As of early Monday afternoon, most books had Boston (75-20 straight up, 48-42-5 against the spread) listed as a seven-point road favorite for tonight’s Game 4 of the Eastern Conference finals. The total was in the 222 to 223 range, and the Pacers were +230 to +240 on the money line.

Boston took a 3-0 series lead thanks to Saturday’s 114-111 comeback win, but Indiana (55-44 SU, 53-42-3 ATS) covered the number as a seven-point home underdog. The Pacers improved to 5-2 ATS in the last seven head-to-head meetings between these teams.

Even without star guard Tyrese Haliburton (hamstring) in Game 3, Indiana led by 12 points at halftime and by as many as 18. The Pacers went cold down the stretch, however, and the hot shooting by Al Horford from downtown was too much to overcome.

There’s a chance Haliburton could play tonight, as he is listed as ‘questionable.’ With the commanding lead in the series, the Celtics aren’t going to rush Kristaps Porzingis back too early. He’s officially been ruled ‘out.’

I like Indiana to cover tonight whether Haliburton can go or not. That’s because of my confidence in T.J. McConnell. The nine-year veteran point guard took advantage of his extra minutes, playing 29:23 and producing 23 points, nine rebounds, one steal and six assists compared to only one turnover.

With the spread cover in Game 3, the Pacers improved to 30-19-2 ATS in 51 games as underdogs this year.

I’ve backed the ‘over’ three times in this series and hit winners in each instance. Those three games have produced combined scores of 261, 236 and 225 points.

The ‘over’ is on a 5-0 run in the last five head-to-head meetings between the Celtics and Pacers, with the other two ‘overs’ netting combined scores of 253 and 264 points.

Indiana and Boston have now faced each other eight times this year. The three other combined scores were 219, 234 and 259 points.

The ‘over’ is now 53-42-3 overall for the Pacers and 50-43-2 overall for the Celtics.

PREDICTIONS: ‘Over’ 222.5 for one unit and Pacers +7 for one-half unit.