Celtics vs Pacers Game 2: High Stakes at TD Garden
Category
🥇
SportsTranscript
00:00It is game number two tonight inside TD Garden, an all-time game one to open up the ECF between
00:09the Celtics and the Pacers.
00:11Jalen Brown, the corner three in the final six seconds of regulation to tie the game
00:16at 117-all after Indiana coughed up, quite literally, a golden opportunity to steal game
00:23number one as a heavy double-digit underdog to start off the Eastern Conference Finals.
00:28And then Jason Tatum scoring 10 of his game-high 36 points in that extra session.
00:33Again, Boston victorious, 133-128 in game number one.
00:38But Donnie, the Celtics were a double-digit favorite in that game at home.
00:42In every home game that Boston has played so far in this postseason, seven, they've
00:47been at least a double-digit favorite in five of the six prior to game number one, 13 points
00:54was the spread at bare minimum.
00:57Tonight, a single-digit number in favor of the Celtics for a home playoff game.
01:03Say it ain't so, but it's just a nine-point spread.
01:06I'm telling you right now, buyer beware, and the reason I say this is you can't just watch
01:11game number one and say, boy, the Pacers should have won, and you're going to give me close
01:15to double-digits again, sign me up.
01:17But apparently, the betting public is going right down that path.
01:21You go to the FanDuel Sportsbook right now and click on statistics on where the money
01:25is going right now, 72% of those spread bets going on the Indiana Pacers here, taking the
01:31nine points.
01:32We'll see if the public has that heavy interest.
01:34I love the way the Pacers played game number one, but there's something to be said.
01:38In NBA playoffs, there are no moral victories.
01:40Ah, dang it, we played really good in game number one, we just couldn't win, we'll get
01:44them in game number two.
01:45No, you know right now, waking up as a Pacer player, you're heading into this game in the
01:49garden, it should be all hands on deck, not for you, for the Boston Celtics to not go
01:54down 0-2.
01:56The Celtics felt like they got away with game number one, they'll probably be a little bit
01:59more loose in game number two, that's my worry in this one.
02:02But I see that points total at 225, I feel that as well, because I do think both of these
02:07teams, once again, will be able to score.
02:09It's interesting that they raised it, what, three and a half, four points from game number
02:13one as we saw today.
02:14But I just look at that heavy public, sometimes our eyes do deceive us.
02:18Isn't it really easy to say, they should have won getting 10, now they're getting nine,
02:23they should be able to play close, if not win game number two.
02:26We've seen this play out before, but from a props perspective as well, if we like points
02:30tonight, we're going to have fun with Tatum, Brown, Halliburton, you name it tonight.
02:34But I would just be leery of that nine-point number, like, man, that's going to be easy
02:37money, Ben.
02:39The total closed for game number one at 222 on the FanDuel Sportsbook, up by three points
02:46for game number two.
02:48Now, with that being said, 133-128 in overtime, sailing over that total.
02:54But even in regulation, even before the Jalen Brown dagger three to send us to the extra
02:59session, it was 117-114, well over that total of 222 as well.
03:05This will be a case study in momentum, in playoff basketball within the association.
03:11The Pacers win game seven on the road in New York, their second road victory in the
03:18playoffs.
03:19They go from one garden inside MSG to the other up in Beantown inside TD Garden, and
03:25they ride that momentum to a great performance, down by 15 in the third quarter.
03:31They rally, they had a lead.
03:33But to Donnie's point, it's not even like game number one last night in Minnesota.
03:37Again, there are no moral victories, but if you are the Timberwolves and you are looking
03:41for a silver lining, you say Anthony Edwards and Carl Anthony Towns combined to go 12-32
03:48from the floor, and we lost by three, where the other two superstars in the duo for Dallas
03:53scored 63.
03:56We've got something here.
03:57If you're Indiana, you say, we lost something here.
04:00We had that game.
04:02Andrew Nembhard, use your timeout and don't inbound the ball to Pascal Siakam.
04:06Hey, Rick Carlisle in that huddle, foul when you're up by three.
04:11The Pacers lost a golden opportunity to win a game, frankly, in a series, Donnie, we do
04:17not expect to be overly competitive.
04:20And I think you could look at what Indiana did in the opening game of the ECF and say,
04:24hey, we were wrong.
04:25The Celtics should not be as strong of favorites for this series or for any individual game.
04:31I actually look at the other side of the coin and say the Celtics are decisively the better
04:36team, and they had their dud early on.
04:39Indiana lost its only, maybe not only, but one of its best opportunities to actually
04:44win a game outright in the Eastern Conference Finals.
04:47And also, let's take a look at this viewpoint for the Boston Celtics over the first two
04:51series, Ben.
04:52You had losses that got the attention of the Boston Celtics, which turned on, then hit
04:58the gas pedal and knocked those teams out in five games.
05:01Game number one, I think the Pacers got the attention of the Celtics, and the Celtics
05:05actually won that basketball game.
05:07So I expect even a more focused effort of the Boston Celtics coming into this game tonight.
05:12And also, you take a look at those props perspective, who fits in.
05:15I said before, game number one, you're getting a lot of minutes out of Al Horford, 35 to
05:1940 minutes, and the three-point line is his until Porzingis comes back.
05:23I expect more of the same in game number two.
05:25The efficiency might not be there, but if he's going to take seven, eight, nine, ten
05:29triples here, he's going to make at least two of those.
05:32So something to look forward to tonight in some of those fun prop markets here.
05:35And you're right.
05:36You see the graphic right now.
05:37Jason Tatum at 30 and a half.
05:38I still like him for the 30 and a half, because once again, the Pacers don't play great defense,
05:43and he can get whatever he wants to get here.
05:45So I expect points tonight again, but also just being leery.
05:49Yes, it looked like the Pacers should have won game one, and you're handing them roughly
05:53double digits.
05:53It should be easy.
05:55Paint by numbers, move forward.
05:57Maybe the Pacers even win this game.
05:58Watch out for that, because the public loves a good dog, and they're on the Pacers tonight.
06:04And maybe they're thinking Boston game two at home may have been atrocious.
06:09They lost by 24 to the Cavs as a 13 and a half point favorite.
06:13They lost by double digits as a 14 and a half point favorite in the opening round to Miami.
06:18I think the dud inside T.D.
06:20Gordon was game number one.
06:22I'm laying nine with the Celtics tonight.
06:24All right, that's my best bet.
06:26I'm laying nine with Boston tonight in game number two.
06:29Now you want to bet Jason Tatum over 30 and a half, huh?
06:33Well, he's at 30 plus in three of the last four for Boston, but 10 of the 36 in game
06:39one came in over time.
06:42I'm a little bit wary now paying the premium on Tatum's price.
06:46Let's turn it over to Indiana.
06:48Pascal Siakam, 20 plus in four straight.
06:5120 and a half is the number.
06:53DRS pretty much in game number one with how many points we saw in regulation and then
06:58obviously add on O.T.
07:00You could not bet a prop to the over and miss.
07:03I wonder what regression we see tonight in those prop markets.
07:08Yeah, we'll see.
07:08And also, as you just teach him, McConnell, everybody's getting the notion because he
07:11does play roughly 25 to 30 minutes a night and apparently loves to shoot the basketball
07:16shot 11 times in game number one, ended up with 13 points.
07:19And if you saw that graphic, he's coming up in this game with nine and a half points.
07:24I think there's a legitimate chance he gets the 10, but sometimes you ride that train
07:27just a little bit too long.
07:29It's crazy that McConnell back a point guard shoots over double digit times.
07:33It should be only Halliburton that we worry about, but I'm expecting points tonight and
07:37we'll get down to it on some of these players who should be able to cash in on those overs
07:40later.