Can Celtics Go Up 3-0? NBA Finals Odds for Boston vs Dallas

Teams with a 2-0 lead in the NBA Finals have gone on to win the series 31 of the previous 36 occasions, and of course no team has ever rallied from down 3-0.

That’s what the Dallas Mavericks will be facing if they lose Game 3 Wednesday night as the series shifts to Big D. The Mavs are short favorites on the NBA odds, however.

Bet on Boston Celtics Lines +115

The Celtics are 4-0 this season against Dallas, winning each by at least seven points, following their 105-98 victory in Game 2 on Sunday. Jrue Holiday scored 26 points, grabbed 11 rebounds and shot 11-of-14 (78.6%) from the field. Since the 1970-71 season, Holiday is the first guard to have at least 25 points and 10 rebounds and shoot at least 75% from the field in an NBA Finals game. The points were the second-most Holiday has scored in any game this season.

Jayson Tatum’s shooting struggles continued on Sunday as he was just 6-for-22 for 18 points but also had 12 assists and nine rebounds. Tatum handed out seven assists in the second quarter alone, the most assists by a player in an NBA Finals quarter since June 10, 1998, when the Jazz’s John Stockton had eight assists in the fourth quarter against the Bulls.

The 12 helpers were one shy of Tatum’s playoff career high. He became the third Celtics player to account for at least 18 points, nine rebounds and 12 assists in an NBA Finals game, joining Larry Bird in 1986 and Bob Cousy in 1959. It was Tatum’s 13th double-double of these playoffs, and Boston is 13-0 in those. He now has 48 career playoff double-doubles, which ranks fifth in franchise history.

Jaylen Brown had 21 points, seven assists, four rebounds and three steals. He has now shot 50% or better from the field in six straight and seven of the Celtics’ last eight playoff games, picking up the slack for the slumping Jayson Tatum. The only negative for Brown in Game 2 was the turnover count, as he was responsible for six. However, it was the first game in which he exceeded three since Game 4 of the Eastern Conference semis.

Brown moved into sole possession of 21st place on the NBA’s all-time playoff three-pointers made list (237), breaking a tie with Mavericks head coach Jason Kidd (236). It was Brown’s sixth consecutive postseason game with at least 20 points and a 50.0 field goal percentage, tying John Havlicek (1974) and Reggie Lewis (1992) for the sixth-longest streak in Celtics history. Larry Bird owns the franchise record with seven straight games.

Al Horford played in his 183rd playoff game, tying Byron Scott for 15th place on the NBA’s all-time playoff games list. Horford also moved into 18th place on the career playoff rebounds list, passing Dwight Howard (1,473). Horford might have to play more minutes in Game 3 because fellow center Kristaps Porzingis is in question with a leg injury. The Celtics announced Tuesday that Porzingis has a torn medial retinaculum, allowing dislocation of the posterior tibialis tendon in his left leg.

Porzingis had just come back for Game 1 of the NBA Finals after missing more than five weeks with a calf strain, an injury he suffered in the second quarter of Game 4 of Boston’s first-round series victory over Miami. Boston is plus-25 in the 44 minutes Porzingis has played in this series, and is even in the 52 minutes he has been on the bench.

In addition to Horford likely getting more minutes if Porzingis is out or very limited, the Celtics also could see either Luke Kornet or Xavier Tillman — their other primary backup options at center — get some minutes as the series progresses, which could provide an opening for Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving to attack Boston’s defense.

The Celtics have won nine straight playoff games, the longest such run in franchise history. They are 6-0 on the road in these playoffs.

Bet on Dallas Mavericks Lines -161

It’s pretty simple why Dallas is down 2-0: Luka Doncic is playing well and really no one else has so far – especially fellow star Kyrie Irving. Doncic received a pain-killing injection to numb the area of his thoracic contusion before Game 2 and The expectation is that Doncic will receive another injection before Wednesday’s Game 3. He played 42 minutes in the loss, recording 32 points, 11 rebounds, 11 assists and 4 steals, joining LeBron James (twice), Charles Barkley and Jerry West as the only players to have 30-point triple-doubles in Finals losses.

“I feel good,” Doncic said after Tuesday’s practice at the American Airlines Center. “I don’t want to get into any more details. But I feel good.”

Irving scored 16 points on 7-of-18 shooting in Sunday’s loss, finishing with fewer points than field goal attempts for the second straight game. Irving, who scored 30 or more points in three of the Mavericks’ four wins over the Minnesota Timberwolves in the Western Conference finals, is averaging 14.0 points on 35.1% shooting from the floor — including 0-of-8 from 3-point range — during the Mavs’ two losses in Boston. He entered the Finals averaging 22.8 points per game on 48.5% shooting in the playoffs.

The one thing Irving has done is help lead a team back from a 2-0 deficit in the NBA Finals, doing so in 2016 alongside LeBron James against that 73-win Golden State team when the Cavs won in seven. That came after Cleveland dropped the first two games of that series on the road – 104-89 and 110-77 – and was left for dead, just like the Mavs are now.

Dallas also has gotten next to nothing from its bench, as it is being outscored 49-29 in the series. Rookie center Dereck Lively’s two-way success this postseason has been a critical factor in Dallas’ run to the Finals. Lively stood tall in the paint against all of Minnesota’s length in the Western Conference finals, and was 16-of-16 from the field in the series. Through two NBA Finals games, Lively has totaled just four points, 12 rebounds, one assist and one steal with no blocks and four turnovers.

Bet Celtics at Mavericks NBA Odds

When: Wednesday, 8:30 PM ET
Where: American Airlines Center
TV: ABC
Stream: ESPN+
Radio: ESPN Radio

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