No team in the NBA Playoffs can go shot-for-shot with the Brooklyn Nets, which is something the Boston Celtics had to find out the hard way.
Brooklyn trampled Boston in a 141-126 shootout Sunday to send this Eastern Conference quarterfinal back to New York City with the Nets holding a 3-1 series lead. The NBA betting odds have installed the home side as a massive 12-point favorite for Game 5 after Brooklyn easily covered in each of its three wins this postseason, including two as host.
Check out our free NBA picks and predictions for Celtics vs. Nets on June 1.
Celtics vs Nets game info
• Location: Barclays Center, Brooklyn, NY
• Date: Tuesday, June 1, 2021
• Time: 7:30 p.m. ET
• TV: TNT
Celtics vs Nets odds
Odds via the Covers Line, an average comprised of odds from multiple sportsbooks.
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NBA Sharp Money and Line Movement Report
By Patrick EversonBrooklyn opened at -11.5 for Game 5 and quickly got run up to as big as -12.5 with 80 percent of the early spread handle laying the big spread on the home side. The total opened at 232 points and has since slimmed to 231. According to DraftKings Sportsbook, 59 percent of bets are on the Nets with 55 percent of the money also riding on Brooklyn. About 80 percent of total wagers are on the Over for Game 5.
Check out the full line movement for this gameCeltics vs Nets series odds
Celtics: +5,000
Nets: -100,000
Celtics vs Nets betting preview
Injuries
Celtics: Kemba Walker G (Questionable), Robert Williams G (Questionable), Jaylen Brown G (Out).
Nets: Jeff Green F (Out), Alize Johnson F (Questionable).
Find our latest NBA injury reports.
Betting trend to know
The Over is 7-3 in Nets’ last 10 home games. Find more NBA betting trends for Celtics vs. Nets.
Against the spread (ATS) pick
After scoring an emotional home win over Brooklyn in Game 3, Boston may have gotten a little too excited. The Celtics came out firing in the opening 12 minutes of Game 4, edging the Nets 34-33 in the first quarter of Sunday's game... yet somehow forgot who they were playing.
Brooklyn’s star-studded lineup welcomed that offensive pace and unleashed hell in the second frame, outscoring the C’s 40-26 while shooting 71 percent from the floor. That one-sided second quarter pretty much set the tone for the remainder of the game, as the Celtics once again grasped at straws on the defensive end.
Brooklyn is going to win this series and given the lofty spread for Game 5, it’s got a better than 90 percent chance of winning outright on Tuesday. But will the Nets cover the mountain of points bookies are throwing their way?
Double-digit playoff favorites have been a pretty solid bet since 2004, going 78-58-4 ATS (57%) but Brooklyn has come up short when giving 10 or more points this season. That said, the Nets had their three-headed monster of James Harden, Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving on the court for just two of those games (one of which was an OT loss at Cleveland, go figure?) and we didn’t see the same cohesion from this mighty offense in the regular season that we are witnessing now.
Perhaps if it were any other opponent — not the Boston Celtics — and perhaps Irving didn’t hate the franchise and its water-bottle heaving fans with a raging passion, then maybe Brooklyn would take it easy after getting up big and ease its foot off the gas in Game 5, opening the door for a backdoor cover from the bulky underdog.
But it is the Celtics and the last thing the Nets want to risk is packing for another trip to TD Garden. Brooklyn will want to send a message across the East and get this series behind itself, with Milwaukee waiting in the next round.
PREDICTION: Brooklyn -12 (-110)
Over/Under pick
This opening-round playoff series has become somewhat of an offensive practice for Brooklyn’s trio of stars, who played together in only a handful of games due to injuries in the regular season.
Durant, Harden and Irving combined for 104 of the team’s total 141 tallies in Game 4 — almost 74 percent of BK’s offense. Harden, who is still working himself back into shape after missing a chunk of time in the second half of the schedule, scored just 23 points but still had 18 assists in Sunday’s blowout victory.
Between transition, ball movement and old fashion isolation, Brooklyn’s attack has stumped Boston head coach and defensive guru Brad Stevens to the point that Stevens was throwing everything at the wall, hoping something would stick. But these Nets are made of Teflon.
Brooklyn’s defense was getting a lot of credit to open this series but has returned to the norm the past two games, with the Celtics boasting an advanced offensive rating of 130.1 through Games 3 and 4. The injury to Jeff Green has a little something to do with that, freeing up Jayson Tatum to score 90 points the past two outings.
Boston scored 121 points with Kemba Walker and Robert Williams out on Sunday and their potential return will only give Boston more offensive options in Brooklyn on Tuesday.
The Game 5 total is at 231 after the past three Over/Under numbers stayed sub-230. With a spread this big, backing the Over isn’t a bad option if you’re laying the lumber with the Nets.
PREDICTION: Over 231 (-110)
First-quarter pick
Outside of a snoozer of a first quarter in Game 1, with the teams combining for only 37 points, the opening 12 minutes of the past three games would make Vin Diesel sweat: too fast, too furious. Hell, Brooklyn scored 40 points on its own in the opening frame of Game 2.
The Celtics and Nets have posted collective tallies of 66, 65 and 67 points in the first quarter of the past three games and the Nets would love nothing more than to keep that offensive pace going.
These foes have conjured a pace rating of 102.0 in those first quarters — a massive contrast to the 96.88 overall pace rating for the series.
Books have set the 1Q total for Game 5 at 57.5 points (Under -128). But with the Nets back in the Barclays Center and their return to their normal “defensive” form (allowing an average of 29.2 first-quarter points), we see another first dozen minutes packed with points.
PREDICTION: First quarter Over 57.5 (EVEN)
Celtics vs Nets betting card
- Brooklyn -12 (-110)
- Over 231 (-110)
- First-quarter Over 57.5 (EVEN)
Picks made on 5/31/2021 at 11:33 a.m. ET
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