The Boston Celtics entered the 2024 NBA Finals because the favorites to take house the title. And if their Recreation 1 rout of the Dallas Mavericks is any indication, then they could not have an entire lot of hassle on their approach to hoisting the Larry O’Brien trophy within the coming days.
Celtics Down To -400 To Win The NBA Finals
GAME DAYYYYYY pic.twitter.com/1yQP9Fh3Pg
— Boston Celtics (@celtics) June 9, 2024
That they had been the favorites to take house the title all season lengthy. Boston had among the finest offensive assaults in NBA historical past through the common season, which was compounded by their suffocating protection, they usually continued their dominance through the first three rounds of the playoffs.
However the Mavericks had been supposed to offer maybe their largest (and solely?) take a look at of the postseason. The Celtics had been the chances on favorites coming into the NBA Finals, listed someplace round -210 at sportsbooks across the nation, and that notion has solely grown stronger after their efficiency within the opening contest.
Jaylen Brown led a balanced scoring assault for Boston in Recreation 1, who noticed their lead develop to 17 within the first quarter. They wound up not solely protecting the 6.5-point unfold, however gained by 18 factors in a rout over Luka Dončić and the Mavs.
Dallas Wants Large Efficiency From Their Stars
Jaylen Brown says the Celtics want all of Boston behind them proper now:
“It’s not simply group vs. group. It’s crowd vs. crowd. It’s fuel station vs. fuel station. It’s grocery store vs. grocery store. It’s the entire metropolis vs. the entire metropolis, so we want all people.” pic.twitter.com/CBBB3N1onO
— Taylor Snow (@taylorcsnow) June 8, 2024
The oddsmakers don’t like Dallas’ probabilities of a comeback. Boston’s line for the collection has dropped all the way in which all the way down to -400, with the Mavericks at +310. The road for Recreation 2 opened with a 7.5-point unfold in favor of the Celtics, however has been guess down to six.5 with just some hours to go till recreation time.
The Mavericks will want their finest gamers to step up so as to preserve them alive within the collection. Doncic scored 30 factors in Recreation 1, however struggled on the defensive finish, and no different participant on the roster put in additional than 14. Kyrie Irving had been a giant purpose for Dallas’ current surge of success within the postseason, however he had simply 12 factors and was 0 for five from three-point vary within the opening contest.
