Jaylen Brown: 'No Question' Celtics Will Be in NBA Finals

Boston Celtics swingman Jaylen Brown isn't lacking confidence. 

Appearing on CJ McCollum's Pull Up podcast Wednesday (h/t ESPN.com's Chris Forsberg), Brown didn't mince words when asked if the Celtics would represent the Eastern Conference in the 2019 NBA Finals. 

"Oh, we're getting to the Finals," he said. "No question about it."

Brown also said he thinks the Celtics would have been positioned to represent the East even if LeBron James hadn't bolted for the Los Angeles Lakers. 

"I hate how everybody is like, 'Oh, LeBron's gone in the East,'" Brown said. "I know he did have a strong hold on the East for the last seven years but he barely got us out of there this year. And our mindset was like, 'Man, he's not beating us again.'"

The Celtics lost to the Cleveland Cavaliers in the Eastern Conference Finals for the second year in a row. This time around, though, they came within one win of setting up a clash with the Golden State Warriors before blowing a 3-2 lead. 

However, that slip-up came with both Kyrie Irving (knee) and Gordon Hayward (ankle) sidelined. 

Now that those two are on the mend and James is in the Western Conference, it should come as no surprise that the Celtics are -110 (bet $110 to win $100) favorites to win the East, according to OddsShark. 

The only other teams with remotely decent odds to win the East are the Philadelphia 76ers (+300) and Toronto Raptors (+325). 

The Celtics will open their season against the Sixers at TD Garden on Oct. 16.