NBA playoff odds: Latest Celtics vs. Nets first-round betting lines, prop bets

The Boston Celtics earned the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference during the regular season, and even though that will give them homecourt advantage against most opponents in the NBA playoffs, their first-round series is still going to be quite difficult.

That's because Boston's opponent is the Brooklyn Nets, led by the superstar duo of Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving. The Nets came into the 2021-22 campaign as one of the favorites to win the title, but the regular season was a rocky one for Brooklyn, to say the least.

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James Harden was traded to the Philadelphia 76ers. Injuries to players such as Durant were an obstacle. Irving missed most of the team's home games due to New York City's COVID-19 vaccine requirements.

For these reasons, and others, the Nets fell into the play-in tournament picture and had to beat the Cleveland Cavaliers on Tuesday night to earn the No. 7 seed.

But the Nets are not your typical No. 7 seed, and that's why the betting lines for this series versus the Celtics are pretty close. Boston is a slight series favorite at -134 odds. The series outcome with the best odds is the Celtics winning in seven games (+350), followed by the Nets winning in seven games (+375).

The Celtics might take issue with some of these odds. They have been one of the league's best teams since Jan. 1. The C's closed the regular season with 26 wins in their last 32 games.

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Boston had the league's best defense, too, ranking No. 1 in defensive rating, No. 1 in opponents' 3-point percentage and No. 1 in opponents' 2-point percentage. Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown also took their performances to another level as two-way stars.

Both of these teams have a lot to prove. In fact, there's a pretty good chance this is the most intense and entertaining series of the entire first round. You won't find another matchup in Round 1 with two teams of this caliber.