The Boston Celtics opened as -225 favorites in the NBA Finals at ESPN BET.

The Mavs, who started the season with 25-1 odds of winning the title, are +185 underdogs.

Jayson Tatum is the favorite to win Finals MVP at -130, with Luka Doncic second at +200.

The odds reflect Kristaps Porzingis returning to the Celtics lineup for Game 1. 

The Boston Celtics' sweep of the Indiana Pacers averaged a 3.4 rating with 6.31 million viewers.

That number is down 15% in viewership from last year's Celtics-Heat series.

Game 4 finished with a 3.5 rating and a series-high 6.63 million viewers. 

The Celtics-Pacers series ranked as the fourth most-watched Eastern Conference Finals of the last nine years. 

Kristaps Porzingis participated in parts of Friday's practice -- the Boston Celtics' first since advancing to the NBA Finals earlier this week -- and coach Joe Mazzulla said he's pleased with the center's recovery from a right calf strain.

"He's getting better," Mazzulla said at the team's facility. "He's out there shooting. Went through a couple of drills in practice. So, progressing well and kind of confident where he's at right now."

Joe Mazzulla said that Kristaps Porzingis was increasing his workload but did not have any definitive updates about his status for Game 1 of the NBA Finals.

"There’s been a couple shootarounds where he hasn’t done anything with the team but has been in a 1-on-1 setting kind of ramping it up with the intensity level of it. He’s been getting better and better," said Mazzulla on Wednesday.

Mazzulla added that he wasn't sure whether Porzingis would be healthy by Game 1.

The NBA Finals start on June 6.

The Indiana Pacers were eliminated by the Boston Celtics from the Eastern Conference Finals in four games despite playing three incredibly close games.

The Pacers had at least a 90 percent win probability in the fourth quarter of Games 1, 3 and 4, according to ESPN Stats & Information research. 

"For a young team like us, this experience in the playoffs is second to none," said Andrew Nembhard, who finished with a team-high 24 points in Game 4. "A lot of our first times. A lot of little things we maybe wanted to do better and we learned how these games go and what being in a series feels like."

"I can tell you like, yeah, we're going to learn from it and it's going to happen, but it's not guaranteed," Siakam said. "I know how hard it is to get to this point. It's unfortunate. You want to give credit to the other team because they took advantage of every mistake that we made. They did well.

"But for us, it's been hard, like heartbreaking losses after heartbreaking losses. Yeah, you're going to be encouraged by it and you hope to put the right amount of work to continue to get better. Because we need to be a lot better if you want to compete with those teams. And understand it doesn't matter how good we played, we didn't get it done."

Kristaps Porzingis has been out since late April with a non-contact calf strain, but there is optimism he could be cleared to play in Game 1 of The Finals.

"There's definitely hope, there's definitely optimism," said Shams Charania of Porzingis.

"There are still some hurdles, I'm told, that he has to clear before he can play in Game 1 of The Finals."

Entering the Eastern Conference Finals, there was reportedly a chance that Porzingis could return during that series if it were to extend.

Game 1 of The Finals is on Thursday, June 6th at TD Garden.

The Boston Celtics are returning to the NBA Finals for the second time in three seasons. In 2022, they lost to the Golden State Warriors in six games after initially taking a 2-1 series lead. 

Boston has reshaped large portions of their roster over the past two seasons while Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum are more developed players.

"We feel like we're a different team than we were last year and the year before that," Jaylen Brown said. "I know everybody wants to continue to kind of pigeonhole us to what was happening in the past but we've had a different team every single year, different coaches, we've had like three coaches in the last five years. And still people want to make it seem like it's the same, it's the same, it's the same.

"Time has gone by, experience has been gained and I think we are ready to put our best foot forward."

Jaylen Brown was awarded the Larry Bird Eastern Conference finals MVP after the Boston Celtics completed a sweep of the Indiana Pacers on Monday.

Brown averaged 29.8 points, five rebounds, three assists, and two steals for the series.

Brown received five out of nine votes, with Jayson Tatum getting the other four votes.

“He was unreal this whole series, a complete player on both sides of the ball that you don’t really see much these days,” said Derrick White of Brown. 

Basketball legend Bill Walton, who led the UCLA Bruins to two national titles before winning two championships during his NBA career, has died at the age of 71 after a prolonged battle with cancer.

Walton died Monday while surrounded by his loved ones, his family said in a statement released by the NBA.

"Bill Walton was truly one of a kind," NBA commissioner Adam Silver said in a statement.

The Boston Celtics will have to attempt to close out their third consecutive series without their starting center. Kristaps Porzingis was ruled out for Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Finals due to a strained right calf.

The Celtics lead the Indiana Pacers 3-0, which means Boston can afford to play it safe with Porzingis. He's been out since getting injured in Game 4 of the first round against the Miami Heat on April 29.

If Boston closes out Indiana in Game 4, their next game won't be until Game 1 of the NBA Finals on June 6. If the Pacers win, the series shifts back to Boston and Porzingis could play in Game 5 on Wednesday, May 29.