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.
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, according to Michael Fiddle on X.
In the second quarter, he would drop to -1350.
Late in the game, Tatum was as low as -2100, a near-lock in the eyes of Vegas bookies.
But that’s not how it played out.
Tatum’s teammate Jaylen Brown swooped in to steal the award with a fourth-quarter flurry to send the Celtics to the NBA Finals, shocking oddsmakers, bettors 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 route 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.
Brown has the third-best odds (+600) behind Luka Doncic (+230), whose Mavericks are looking to complete a sweep of their own over the Timberwolves on Tuesday night.