Celtics at Mavericks NBA Finals Game 4 odds, expert picks: Boston ...

4 days ago

The Athletic

Celtics at Mavericks NBA Finals Game 4 odds expert picks Boston

With a 3-0 series lead in the NBA Finals, the Boston Celtics are one win away from an NBA title. Dallas is still favored to win Game 4.

The Dallas Mavericks at least made things interesting in Game 3 of the NBA Finals, but the Boston Celtics are on the verge of a title. The Celtics lead the series 3-0 after surviving a furious fourth-quarter comeback from the Mavericks on Wednesday.

Even with Kristaps Porziņģis out with an injury, the Celtics led Game 3 by as many as 21 points in the fourth quarter and held on for a seven-point win. The Celtics are obviously heavily favored to win the series with -10000 odds. No NBA team has ever come back from a 3-0 series deficit in the playoffs. For now, Dallas is just trying to avoid being swept.

Here’s a look at the odds and storylines for Friday’s Game 4 in Dallas.

All odds from BetMGM. Find the best deals on StubHub for tickets.

Boston Celtics at Dallas Mavericks

How to watch: 8:30 p.m. ET on ABC

Celtics lead series 3-0

Series odds: Celtics -10000, Mavericks +2000

As a neutral, there are two ways to look at what happened in Game 3. On one hand, Dallas finally took a game down to the final moments. Sure, the Mavericks were down 21 early in the fourth quarter, but they responded with a 22-2 run. Dallas struggled down the stretch after Luka Dončić fouled out with 4:12 left in the game, but he and Kyrie Irving combined for 62 points and the Mavs showed there is a path to victory against this Boston team.

On the other hand, Boston is up 3-0 and none of that may matter other than Dallas showed they have a decent chance to avoid a sweep and nothing more. The Mavericks are still favored for Game 4 at home, albeit by a slim margin (and a slimmer one than the 2.5-point spread for Game 3).

Irving played well for the first time this series with 35 points on 13-for-28 shooting. Dončić scored 27 points, but was just 1-for-7 from 3-point range and fouled out with so much time left in what was a 3-point game when he exited, dealing a massive blow to Dallas’ comeback bid. The Mavs outscored Boston by nine points in Dončić’s 38 minutes. Boston outscored Dallas by 16 in the 10 minutes he sat.

Dallas entered Game 3 needing to regroup to find a way to beat Boston. It looks like the blueprint was there in Game 3, but it wasn’t quite enough.

Boston now seeks the first sweep in the NBA Finals since 2018, when the Golden State Warriors swept the Cleveland Cavaliers the year after Irving left Cleveland for Boston. The year before, Irving and the Cavaliers trailed Golden State 3-0 but Irving dropped 40 points in Game 4, which was a blowout win for the Cavs.

There have been nine sweeps in the history of the NBA Finals. Will Boston make it 10 en route to the franchise’s 18th championship?

If the Celtics do win on Friday, Jaylen Brown is expected to be the Finals MVP, at least according to the betting odds. Brown is -350 to win the award. He is averaging 24.3 points, six rebounds, 5.7 assists and a pair of steals per game. Jayson Tatum is +275 to win Finals MVP after shooting just 35.9 percent from the field for the series. He did have 31 points in Game 3 and could win the award with a massive Game 4.