Boston at Indiana

Time: NOON (CT) ABC

Spread:  BOS -2.5

Total:  204

Odds c/o 5dimes

The Indiana Pacers have fought, dragged and crawled to keep up with a more talented Boston Celtics team, but the result has continued to go the Celtics way: Indy is down 0-3 in the best of seven, and the Celtics can complete its sweep of the fifth-seeded Pacers with a victory in Game 4. It will tip off at NOON (CT) on ABC, and the Celtics are 2.5-point favorites over Indiana on its home court. The over/under is set at 204 points according to oddsmakers at 5dimes.

Indiana has not been able to string together 48-minutes of competitive basketball. Though it dominated the first half of Game 1, nothing has gone so well since that point as the Celtics depth and talent has proven too much for the Pacers. Indiana has been without its star guard Victor Oladipo for months, but it proved formidable without its best player as Bojan Bogdanovic and Domantas Sabonis both stepped into larger roles. T

he Pacers still found itself headily outmatched by the No. 4 seeded Boston Celtics and head coach Brad Stevens.

The Pacers even fought its way back into Game 3, but foibles and turnovers down the stretch ultimately were Indy’s demise.  Boston did it with a balanced attack that saw four Celtics score 16 points or more as Boston shot 47 percent from the floor in Game 3. Indiana put all five starters in double-figures but it shot just 42 percent from the floor.

More costly still were the Pacers 19 turnovers and -5 differential in rebounding. The Pacers are not as talented as Boston, so it requires nearly flawless execution and the little things going Indy’s way, which they really have not in this series. Bogdanovic struggled in shooting just 6 of 17 from the field and 2 of 9 from three-point range, and Sabonis had an off-game in Game 3 as well as he connected on just 3 of 10 from the field, though he did add seven rebounds and six assists in his 25 minutes (not to mention a +3 differential).

The Celtics are starting to get more out of star small forward Jayson Tatum. He connected on 8 of 16 from the field in Game 3, en route to 18 points. Tatum stepped up huge in the 2018 playoffs as a rookie, and if Boston is to advance in the East, it is going to need him to play more like a star. Kyrie Irving has been sensational, but he, too, had some struggles shooting the ball last game as he connected on just 7 of 19 from the field. Between Irving and Tatum, Boston has the scoring potential and defense to be a threat to anyone in the East, and the Pacers though gutsy, though tough, are clearly outmatched as Boston looks to complete its sweep in the first round of the 2019 NBA playoffs.

ATS TRENDS (c/o Covers.com):