For weeks now, people have talked about the Boston Celtics as clear favorites to win the Eastern Conference and possibly the NBA Finals this year.
On Wednesday night, reality caught up with the Celtics and it wasn’t pretty.
They were defeated by the Miami Heat in Game 2 of the opening round and now that series is tied.
According to ESPN Bet, this loss shouldn’t have been too surprising.
The Celtics have a 10-11 record as favorites of five or more points in the playoffs over the last three seasons.
In other words, if they are favored to win by five or more points in the playoffs, they don’t have a great record.
This is concerning for the Celtics for several reasons but most importantly because they are going to be favorites moving forward.
In fact, they have been favorites all season.
There is no denying that the Celtics are an extremely talented basketball team and they have the power and skill to reach the Finals and win a championship this year.
So, why do they have trouble when they are favorites to win in the playoffs?
Is it because they feel overly confident?
Or is it because other teams have even more determination to beat them because they are such heavy favorites?
No matter the reason, this is something that the Celtics will want to keep in mind in the days and weeks ahead.
Expectations for this team have never been so high.
After their loss on Wednesday night, certain people were already saying that their chances of winning the Finals were all but gone.
That was after just one loss, so what happens if they lose again?