The Boston Celtics have become the favorites in their first round series against the Brooklyn Nets after opening as underdogs.
The Celtics are now -130 favorites at both DraftKings and Caesars to beat the Nets in a best-of-seven series. They had opened at -110 at DK and as +115 underdogs at Caesars.
The move has as much to do with public action as it has to do with sharp action. At Caesars, roughly 96% of the individual bets and 98% of the total money was on the Celtics to win the series, which altered that sportsbook's odds precipitously.
Typically, sharp action is what moves lines that substantially in such a short amount of time.
Caesars identifies sharp bettors as those who make large cash wagers and have historically netted closing line value on those bets.
You obtain closing line value — CLV — if you place a bet that improves before the start of a game. For instance, if you took an NBA team at -3.5 and the line closes at -4.5, then you would have received closing line value because you beat the closing odds by a point.
A more thorough explainer of the concept, and why it's important, is located here.
The line movement also comes on the heels of Kevin Durant's comments after the Nets beat the Cavaliers to clinch the No. 7 seed in the East on Tuesday night.
Durant went out of his way to walk back teammate Bruce Brown's criticisms regarding the viability of Celtics big men Al Horford and Daniel Theis.
"We can't let Tatum get 50," Brown said after Tuesday's game. "We got to be physical with them. Now they don't have Robert Williams, so they have less of a presence in the paint, and we could attack Al Horford and Theis. So them not having Robert Williams is huge."
Durant entered his postgame press conference and immediately asked media members what Brown had said moments prior.
"What did Bruce Brown say when he got up here?" Durant asked, "He said something I didn't like, somebody just told me."
After Durant was told what the content of Brown's answer was, he said that it was the source of "caffeine pride talking."
"[Brown] takes something before the game," Durant said. "Those two dudes [Horford and Theis] can do the same stuff. It ain't going to be that easy, I tell you that."
The Celtics were among the three best teams in the NBA after the All-Star break. Meanwhile, the Nets have only played 18 games with both Durant and Kyrie Irving on the floor. Their mid-season acquisition Ben Simmons hasn't suited up at all this season.
As far as Game 1 goes, the Celtics are favorites for that contest, too. Both DraftKings and Caesars have Boston as -4 favorites for Sunday afternoon's tip-off. At DK, Boston is -170 while the Nets are +150. With Caesars, the Nets are +155 underdogs while the Celtics are -180 on the moneyline.
