more adjustments that will happen, just like the Nuggets vs Wolves series, every game was really unpredictable, Wolves took 2 games on the road  and they loss 2 at their homecourt as well, who would  even thought of that?

now the series odds has changed, it's quite the opposite before game 1.

Dallas now at 1.59 and Wolves at 2.38.

It's no surprise that the odds changed in favor of the Mavs after the first game. However, I still think the Wolves will finally win this series and become the Western Conference champions. Objectively speaking, the Nuggets were clearly a tougher opponent for the Wolves than the Mavs.

Good luck with what you believe, but I'm believing the opposite outcome. Well, obviously they are the tougher match up for the Wolves because they were the defending champion and finished with better ranking than the Dallas. however, this is a different match up, and Dallas had already proven they can beat the Wolves.

Also, before this, Dallas beat the number 1 in ranking, so if ranking was the basis, it's very clear that OKC is the best team in the West and Dallas beat them in 6. We sure have different opinion here, but let's see if the Wolves can even the series and then let's talk about their chances to win.

[TravelMug]

Celtics is going to Indiana with 2-0 lead in the series. Haliburton is injured, it's alarming for Pacers. Brown is having his best game in the play-off. It looks like Celtics will finish this series pretty fast and have time to rest before the finals. The Pacers' regret of not winning the first game seems to be growing even more now.
BTW if the Celtics win the championship, the Finals MVP could be Brown instead of Tatum. It would be very interesting if Brown, who was mocked in the dunk contest, becomes the FMVP in the same year.

Yes, it's now 2-0, Pacers is not on the brink although this is just game 3 and playing at home. But their best player is injured and somewhat will have to step up to avoid a sweep. But I think it's a forgone conclusion now, even without KP, Celtics is really solid and proving why they are the best team in the regular season by having defeated their opponents and they are like average 10.5 winning margins, so that's speak how great this team is. And I do agree, if they are going to win the conference finals, I think Jaylen Brown will be the MVP, base on the strength of his 3 point in game 1 that forces OT and get the win for them. And another stellar performance in game 2 with 40 big points. But the odds for the Eastern conference MVP favors Tatum at 1.75, Brown at 2.20. Might be good to throw some money Brown now.

[Natalim]

Celtics is going to Indiana with 2-0 lead in the series. Haliburton is injured, it's alarming for Pacers. Brown is having his best game in the play-off. It looks like Celtics will finish this series pretty fast and have time to rest before the finals. The Pacers' regret of not winning the first game seems to be growing even more now.
BTW if the Celtics win the championship, the Finals MVP could be Brown instead of Tatum. It would be very interesting if Brown, who was mocked in the dunk contest, becomes the FMVP in the same year.

Yes, it's now 2-0, Pacers is not on the brink although this is just game 3 and playing at home. But their best player is injured and somewhat will have to step up to avoid a sweep. But I think it's a forgone conclusion now, even without KP, Celtics is really solid and proving why they are the best team in the regular season by having defeated their opponents and they are like average 10.5 winning margins, so that's speak how great this team is. And I do agree, if they are going to win the conference finals, I think Jaylen Brown will be the MVP, base on the strength of his 3 point in game 1 that forces OT and get the win for them. And another stellar performance in game 2 with 40 big points.

I'm sure the Pacers cannot forget their big mistake in game 1, they could have won it and the series after game 2 is tied. That would still make them confident going home with 1-1 record. But now, they'll be playing with 0-2 record and they'll need to win both game 3 and 4 so they have a chance to beat the Celtics. I hope the injury of their main man is nothing serious, he'll come back in game 3 and showed their dominance at home, they can get back in the series.

But the odds for the Eastern conference MVP favors Tatum at 1.75, Brown at 2.20. Might be good to throw some money Brown now.

I would go for Brown this time as Tatum is inconsistently, we can't blame here because the defense are so focus on him, so most likely it will be Brown that will produce more points. And his confidence now is very high after scoring 40 points on a big win in game 2.

[FanEagle]

Wolves played quite well yet again, but Dallas had a much better offense. That was definitely a close game, I felt like we are going to end up seeing things change a bit. Nuggets do have a great offense, but it is usually PNR focused with Jokic and Murray, which Wolves had a great response with ANT and gobert/kat so it was easier to defend them. Whereas Dallas has both Kyrie and Doncic, and that made things a little harder on perimeter just as imagined.

I feel like it is not going to be all that easy for Dallas neither, they won with thin margin and that means it is going to be harder to keep winning, of course things can change but I feel like the series will be quite a close one and both teams will have multiple wins, I can see at least a game 6 on this series.

[danherbias07]

Why is it that when I am watching the East Finals, I feel like the defense is always weak? Or is it just because they are playing fastball? While on the West Finals, the floor looks so small because of the hardcore defense in the paint, it's like no one is allowed to go in there.
 
Anyway, big win for the Celtics although I lost my bet. Haliburton, I hope he is okay after that leg soreness where he didn't come back anymore. It will be a problem for the Pacers to come back from a 0-2 series deficit without him.
New York Knicks also had the 0-2 lead in their series against the Pacers but when they got back home to Indiana their confidence was boosted. Adjustments will happen but I wish it's the defense that will get better. JB and JT are getting what they want. Jrue Holiday was being left to shoot three. That's the worst thing you will do in the ECF, at least  contest the shots.

[xzone]

Celtics is going to Indiana with 2-0 lead in the series. Haliburton is injured, it's alarming for Pacers. Brown is having his best game in the play-off. It looks like Celtics will finish this series pretty fast and have time to rest before the finals. The Pacers' regret of not winning the first game seems to be growing even more now.
BTW if the Celtics win the championship, the Finals MVP could be Brown instead of Tatum. It would be very interesting if Brown, who was mocked in the dunk contest, becomes the FMVP in the same year.

I thought his performance in the dunk contest was laughable. He participated in the competition with dunks that could have been made in a normal match, his opponents were so bad that even Brown went to the final because he was better than them He doesn't seem to be very talented or aesthetic when it comes to dunking.
Of course, what matters is the performance in normal matches. If, as you say, the Celtics beat their opponent quickly and finish the series, they will have time to rest and this will be a great advantage for them. I don't know if he will be the MVP, he currently contributes more to the team than Tatum

[Dave1]

Why is it that when I am watching the East Finals, I feel like the defense is always weak? Or is it just because they are playing fastball? While on the West Finals, the floor looks so small because of the hardcore defense in the paint, it's like no one is allowed to go in there.

I do agree, it's like that the conference has switch places, or I'm still that old school and thinks of the East like the era of bad boys and the Bulls playing with great defense. While in the West, it's the Showtime Lakers with fast balls and running.

Anyway, big win for the Celtics although I lost my bet. Haliburton, I hope he is okay after that leg soreness where he didn't come back anymore. It will be a problem for the Pacers to come back from a 0-2 series deficit without him.
New York Knicks also had the 0-2 lead in their series against the Pacers but when they got back home to Indiana their confidence was boosted. Adjustments will happen but I wish it's the defense that will get better. JB and JT are getting what they want. Jrue Holiday was being left to shoot three. That's the worst thing you will do in the ECF, at least  contest the shots.

Hopefully he will be back and that injury is not a season ending for him. Otherwise the Celtics are going into the Finals again and there are a lot of what if for Haliburton. So let's see if he is ok and then they can bounce back by winning at their homecourt.

[Viscore]

According to the latest update,

https://www.cbssports.com/nba/news/tyrese-haliburton-injury-update-pacers-guards-status-uncertain-after-hurting-hamstring-vs-celtics/

This is what happened to him.

Tyrese Haliburton injury update: Pacers guard's status uncertain after hurting hamstring vs. Celtics

And based on my research, this injury will take at least a week.

Hamstring injury recovery: how long does a hamstring injury take to heal?
 
Low grade hamstring injuries can heal within several days to 1-2 weeks, which will then see them return to sport/activities.  Larger injuries can take between 2 and 6 weeks for players to return to sport.

https://www.iseh.co.uk/news/latest-news/hamstring-injury-treatment-recovery-time-and-when-to-see-a-doctor

I think the same injury happen to OG with the Knicks and he miss a number of games, did came back in game 7 but only played limited minutes as he is not even 100% yet.

So with no Haliburton, this series is going to end soon.

[avp2306]

Celtics is going to Indiana with 2-0 lead in the series. Haliburton is injured, it's alarming for Pacers. Brown is having his best game in the play-off. It looks like Celtics will finish this series pretty fast and have time to rest before the finals. The Pacers' regret of not winning the first game seems to be growing even more now.
BTW if the Celtics win the championship, the Finals MVP could be Brown instead of Tatum. It would be very interesting if Brown, who was mocked in the dunk contest, becomes the FMVP in the same year.

Yes, it's now 2-0, Pacers is not on the brink although this is just game 3 and playing at home. But their best player is injured and somewhat will have to step up to avoid a sweep. But I think it's a forgone conclusion now, even without KP, Celtics is really solid and proving why they are the best team in the regular season by having defeated their opponents and they are like average 10.5 winning margins, so that's speak how great this team is. And I do agree, if they are going to win the conference finals, I think Jaylen Brown will be the MVP, base on the strength of his 3 point in game 1 that forces OT and get the win for them. And another stellar performance in game 2 with 40 big points.

I'm sure the Pacers cannot forget their big mistake in game 1, they could have won it and the series after game 2 is tied. That would still make them confident going home with 1-1 record. But now, they'll be playing with 0-2 record and they'll need to win both game 3 and 4 so they have a chance to beat the Celtics. I hope the injury of their main man is nothing serious, he'll come back in game 3 and showed their dominance at home, they can get back in the series.

Hard to get back on series if Haliburton got a serious injury since this is a big lose for their team. Celtics is complete and dominating so for this will be so though for them especially if they miss out the contribution what Haliburton could bring unto their team. Plus pretty sure that Celtics won't let Pacers to take some advantage since as been said they want to finish this series as early as they can so they can take a rest and prepare for the team who will possibly advance on the finals.

Celtics is really looking good this season and its interesting match up if they advance on next round and they face either Mavs or Wolves since both of teams can give a audience a more exciting game especially both of them are looking forward to get a championship this season.

[yazher]

Celtics is going to Indiana with 2-0 lead in the series. Haliburton is injured, it's alarming for Pacers. Brown is having his best game in the play-off. It looks like Celtics will finish this series pretty fast and have time to rest before the finals. The Pacers' regret of not winning the first game seems to be growing even more now.
BTW if the Celtics win the championship, the Finals MVP could be Brown instead of Tatum. It would be very interesting if Brown, who was mocked in the dunk contest, becomes the FMVP in the same year.

It looks like the Celtics are determined not to lose this chance of winning the championship since they making good signs with their first 2 wins of this series without giving the Indiana Pacers any sign to catch up in the 2nd game last night. I wonder what sort of strategy they will use despite not having any chance of defeating the Celtics because right now, it seems to me that the Pacers will face elimination without even getting a single win in this series. let's see how they will be on their home court, if they don't win, then we can say that conclude their NBA season this year and the Celtics will go to the finals once again.

[Hypnosis00]

I think there's nothing wrong with that odds, punters are  good at putting the line for us to bet, and so it's either we take it or not and believed otherwise. I'm one of those though who fall for the Wolves in game 1 as I thought that they will win with ANT leading but it seems that he had struggle in this game.

But the game 2 is still unpredictable though, it could be a trap that the Mavs are now the clear favorite. But the Wolves are good at adjusting and obviously, they don't want to be down 0-2 in this series, just saying.

The odds are just correct as it's expected the Wolves are gonna even the series, the question now is if they could cover or not. Based ont their records in the playoffs, if they win they usually cover the spread, so it's safe to assume that if they'll win game 2, it should be close to double digit if it will not fall into that. Still it's a risk because there's no guarantee it will happen, all that is just the line set up by the odds provider, so we just have to choose the right side,and hopefully we can.

Yeah I pretty much think whoever is the home team will be slight favorites here unless one of the stars gets hurt or isn't playing.  I think Wolves even it up but who knwos last series with them the road teams kept winning.  Gonna be a back and forth series if it was anything like last night.  The other series is going to be boring.  Can't see it going more than 5 or so games

I'm guessing here, I think what we saw in game 1 will be the complete opposite in game 2 but the Wolves are gonna win by double digit. This is the only series that might entertain us, so Dallas winning in game 2 might make it a boring series, with that said, I'm betting on the Wolves in game 2 with -5.5.

The Celtics vs pacers will sure be boring because the Pacers' star player got injured and there's no assurance if he'll play in game 3, or if he'll play, not sure if he is 100%, so we can't really expect a competitive game without Tyrese Haliburton.

[Japinat]

I'm guessing here, I think what we saw in game 1 will be the complete opposite in game 2 but the Wolves are gonna win by double digit. This is the only series that might entertain us, so Dallas winning in game 2 might make it a boring series, with that said, I'm betting on the Wolves in game 2 with -5.5.

I'm going to ride with your pick here as Dallas has been hype and I wouldn't be surprise if there are bettors who will even place their bet on the moneyline. The spread is still not moving, there's only one indication, action are equal on both sides but for Dallas, that's where the public money is going.

The Celtics vs pacers will sure be boring because the Pacers' star player got injured and there's no assurance if he'll play in game 3, or if he'll play, not sure if he is 100%, so we can't really expect a competitive game without Tyrese Haliburton.

I almost thought of betting on the Pacers to win the series after a close game 1 lose, good thing it didn't realized because if I did push it, I would be in big trouble now that Pacers are down 0-2 and their main player will likely miss game.