As we head into the start of a highly anticipated playoff run, the East looks very much like a two horse race between Milwaukee and Boston. The teams have jockeyed the 1 seed back and forth all regular season, with Milwaukee holding on in the end despite a 40 point defeat to the C’s a couple weeks back. With home court on their side, the Bucks are slight favorites at 1.1/1 to make the finals, with Boston entering the tournament at 1.7/1. Everyone else sits significantly behind, and rests their chances on an injury to Giannis or Tatum.

With the lines set as they are, I see value on the #2 seeded Celtics to run through the conference for the second consecutive year. Yes they are underdogs, but should they be? They took down the Bucks in 7 last year, which included a Game 6 Win in Milwaukee proving they can get it done away from home if need be. Tatum and Brown have played extremely well in this matchup, and have fared better against Giannis than most. While he will dominate, the Celtics have historically found ways to limit the other guys on the floor, and force Giannis to be otherworldly, which he often is.

Then there was the beatdown the other week, in Milwaukee on national tv, which felt like a “remember us?” type of statement from a team that had been struggling and seemingly forgotten about. While Philly and Milwaukee continued to garner hype down the stretch, the Celtics came into Milwaukee fully healthy and completely steamrolled their opponent. The Bucks will get Middleton back for the playoffs, a luxury they did not have last year, but it remains to be seen how effective he can be after being so limited this year. Jrue Holiday will be responsible for a lot of production, but the Celtics have a number of guys to throw at him defensively with Smart, White, and Brogdon.

With the depth the Celtics added since last year's trip to the Finals, I think they are still the team to beat in the East. I love the value you can get at +170, due to a lack of health and some down weeks from Tatum this season. JT was surely saving his best for these next couple of months, and is poised to bounce back from last year's Finals debacle. Giannis will be no easy hurdle, but I like the Celtics to take home the Eastern Conference at 1.7/1.