Will the Mavs fight their way back into the series?
Historically speaking, the odds of the Mavs winning the 2024 NBA Finals after trailing 2-0 are 7.4%. That’s low, but not impossible for our Mavericks vs Celtics betting tip for Game 3 Wednesday night.
However, they will have to improve in several team areas. Kyrie Irving has to support Luka Doncic more, Dereck Lively has to finally arrive in the Finals and overall there has to be more rebounding and scoring under the basket.
Can all this come together? Theoretically yes, but in practice we still see the Celtics ahead – even now in Dallas. Because the Mavs, who also have two more games in their bones, seem to be a little more tired than the Celtics.
Our prediction for Dallas vs. Boston in Game 3 of the NBA Finals is another win for the Celtics. They have won every single away game in the playoffs so far and with Prozingis now fit again, they simply have all the aces on their side
Dallas Mavericks – statistics & current form
The Mavs have their backs against the wall and ultimately have to win both their home games to have any chance of a close series. The Cleveland Cavaliers of 2016 send their regards and the Mavs should take their cue from that energy performance.
Nevertheless, we see little evidence here that they will be able to do so. The Celtics have been too dominant so far, which has unsettled the Mavericks. They made just 23.1% of their shots from the three-point line in Game 2 and only 66.7% of their free throws
Disastrous shooting percentages
In Game 1, the Mavs’ free throw percentage was only 63.2%, which would not be worthy of an NBA champion. So that’s where we have to start and then continue with the big men. They have also had an underground series so far.
Daniel Gafford, Dereck Lively and Maxi Kleber scored just 15 points between them in Game 2 and only 12 in Game 1. Yet this had been one of the Mavs’ great strengths in the previous rounds. But against Horford and Porzingis they see little land in this series
Tips to avoid on Mavericks
This comes as a surprise and could change a bit now in Game 3. In any case, we expect the Texans to improve further. Whether this will be enough for a win, however, remains questionable. And the fact that they are still considered the favorites by the betting providers makes betting on them doubly difficult.
The odds on the Celtics are much better for Dallas v Boston. Even though they have won all their away games so far this postseason, they are still getting odds of up to 2.10.
Key Players:
- PG: Luka Doncic
- SG: Kyrie Irving
- SF: Derrick Jones Jr.
- PF: P.J. Washington
- C: Daniel Gafford
Boston Celtics – Statistics & current form
The Celtics have everything under control on the ship. They are heading for the NBA title in calm waters and only a collapse could prevent it. It doesn’t look like that will happen this year, however, because the Celtics have learned a thing or two.
Compared to previous years, they can now adapt their tactics to their opponents and the course of the game. They still often try to win games with their threes. However, if that doesn’t work, they have a plan B.
Holiday and White step in
In game 1 Boston shot 38.1% from downtown, in game 2 it was only 25.6%. Nevertheless, they did not get into trouble in the end because they ultimately “only” took 39 shots from outside and moved more and more towards the basket towards the end.
Jrue Holiday in particular stood out here and ended up as the Celtics’ top scorer with 26 points. He and Derrick White took over the reins from Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown, neither of whom had their best evening.
In doing so, they once again showed their big advantage over all other teams – their balance. The Mavs didn’t get much more behind Luka Doncic. What’s more, the Celtics even won the bench duel by 17:9 points, although the bench had actually been identified as their weak point
Tips on Boston and Tatum recommended
So for Mavs vs Celtics a bet on Boston is again our favorite bet. You’ve never gotten odds of 2.10 on them in these playoffs. We also expect them to win the game if it turns out to be a thriller.
As far as player bets are concerned, we’re sticking with Jayson Tatum again. However, not for points bets, but for a tip on him to score a double-double. After all, he managed that in 13 of his 16 playoff games this season.
Key Players:
- PG: Jrue Holiday
- SG: Derrick White
- SF: Jaylen Brown
- PF: Jayson Tatum
- C: Kristaps Porzingis
Dallas Mavericks – Boston Celtics head-to-head comparison / H2H record
The score is 2:0 for the Boston Celtics in the series and the party in Boston is certainly already being planned. A 4:1, as the Celtics have already achieved twice this postseason, also looks increasingly likely against the Mavericks.
After all, we hardly doubt that they can win at least one of the two away games in Dallas. So far, they are 6-0 in away games in the 2024 postseason – even if it has been a little tighter from time to time.
The odds on Boston in Mavericks vs. Celtics are good, as are the odds on a double-double from Jayson Tatum. On the Mavs side, we have our eyes on Dereck Lively in particular, who should finally exceed his 6.5 points
Dallas Mavericks – Boston Celtics betting tip
How fit are the Mavs still? In the first two games, many Mavs players looked a bit exhausted from this long season. It was almost an advantage for Boston that Porzingis was out for so long and was thus at least able to maintain a certain freshness.
He is one of the reasons why we no longer believe in a Mavericks comeback, which makes a bet on Boston our number 1 betting option for Mavs vs Celtics. The higher odds on them even give us a pretty good value
As alternative number 1, we have a bet on a double-double from Jayson Tatum. He has achieved this feat in 13 of his 16 postseason games, which makes the odds of 1.77 correspondingly attractive.
