[Raji]

Boston has a lot to cheer about these days. The Patriots are flirting with an undefeated season, the Red Sox are world champs and the BC Eagles are among the best football teams in their conference.

But no other Beantown sports fans are more proud of their team’s success than the Boston Celtics faithful. And they’ve proved it at the pay window.

The Celtics have exploded out of the gate for their best start since 1987. They’ve won straight-up and against the spread in their first five games of the season. And right along with them is the loyal green and white, pounding the books with Boston money.

Oddsmaker John Avello of the Wynn Hotel Sportsbook says action has been hot and heavy on the Celtics since the offseason. Boston opened as a 100-1 long shot to win this year’s NBA title before the big trade. After dealing for All-Stars Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen, however, the Celtics are among the frontrunners to take home a championship.

“If you asked someone to name the top NBA teams in the last 50 years, the Celtics are number one or two. Now, that recognition is back for Boston,” says Avello.

Garnett and Allen join Celtics captain Paul Pierce on one of the most dynamic trios in sports history and oddsmakers are responding. Boston has been a favorite in all but one of its first five games. Books have set the Celtics as high as 9 ½-point favorites versus the Atlanta Hawks last Friday – a game they easily won 106-93.

“They bet them every night,” Avello says of Celtics backers. “And why not? The team is playing well and covering. And unlike with hot football teams, in basketball, you can play them every second night and not just once a week.”

The biggest question coming into this highly anticipated season was if the “Big Three” could co-exist in Boston. All three stars have been the go-to-guy during their careers. So far, they have shared the spotlight without issue in the season’s first two weeks.

Each one has led the team in scoring through those five games, while Garnett is not surprisingly the glue on both ends of the floor. The near 7-foot power forward is averaging 22.6 point along with an NBA-leading 15.8 rebounds this season. Allen is also scoring 22.6 points per game and Pierce is leading the Celtics with an average just under 24.

This instant cohesiveness is surprising to some who thought Boston’s star players would struggle early in the season. Scott Rickenbach of Covers Experts is impressed with the Celtics motivation at this point in the season. Yet he believes they’ll have trouble continuing this pace.

“Pierce, Allen, and Garnett are all veteran players. That's great except when it comes to wearing down in tough schedule spots,” says Rickenbach. “An injury could really hurt this team because they are relying so heavily on the ‘Big Three’.”

All three All-Stars are averaging more minutes per game than they have throughout their careers, in part because of the lack of depth on the bench. In order to land these marquee names, the Celtics had to hand over a lot of their prospects. That’s left Boston with a short eight-man rotation.

Besides Allen, K.G. and Pierce, head coach Doc Rivers starts Rajon Rondo at point and big body Kendrick Perkins at center. In relief Boston turns to super sub Eddie House, who’s averaging over 11 points this season, and forwards Tony Allen and Glen Davis.

“Public appeal is going to start taking some of the value away. But, as long as they're healthy and as long as they're not in a tough schedule spot, I will honestly be looking at the Celtics more in the coming weeks,” says Rickenbach.

Boston tries to make it six in a row on Tuesday when it rolls into Conseco Fieldhouse to face the Indiana Pacers. Oddsmakers list the Celtics as 6 1/2-point favorites. The total for the game is set at 198.

Raji