As the Celtics closed in on their sweep of the Pacers in the Eastern Conference Finals, it appeared Jayson Tatum had the Larry Bird Trophy locked up.&n𒅌bsp;
Before Game 4, Tatum was -170 to win the series MVP at FanDuel Sportsbook after a strong first three games.
His odds would only shorten as Game 4 went on.
After the first 🐓quarter, Tatum was a -800 favorite to win the trophy, .
In the second quarter, he would drop to -1350.
Late in the game, Tatum was as low ꦅas -2100, a near-𝕴lock in the eyes of Vegas bookies.
But that’s not how it played out.
Tatum’ꦫs teammate Jaylen Brown swooped in to steal the award with a fourth-quarter flurry to send the Celtics to the NBA Finals, shocking oddsmakers, ꦫbettors and even Brown, who assumed the award was Tatum’s to lose.
“I wasn’t expecting it at all — I never win s–t,” Brown said after the game. “I was just happy we won.”
༒Brown edged out ♔Tatum with five votes to his four from the nine-person voting panel.
Both 🤪players had monster series en ꧑route to the four-game sweep of Indiana.
Brown averaged 29.8 points with five rebounds and three assists per 🌼game, ༒including a 10-point fourth quarter, capped off by a block of Andrew Nembhard at the rim with a little more than a minute left in Game 4.
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Tatum 💖had even better numbers in the series, 30.3 points, 10.3 rebounds and 6.3 assists.
Heading into the NBA Finals, Tatum is a♌ -125 favorite to win the💖 series MVP at FanDuel Sportsbook.
Brow😼n has the third-best odds (+600) behind Luka Doncic (+230), w𝔉hose Mavericks are looking to complete a sweep of their own over the Timberwolves on Tuesday night.