The Boston Celtics forced a Game 7 in the Eastern Conference Finals with a stunning, buzzer-beating putback shot from Derrick White to take down the Miami Heat 104-103 in Game 6 on Saturday night.
THE BOSTON CELTICS FORCE A GAME 7 IN AN INSANE FINISH!
Kevin Harlan on the call. 🏀🎙️🔥 pic.twitter.com/XLgL7CfyVA
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) May 28, 2023
NBA teams are 150-0 in playoff series after taking a 3-0 series lead. The Celtics have the opportunity to make that 150-1 after Monday night.
Will they do so?
Oddsmakers certainly like Boston’s chances.
The Celtics open as 8-point favorites and are -355 on the moneyline for Game 7 at TD Garden, according to FanDuel Sportsbook.
The Celtics are favored to complete the comeback 👀
Early look at Game 7 in Boston ⤵️ pic.twitter.com/sp45RqCkpm
— FanDuel Sportsbook (@FDSportsbook) May 28, 2023
While no NBA team has ever made the series 3-0 comeback, the Celtics doing so wouldn’t seem particularly shocking.
Boston had an excellent 57-25 record in the regular season and was the NBA title betting favorite entering the conference finals, while Miami was an 8-seed that had a 44-38 record in the regular season. The Celtics entered the Eastern Conference Finals as the heavy favorites to win the series.
It was still a massive ask for Boston to win four consecutive games against a Heat team that had been rolling with confidence and execution, and especially with Games 4 and 6 on the road in Miami. And Game 6 took until literally the last possible millisecond for the Celtics to avoid a season-ending loss. But, Boston was always viewed as the better basketball team in reality, and it’s looked that way over the last three games.
Now the Celtics take the series momentum back home to Boston in what will present a very intimidating road environment for the Heat. It’s understandable that the betting world would be confident in the Celtics making history to complete the series comeback. The winner of Game 7 will face the Western Conference champion Denver Nuggets in the NBA Finals.
