Two Poll Tuesday – Eastern Conference Finals Predictions

The next step in the journey begins tonight for the Boston Celtics who welcome the 6th-seeded Indiana Pacers to the TD Garden for Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals.

It's the seventh postseason meeting all-time between Larry Bird's two franchises but just the first time they've met outside the first round of the playoffs.

Both teams possess prolific offenses. In fact, only two teams in NBA history have ever averaged 1.2 points per possession for an entire season, and they're about to meet for Eastern Conference supremacy.

The Celtics have won 72-of-92 times they've stepped on the court this season and have done so by an average of +11.5 points per night.

But Indiana is no slouch. The Pacers took two of the five regular season meetings between Boston and Indiana, including a 122-112 win on Dec. 4 which ousted the C's from the NBA In-Season Tournament.

While Indy can score with anybody, they also give up a ton. The first time the C's and Pacers met this year was back on Nov. 1 in Boston, when the C's scored a season-high 155 points (their most points since the 1958-59 season) and won by 51. That was one of three instances from the regular season in which the Pacers allowed the opposition to score 150+ points in a single game.

There's not much I see in this series that worries me from the Celtics' perspective. Indy's ability to score will no doubt lead to them stealing a game somewhere along the way when they get red-hot and maybe Boston has an off night. That will lead to the end of the world as far as the media is concerned with the Celtics, but then Boston will shake it off to win in 5.

That's how it's gone so far and I don't see it changing now.

But what do you think?