Reports of the Boston Celtics' demise apparently haven't reached Vegas.
The Celtics enter Tuesday as the Eastern Conference's No. 5 seed, nine games behind the leading Milwaukee Bucks. But guess who has the same odds as Milwaukee to win the 2019 NBA championship?
Here's OddsShark's latest 2019 title odds, which has Boston and Milwaukee tied at +950 for the third-best odds to win it all behind only the Golden State Warriors and Toronto Raptors.
Despite losing two in a row and four of their last six, the Celtics still boast slightly better title odds than the No. 4 seed Philadelphia 76ers (+1000) and significantly better odds than the No. 3 seed Indiana Pacers (+12,500), who are 8-2 over their last 10 games despite losing Victor Oladipo to a season-ending injury.
Vegas' optimism in Boston's title hopes reflect that of All-Star Kyrie Irving, who insisted after Saturday's brutal loss to the Chicago Bulls he still doesn't see any team beating the C's in a seven-game playoff series.
The Celtics certainly are built for a deep playoff run, with stars like Irving and Jayson Tatum who can create their own offense in crunch time. Yes, they've had several perplexing losses to bad teams, but Irving and Co. typically have shined against the elite teams they'll face in late April and May.
Boston Celtics
Vegas clearly believes star power trumps regular-season struggles or chemistry concerns when the postseason arrives; just look at LeBron James' Los Angeles Lakers, who have the fifth-best title odds at +1100 but currently are 11th in the Western Conference at 29-31.
So, even as the C's fall short of their 82-game expectations, their long-term outlook hasn't changed in the eyes of bettors.
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