The Pacers Need To Continue To Shoot Lights Out
Pacers vs Celtics Eastern Conference Finals: Back Boston in Game 1

The first game of the Eastern Conference Finals will tip off at 8:00 pm ET tonight. The Celtics will have the first two home games and will get four home games of seven, if necessary. Boston finished the regular season with a 64-18 record and is the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference.
The Celtics will be without Kristaps Porzingis for at least the first couple of NBA games. But there is some optimism that he could return at some point during this series.
On the other hand, the Pacers made the Final Four of the NBA Playoffs as a No. 6 seed. Indiana got a bit lucky. They faced the Bucks in the first round, who were plagued by injuries, and then squeaked by the Knicks, who also had many lingering injuries.
However, that’s a common theme in the NBA. There are always a lot of injuries. After all, the Celtics played a Miami Heat squad without Jimmy Butler and finished the Cavaliers, who didn’t have Jarrett Allen, Donovan Mitchell, and Caris LeVert in the finale of the second round.
Realistically, this will be the biggest test for the Celtics and a much harder matchup for the Pacers.
Heading into Game 1, the Celtics are -10, and the total is currently 221.5. However, the Under is juiced to -115.
Who will earn a spot on the schedule for the NBA Finals? Here’s a look at the Pacers vs Celtics Eastern Conference Finals odds for Game 1 of the series.
Pacers vs Celtics 
Date & Time:
Records: Pacers (55-41)/Celtics (72-20)
Location: TD Garden, Boston, MA (Game 1)
Streaming: ESPN
Pacers vs Celtics Eastern Conference Finals
The Indiana Pacers have won against the spread more than the Celtics have this season. The Pacers might be 55-41 on the year, but they’ve gone 51-41-3 against the spread.
The Celtics have won 72 of 92 games this year but have only won against the spread in 47 games, going 47-40-5.
That said, the Pacers are just 23-26 on the road this season, while the Celtics are 41-6 at home. The Celtics have a major advantage with those trends when looking at the NBA odds.
The Pacers Are For Real
Many thought the Pacers were, at best, a play-in team. However, Indiana made it to the NBA Finals of the In-Season Tournament and proved they could compete with any team, including the Celtics. In the In-Season Tournament, the Pacers knocked off the Celtics and did all of this before they had Pascal Siakam.
At that moment, the Pacers realized what they had. Once they brought in Siakam from the Raptors at the NBA Trade Deadline, the Pacers took off.
They’re the real deal due to their depth. This won’t be an easy out for the Celtics.
Porzingis Downgraded Ahead of Game 1
There’s no surprise here. On the NBA injury report, Kristaps Porzingis is out with a right soleus strain. Therefore, Al Horford will take his place and start for the Celtics at center.
Porzingis hasn’t stepped on the court since April 29, when he was injured against the Heat. It’s been three weeks, but there’s potential that Porzingis will return at some point during this series.
The Top Offenses Going At It
The Boston Celtics have been terrific offensively. They have added at least 118.7 points per 100 possessions in six of their last eight games against the Heat and Cavaliers.
They’ve also shot an effective field goal percentage of at least 56.4% in six of their last eight games.
While Boston turned the ball over at least 16.1% of the time in the last two games, the Celtics have been aggressive on the glass at the same time and have games where they can get to the foul line at a high rate.
On the other hand, the Celtics haven’t been perfect on defense. So, don’t expect “perfect” from the Celtics against the Pacers.
However, Boston has at least minimized offensive rebounds. No team has grabbed more than 28.6% of offensive rebounds against the Celtics in the NBA playoffs.
In nine of their first ten playoff games, the Celtics haven’t allowed more than 22% of offensive rebounds. In addition, the Celtics rarely send NBA teams to the foul line, which is helpful, considering the Pacers aren’t aggressive at getting to the foul line anyway.
On the other hand, the Pacers are the best offense in the NBA. Against the Knicks, in Games 6 and 7, the Pacers scored at least 141.3 points per 100 possessions in both games.
They ultimately shot a 75.3% effective field goal percentage in Game 7 and still added a 61% effective field goal percentage in Game 6. The offense is elite, but so is Boston’s.
The difference is Boston’s defense compared to Indiana’s. The Pacers have only had one game where their defense shined. That was their home win, 121-89, in Game 4.
But other than that, the Knicks were able to stick around against the Pacers because of their offensive game.
Ultimately, the Pacers are the deepest team in the NBA. They’ve got a lot of depth. But the Celtics are the most balanced team in the NBA and do almost everything at an elite level.
With nearly a week of rest, we’ll back the Boston -10 (-110) for tonight’s Pacers vs Celtics Eastern Conference Finals Game. 1.
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