Scoreboard	1	2	3	4	Odds
Boston Celtics 48-24	27	30	32	21	+216.5
Philadelphia 76ers 43-30	32	26	19	29	+7

Scoreboard

Odds

Boston Celtics 48-24

+216.5

Philadelphia 76ers 43-30

NBA
Andrew Rogers
August 23, 2020

Celtics vs. 76ers Game 4 Prediction: NBA Odds, Point Spread

The No. 3 seed in the Eastern Conference is poised to finish Philly off in four straight following a hard-fought 102-94 victory Friday in Game 3 – and oddsmakers are fully on board, giving Sunday’s game the biggest spread of the series.

NBA Point Spread and Betting Analysis

The books aren’t messing around this time. Following three straight Boston covers at spreads between 4.5 and 6 points, the Celtics are now up to -8 against Philadelphia – and it still isn’t enough to get Sports Interaction bettors off the favourites, with 61 percent leaning toward Boston. The 76ers were a bad cover play even before the series with the Celtics, but three straight ATS losses have them just 3-8 against the spread in their last 11 games.

The Game 4 total is just 213 – rock-bottom by 2020 playoff standards – and the bettors have spoken overwhelmingly in favour of the Over. A whopping 85 percent are rolling with the O213 despite two of the first three games in the series following below that threshold. While the 76ers have converted the Over in 12 of their previous 17 games overall, these teams have come in below the number in four of their past five meetings overall.

Boston Celtics

Boston’s defence has been a revelation so far in this series, and has been the major catalyst for the team’s insurmountable lead. The Celtics have limited the 76ers to an average of 98.7 points per game in the series after they averaged 110.7 ppg during the season. And Boston would love to sew this series up as a gift for point guard Kemba Walker; the first-year Celtics star didn’t win a single playoff series in nine seasons with the Charlotte Hornets franchise.

Philadelphia 76ers

Embiid is the only Philadelphia player pulling his weight, averaging 30 points and 13 rebounds in the series. The absence of point guard Ben Simmons (out indefinitely with a knee injury) certainly doesn’t help, but it’s the lack of scoring depth that has made the biggest difference. Boston’s bench has outscored Philadelphia’s reserves by a 61-29 margin over the previous two games, a major reason why the Celtics have outscored the 76ers by 35 points in that span.