Celtics plummet in NBA betting odds after Game 4 loss

Online bookmakers have responded harshly to the Boston Celtics’ playoff form, pushing them out to long odds in NBA betting.

Okay, maybe harsh isn’t the right word. The Celtics thoroughly deserve to be underdogs after another terrible performance in game four of the East semi-finals against the Milwaukee Bucks.

If you happen to be one of the handful of Boston fans still feeling optimistic about the Celtics’ chances of winning the 2019 NBA championship, then the good news is you can make a lot of money betting on it. The Celtics are now the biggest underdogs of all the remaining playoffs teams – and betting enthusiast can smell a bargain.

Boston at Long Odds to Win NBA Championship

We checked out the best online bookmakers following the game four loss and none were giving the Celtics any respect. 888Sport was offering 151.00 for Boston to win the 2019 NBA championship, making the Celtics the biggest underdogs of the eight remaining teams. The Golden State Warriors were paying 1.80, followed by the Milwaukee Bucks, 4.75, and Houston Rockets, 5.25.

In Eastern Conference betting, 888Sport was paying 61.00 for the Celtics to win the conference title. The Milwaukee Bucks were the clear favorites, at 1.50, followed by the Toronto Raptors, 3.40, and Philadelphia 76ers, 8.00.

Boston Given Little Chance of Winning Game 5

If the online betting markets are any indication, the Celtics stand little chance of making it past game five in Milwaukee. The Bucks take a 3-1 lead into game five and need only to win at home to close out the series and have the Celtics preparing for the 2019-20 NBA season.

Boston are huge underdogs to win game five, with bet365 giving the Celtics a +9.5-point start in spread betting. The Celtics are paying 15/4 in head-to-head betting, compared to the Bucks who are paying 1/5. The Bucks have averaged 120 points per game over the last three games, so we can expect another high-scoring encounter in game five. Bet365 has set the over/under at 218 points.

What Would it Take for Boston to Beat Milwaukee?

It’s hard enough picturing Boston winning game five, but what will it take for the Celtics to win the series? As it turns out, only 11 teams have ever made it back from a 3-1 deficit in an NBA playoff series. The most recent team to achieve the feat was the Cleveland Cavaliers in the 2016 NBA finals. The man who hit the winning shot for the Cavs in that series was, of course, Kyrie Irving.

Irving is averaging 22 ppg in the Boston-Milwaukee series, down from the 27.1 ppg he averaged for Cleveland in the 2016 NBA finals. More importantly, he wasn’t even the most important player in 2016. That honor went to LeBron James, who averaged 29.7 ppg and was one assist short of a triple double average.

For all that has been said in the past couple of years about Boston’s talented roster, that depth has failed the team in this playoff series. You can have all the offensive talent in the world, but it doesn’t mean anything if you can’t find a way to stop the other team from raining down points. Boston could still perform a miracle and win this series. As they say, it’s not over until it’s over. But for the Celtics to achieve a miracle comeback, Brad Stevens’ men will have to come up with a way to stop Giannis Antetokounmpo – and, as the odds suggest, there’s about a 1-in-100 chance of them succeeding.