Dallas (0-1) at Boston (1-0)
When: Sunday, June 9th 2024
Where: TD Garden,
Boston, MA
Time: 8:00 ET | TV: ABC
Opening Odds: Boston -7.5/214.5
If Game 1 of the NBA Finals is any indication of how this series is going, it’s going to be over rather quickly. The Boston Celtics will look to repeat their dominant performance from the series opener when they host Game 2 on Sunday night at TD Garden. The Dallas Mavericks were no match in Game 1, but they lost Game 1 in both the first and second rounds and managed just fine. Boston comes into this game as a 7-point favorite after a 107-89 triumph in Game 1 on Thursday.
The odds of Boston winning the NBA Finals have gone from -225 to -455. The most likely outcome is now Boston in five games +230 (from +300), followed by a seven-game victory at +375 (previously +450). Both a four-game and six-game series are priced at +450. As for the Mavs, the odds have jumped from +180 to +340 to win the series. If somehow Dallas won the next four games, you would get back +3000. A 4-2 series victory is priced at +800, and a seven-game win would be +775.
DALLAS MAVERICKS
Kyrie Irving has been here before, but has lost both times in the Finals and was nowhere to be found in Game 1 on Thursday. Irving scored just 12 points on 6-of-19 shooting and needs to be better, or the Mavs are done. Dereck Lively got into foul trouble in the third quarter, limiting his minutes, and Daniel Gafford (eight points, minus-10) and P.J. Washington (14 points, minus-15) were non-factors. Luka Doncic was his usual great self with 30 points and 10 rebounds, but had only one assist and needs to get more help.
BOSTON CELTICS
Everything went well for the Celtics on Thursday and they will try and hold homecourt on Sunday night. The return of Kristaps Porzingis made a huge difference. He had three blocks and 20 points on 8-of-12 shooting in just 21 minutes of action. Boston was terrific on defense, limiting Dallas to its lowest points total this postseason. Jaylen Brown had three blocks as well to go along with a team-high 22 points. Every single Celtics starter hit double-digits in points. Jayson Tatum had 16 points and 11 boards but also turned the ball over six times.
Prediction:
I’m not going to over-react to what happened in Game 1, but Boston sure did look good. I’m going to give Dallas another shot here. They have lost Game 1 twice this postseason and Boston has lost Game 2 twice. I still expect a long series and even if Dallas doesn’t even the series, they will at least keep it close.
Check out who Bobby Babowski has on his Free NBA Picks page for today.
