C's up to 4th best title odds behind GSW, CLE, & SAS

[jpotter33]

https://twitter.com/ESPNForsberg/status/780870671547174912

All that money spent in LAC, and we're still favored over them! 😁

[PhoSita]

It makes sense.  There's only one true contender in the East, and below that, just a couple teams with stand out as the best of the rest.

Whereas the Clippers have worry about the Warriors and Spurs, not to mention a maybe-still-dangerous Grizzlies team and a possibly-dangerous Jazz team.

Still, apart from GSW, SAS, and CLE, the title odds for any given team have to be less than 1%.

[Ilikesports17]

https://twitter.com/ESPNForsberg/status/780870671547174912

All that money spent in LAC, and we're still favored over them! 😁

true but were LA in the East they would have much higher odds Id imagine.

[GreenFaith1819]

Good...team just has to stay hungry and keep FIGHTING, though, which I have no doubt they will.

Don't read the hype.

Nothing's given with this team....everything is earned.

I expect us to do well this season and continue to grow this still young team. We do this and perhaps we'll STILL nab a certain 6'11 Superstar from GSW if / when things don't pan out there...

#CelticsfanthatSTILLwantskevindurant

[dreamgreen]

Not very realistic IMO. I don't see how Horford alone takes us to that point. Are we really better than Toronto? Hope I'm wrong but they will have to prove it to me.

[KG Living Legend]

Not very realistic IMO. I don't see how Horford alone takes us to that point. Are we really better than Toronto? Hope I'm wrong but they will have to prove it to me.

 Yes. Completely realistic. Horford was exactly what the team needed.

 Third best record in the league IMHO.

[green_bballers13]

I think TOR and BOS will be neck and neck this year. Both have all stars and good role players. Both play in a Edited.  Profanity and masked profanity are against forum rules and may result in discipline.ty conference so wins are obtainable. One could make the argument that Boston has better young talent that could emerge in the second half.

I think LAC should have better title odds than BOS b/c even though its a tougher track to the finals, they have a better chance of beating CLE.

GSW-CLE seems like an incredibly safe finals bet at this point.

[dreamgreen]

Not very realistic IMO. I don't see how Horford alone takes us to that point. Are we really better than Toronto? Hope I'm wrong but they will have to prove it to me.

 Yes. Completely realistic. Horford was exactly what the team needed.

 Third best record in the league IMHO.

WOW! I guess you think a lot higher of Horford than I do. I have him as a good player not a great player. Remind me again how many games Atlanta won last year and how many games they won against Cleveland?

Love the optimism, hope you're right but I don't see it.

[GreenFaith1819]

Not very realistic IMO. I don't see how Horford alone takes us to that point. Are we really better than Toronto? Hope I'm wrong but they will have to prove it to me.

 Yes. Completely realistic. Horford was exactly what the team needed.

 Third best record in the league IMHO.

WOW! I guess you think a lot higher of Horford than I do. I have him as a good player not a great player. Remind me again how many games Atlanta won last year and how many games they won against Cleveland?

Love the optimism, hope you're right but I don't see it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pGAPmPDhMjY

It's ok to be cautiously optimistic.

But BOS could have something VERY special, here.....VERY similar to 1986.....when we won Banner 16 AND had a top pick in the draft right after...

We're LONG shots to win it all this season BUT we'll be within striking range. An injury to a Star (God forbid this happening, of course) on one of these contenders, or some slick coaching moves by our bright young coach COULD be the intangibles that would help us to be playing into June 2017....right up until we pick 1, 2 or 3 in the draft AGAIN..

Al Horford is going to help this team a lot, I believe. I watched 10 or so games last year where I thought that if we had just ONE MORE threat we'd win the game...someone else to take the pressure off of IT4..

We have that 2nd threat now.

Toss in an improved Smart, AB, Jae, Jaylen and the rest of this fine team and opposing teams will not want to face us.

Just that core of AB, Smart, Jay and potentially Jaylen will be an NBA Junkyard Dog to many opponents..



Mean, nasty, territorial, unpredictable and dangerous on any given night.

I'm excited about this upcoming season AND the future of this team.

[slamtheking]

odds mean nothing on this.  need to see the product on the floor and enjoy them earning those expectations.

[alldaboston]

Not very realistic IMO. I don't see how Horford alone takes us to that point. Are we really better than Toronto? Hope I'm wrong but they will have to prove it to me.

 Yes. Completely realistic. Horford was exactly what the team needed.

 Third best record in the league IMHO.

WOW! I guess you think a lot higher of Horford than I do. I have him as a good player not a great player. Remind me again how many games Atlanta won last year and how many games they won against Cleveland?

Love the optimism, hope you're right but I don't see it.

You're not alone. Toronto is still better than us. You can't argue against 2 legit all stars and a pretty solid overall lineup and bench. It's ok to admit it. Isaiah was an all star last year due to Kyrie Irving being hurt. Make no mistake about it. He played amazing all season long. But if Irving was healthy? Isaiah wouldn't have been an all star last year.

And it's not just a matter of all stars. That Toronto team is proven. They've gotten to the conference finals. They know what it takes. They replaced Biyombo with Sullly, which isn't great but it's not bad either. Horford was a great addition for us. But losing Turner hurts (yes I'll be sticking to that all season long until we clearly see that we have another option off the bench to replace him).

We may have more overall talent than them. But they're the more proven team. They're eastern conference finalists. We're not (yet). Let's see how the season goes.

[LarBrd33]

I don't understand what betting odds mean.

What's the difference between 4/5 odds and 18/1 odds?

Does that mean if you bet $10 dollars on the Celtics winning the title and they succeeded, you'd win $180 ($170 profit)...

Whereas... if you bet $10 dollars on the Warriors winning the title and they succeeded, you'd get back $8 for a $2 loss? Lol

[kraidstar]

Not very realistic IMO. I don't see how Horford alone takes us to that point. Are we really better than Toronto? Hope I'm wrong but they will have to prove it to me.

 Yes. Completely realistic. Horford was exactly what the team needed.

 Third best record in the league IMHO.

WOW! I guess you think a lot higher of Horford than I do. I have him as a good player not a great player. Remind me again how many games Atlanta won last year and how many games they won against Cleveland?

Love the optimism, hope you're right but I don't see it.

You're not alone. Toronto is still better than us. You can't argue against 2 legit all stars and a pretty solid overall lineup and bench. It's ok to admit it. Isaiah was an all star last year due to Kyrie Irving being hurt. Make no mistake about it. He played amazing all season long. But if Irving was healthy? Isaiah wouldn't have been an all star last year.

And it's not just a matter of all stars. That Toronto team is proven. They've gotten to the conference finals. They know what it takes. They replaced Biyombo with Sullly, which isn't great but it's not bad either. Horford was a great addition for us. But losing Turner hurts (yes I'll be sticking to that all season long until we clearly see that we have another option off the bench to replace him).

We may have more overall talent than them. But they're the more proven team. They're eastern conference finalists. We're not (yet). Let's see how the season goes.

Our current talent level might not be the reason we have such high odds to win the title.

Right now I'd favor a healthy Toronto club to have a better record than us, but not by much. I think Toronto has hit their ceiling, though.

The key is that we have the assets to make a big trade or two to become elite, whereas Toronto doesn't, and is likely stuck in purgatory. Heck, they got swept by Washington just two years ago. That doesn't happen to great teams. And even if we don't make a trade we have young guys who could turn into stars who are feasibly better than anyone on Toronto.

We have a better shot at jumping into that highest tier than they do, even if they're technically a bit better than us right now.

[kraidstar]

I don't understand what betting odds mean.

What's the difference between 4/5 odds and 18/1 odds?

Does that mean if you bet $10 dollars on the Celtics winning the title and they succeeded, you'd win $180 ($170 profit)...

Whereas... if you bet $10 dollars on the Warriors winning the title and they succeeded, you'd get back $8 for a $2 loss? Lol

You got it right, except that you don't lose your original money, you get it back. So if you bet $10 on the warriors you get your $10 back plus the $8 from winning the bet. The victor takes everything.

There's another major type of betting in American sports, baseball uses it a lot.

You might see a game at +225. Like when David Price is pitching in a high-pressure game. It means you need to bet $100 on Price, and if you win you get $225.

Likewise if the line is -225, that means you have to bet $225 to win $100.

[LarBrd33]

I don't understand what betting odds mean.

What's the difference between 4/5 odds and 18/1 odds?

Does that mean if you bet $10 dollars on the Celtics winning the title and they succeeded, you'd win $180 ($170 profit)...

Whereas... if you bet $10 dollars on the Warriors winning the title and they succeeded, you'd get back $8 for a $2 loss? Lol

You got it right, except that you don't lose your original money, you get it back. So if you bet $10 on the warriors you get your $10 back plus the $8 from winning the bet. The victor takes everything.

There's another major type of betting in American sports, baseball uses it a lot.

You might see a game at +225. Like when David Price is pitching in a high-pressure game. It means you need to bet $100 on Price, and if you win you get $225.

Likewise if the line is -225, that means you have to bet $225 to win $100.

Ah ok that makes sense.   Thanks for finally clearing that up for me.  So if it's +X, that's the amount you have to bet to win $100.   I genuinely didn't know that.  As I've said before,  I stopped gambling when I lost all my Pogs to Ryan Thomas in 4th grade.

That's a pretty large chasm between 18/1 odds and 4/5 odds, then.   Are 18/1 odds typical of a team projected to have the 4th best record?  Or are these odds essentially saying, Golden State is the shoo-in, Cavs have a long-shot chance... everyone else is like betting on the Washington Generals in a Harlem Globetrotters game?