The seventh-seeded Boston Celtics will look to even their first-round Eastern Conference playoff series against the second-seeded Brooklyn Nets in a Game 4 matchup on Sunday. The Celtics, who had a 36-36 regular season record, are 22-15 at home, including the playoffs. They are coming off a 125-119 Game 3 victory on Friday. The Nets, who finished at 48-24 during the regular season, had won all five meetings between the teams this season prior to Friday. They had swept the three-game regular season series, and had taken the first two playoff matchups by a total of 33 points.
Tip-off is at 7 p.m. ET in Boston. The latest Nets vs. Celtics odds from William Hill Sportsbook list Brooklyn as an eight-point road favorite, while the over-under for total points scored is set at 228.5. Before finalizing any Celtics vs. Nets picks, be sure to see the NBA predictions and betting advice from SportsLine's proven computer model.
The SportsLine Projection Model simulates every NBA game 10,000 times and has returned over $9,000 in profit on its top-rated NBA picks over the past two-plus seasons. The model is up almost $800 on its top-rated picks this season and entered the first full week of the 2021 NBA Playoffs on a stunning 99-66 roll on top-rated NBA picks against the spread dating back to last season. Anybody who has followed it has seen massive returns.
Now, the model has set its sights on Nets vs. Celtics in the NBA Playoffs 2021. You can head to SportsLine to see its picks. Here are several NBA betting lines for Celtics vs. Nets:
- Nets vs. Celtics spread: Nets -8
- Nets vs. Celtics over-under: 228.5 points
- Nets vs. Celtics money line: Nets -345, Celtics +285
- BKN: The Nets are 33-27 after a day off
- BOS: The Celtics are 6-3 as a home underdog
Why the Nets can cover
The Nets lost to the Celtics on Friday in Game 3, 125-119, but it was just the first time that Brooklyn fell to Boston this season after stacking up three regular season and two postseason wins. James Harden scored 41 points, becoming the third Nets player to drop 40 points in a postseason game, and he also had 10 assists and seven rebounds. Kevin Durant poured in 39 points and grabbed nine rebounds, as he and Harden became just the second pair of players in franchise history to reach 30-plus points in the same postseason game.
Kyrie Irving scored just 16 points on Friday, as he missed 11-of-17 shots from the field, but he has scored 29-plus points vs. Boston three times this season. Harden (Game 3) and Joe Harris (Game 2) have both made seven 3-pointers in a game in this series, tying a franchise playoff record. The Nets have won nine of their last 10 postseason games against the Celtics. Jeff Green is expected to miss the rest of the series with a foot injury and will be re-evaluated in 10 days.
Why the Celtics can cover
After scoring just nine points in Game 2 and leaving after 21 minutes because he was poked in the eye in a loss at Brooklyn, Jayson Tatum boosted Boston to its first win of the series on Friday. He scored 50 points for the second time in his last four games, and became the first player in league postseason history to reach the mark after being limited to single digit scoring in the previous outing. The 23 year-old Tatum also etched his name in the NBA record books as the third-youngest player to score 50 points in a postseason game.
Tatum was the main reason why the Celtics finally ended a nine-game postseason losing streak to the Nets. He helped Boston overcome a six-point outing from Kemba Walker, who had suffered a bone bruise to his left knee in Game 2, and the loss of Robert Williams III, who left after six minutes with an ankle injury. Marcus Smart scored 23 points and Tristan Thompson recorded a double-double with 19 points and 13 rebounds to complement Tatum. The Celtics outrebounded the Nets in Game 3, 46-37.
How to make Celtics vs. Nets picks
SportsLine's model is leaning over on the total, projecting 231 total points. The model also says one side of the spread hits in over 50 percent of simulations. You can only see the pick at SportsLine.
So who wins Celtics vs. Nets? And which side of the spread hits over 50 percent of the time? Visit SportsLine now to find out which side of the spread you need to jump on, all from the model that has crushed its NBA picks.
