Boston (2-0) at Dallas (0-2)
When: Wednesday, June 12th 2024
Where: American Airlines Center,
Dallas, TX
Time: 8:30 ET | TV: ABC
Opening Odds: Dallas -1/213
The Boston Celtics’ two best players aren’t playing their best, but it’s been enough to carry their team to a 2-0 series lead in the 2024 NBA Finals. Game 3 is set for Wednesday night, when the Dallas Mavericks will host a must-win game for them. We all know the history when teams go down 3-0 in a series. Boston cruised to an easy Game 1 victory at home and pulled out a sluggish 105-98 victory in Sunday’s Game 2 to hold home court. If Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown get going offensively, look out.
Boston came into the Finals as the betting favorite and taking them now wouldn’t be worth it. The Celtics are now -1000 to win the series with Dallas priced at +650. A Boston win in five games would net you +175, followed by a clean sweep at +275. If Dallas loses this in six games, then you would get +500 on Boston and the same price for a full seven-game series victory. The Mavericks coming back to win the next four is at +1600, while the price is +1000 if Dallas wins in seven. The Mavericks are actually 1.5-point favorites for Game 3 on Wednesday.
BOSTON CELTICS
It wasn’t the best performance out of this Boston team, but they did enough to take a 2-0 series lead. The Celtics were just 10-for-39 from beyond the arc and Tatum had just 18 points on a miserable 6-for-22 shooting night. He did however have 12 assists and nine rebounds. Jrue Holiday was the best player with a team-high 26 points, while Brown followed with 21 points and seven assists. Another key was the Celtics’ 19-for-20 night from the free throw line.
DALLAS MAVERICKS
Luka Doncic had his usual solid night with 32 points, 11 boards and 11 assists, but he’s getting almost no help. Specifically Kyrie Irving needs to step up. Over the first two games, Irving has a total of 28 points on 13-of-37 and he’s missed all eight of his 3-point attempts. Daniel Gafford, P.J. Washington, and Derrick Jones Jr. have had solid postseasons, but haven’t done much in the Finals. Maybe being at home will help.
Prediction:
I don’t know if Dallas coming home will do any good. The games might be closer, but Boston is still the better team, and they haven’t even played their best. Look for Brown and Tatum to have big games and for Boston to all but end this series.
Check out who Bobby Babowski has on his Free NBA Picks page for today.
