Boston Celtics: Why the C's Should be Favored to Beat the Miami Heat in the Eastern Conference Finals

The Celtics tied up their series with the Heat at 2-2 on Sunday night.

Boston's overtime win put them in a terrific position to steal the Eastern Conference Finals. They seemingly have a great shot to win a championship, but many of the experts still think it's a longshot for Miami to lose the series.

The online sportsbook Bovada still has the Heat as heavy favorites to win the series, even though they have lost two games in a row and are just a few losses away from being knocked out of the playoffs. The site places Miami's odds of winning the title at 7/4. The Celtics have the worst odds of any remaining team at 12/1.

Despite what the bookmakers say, the Celtics have a real shot at winning their second championship in five years. The Celtics have won the past two games, and have largely outplayed the Heat in this series.

Boston could have easily won Game 2. They blew a 15-point lead and were unable to put away the Heat because of a few questionable calls. Game 3 was never close and the Celtics led Sunday night's contest almost the entire way.

Miami has been undermanned in the first four games, and should get a key component to their success back for Game 5. Chris Bosh hasn't played since the first game of Miami's series with Indiana, and will reportedly suit up for Tuesday night's matchup. An effective Chris Bosh would certainly help the Heat, but it's unknown how well he'll be able to perform.

Bosh has been on the mend for over three weeks, and even if he's activated, Miami head coach Erik Spoelstra hasn't indicated how much the big man will play when he returns. Bosh may not be 100 percent, and it's almost impossible to expect him to play like he did in the regular season. His return is good news for the Heat, but Chris Bosh is not Miami's savior.

Kevin Garnett has been dominant inside without Bosh, putting up 17 points and 14 rebounds in the Game 4 victory. It will be difficult for Bosh to stop him after not playing for such a long time.

Even if the Heat do finally contain Garnett, he hasn't been Miami's biggest problem.

Rajon Rondo has been the best player in this series and possibly in the entire 2012 NBA Playoffs. The point guard is averaging 24 points, 10.5 assists and 7 rebounds on 54 percent shooting in four games against the Heat. Miami has shown no signs of slowing him down, and Boston will be very tough to beat if Rondo continues his hot play.

It's not just what the Celtics have been able to do, but also what the Heat have been unable to do, that has made this a competitive series.

LeBron James has been Miami's only consistent performer against Boston. The Heat bench has gone cold since the series moved to Boston, and Dwyane Wade had two disappointing games in Beantown.

James was the MVP of the regular season for a reason, but he showed in Cleveland that he can't win a championship by himself.

It's understandable some think the Heat will make it to the NBA Finals. They had a better regular season than the Celtics, their stars are younger and they have arguably the two best players in the league.

However, Boston has shown that they still have at least one more run in them. They have been the better team in this series, and should be favored to make it to the Finals out of the East, based on the way they've played against in Games 1-4 against the Heat.

The Heat and Celtics will play Game 5 on Tuesday night in Miami.