2024 NBA Eastern Conference Odds - NBA Betting Lines

NBA Eastern Conference Betting Online

The Boston Celtics were the most dominant team in the Eastern Conference during the 2023-24 NBA regular season and they are still the favorites to come out of the East as the Eastern Conference Semifinal begin. The Celtics had the best record in the league and they finished a ridiculous 14 games in front of the 2nd place New York Knicks in the Eastern Conference. The Celtics are led by the duo of Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown and the team also has a lot of depth. It would be a surprise if the Celtics don’t win the Eastern Conference. The New York Knicks are the No. 2 seed in the East but without Julius Randle it seems unlikely the Knicks can beat Boston. The Celtics are heavily favored to dispatch the Cleveland Cavaliers in one Eastern Conference semifinal, while the Knicks are just over a 2-1 favorite in NBA betting odds to get past the Indiana Pacers in the other semifinal.

NBA Betting Lines

NBA Eastern Conference Semifinals

1. Boston Celtics vs. 4. Cleveland Cavaliers

2. New York Knicks vs. 6. Indiana Pacers

Boston Celtics vs. Cleveland Cavaliers

The Celtics won two of the three games in the regular season against the Cavaliers. The Celtics looked just like the team that finished the regular season with seven wins more than any other team, even after losing Game 2 to Miami. They went on to dominate the rest of the series. That's despite the fact that Kristaps Porzingis, the starting center, missed Game 5 due to an injured calf muscle, which may keep him out of this series against Cleveland. The Cavaliers are coming off a game seven win against the Orlando Magic.

Derrick White and Jrue Holiday against Donovan Mitchell is a crucial matchup. Mitchell led the Cavaliers to a Game 7 victory against the Magic after scoring 50 points in a Game 6 defeat. He then added 39 more points in Game 7. He'll now have to earn his points from one of the NBA's top defensive backcourts.

After splitting the first eight meetings, the teams are playing each other in the playoffs for the ninth time. The Celtics became the first team to allow 90 points or less in three consecutive postseason games since 2016 when they conceded less than 90 points in their past three games against the Heat. In their only regular-season victory over the Celtics, the Cavaliers overcame a 22-point deficit to win 105-104 on March 5 while playing without Mitchell.

New York Knicks vs. Indiana Pacers

The Pacers won the season series, taking two of three from New York. The clubs faced each other three years in a row from 1993 to 1995 in the playoffs and again from 1998 to 2000. The Knicks were also a No. 2 seed when they played each other last in 2013, but Indiana prevailed in six games. The Pacers advanced to the conference finals both in 2013 and 2014, but they were unable to win a series until they defeated Milwaukee in the opening round.

The main battle in this series could be between Pascal Siakam and OG Anunoby. Before Anunoby was moved in December, they were teammates in Toronto's starting lineup at the beginning of the season. The two forwards are needed to have a significant impact on both sides of the court, even if All-Star point guards Tyrese Haliburton and Jalen Brunson are the ones who drive the offense in this series.

Brunson became the seventh player in NBA history to score forty or more points in three consecutive games during the first round. In three regular season games versus the Pacers, he averaged 35.7 points. Against the Knicks during the regular season, the Pacers averaged 123.3 points, which is exactly at their NBA-leading average, on nearly 55% of their shots.

Conference Winners (2000)

There has not been a repeat champion in the Eastern Conference since LeBron James took the Cleveland Cavaliers to four straight NBA Finals with the help of Kyrie Irving. Cleveland won the NBA Finals in 2016, ending decades of futility among the city’s professional sports teams by beating the Golden State Warriors.

That came after James and Dwyane Wade led the Miami Heat to four straight Eastern Conference titles from 2011 to 2014. James ended up playing in eight straight NBA Finals, and that success helped spur the wild player movement that has made the NBA offseason so interesting.

Five different franchises have won the last six Eastern Conference titles. Toronto and Milwaukee went on to win the NBA title, but the other four teams fell short, including the Miami Heat twice.

Conference Finals Results By Team

The Boston Celtics have been the most successful team in the Eastern Conference by a country mile. They put together one of the greatest runs we’ve seen in North American sports by winning 11 NBA Championships in 13 seasons, and the Celtics won the Eastern Division 12 times in that stretch. They had another great run in the 1980s, winning the Eastern Conference in four straight seasons from 1984 to 1987 with Larry Bird leading the way.

Philadelphia has claimed the second-most Eastern Conference titles, but the 76ers haven’t made it to the NBA Finals since Allen Iverson was in his prime. They are one of the oldest NBA franchises, as they were originally the Syracuse Nationals, and they made it to the NBA Finals three times in their first six seasons.

We have seen the New York Knicks claim eight Eastern Conference titles, but the Knicks have not won the conference since 1999, and their last NBA title came in 1973. They made the NBA Finals three straight seasons from 1951 to 1953, but they were unable to get past the great George Mikan and the Minneapolis Lakers.

Michael Jordan led the Chicago Bulls to six Eastern Conference titles and six NBA championships in the 1990s. The Bulls have only been able to reach the Eastern Conference Finals once since Jordan retired though, and that was the season where Derrick Rose was named the NBA MVP.

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