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 Injured, the Celtics led Game 3 by 21 points in the fourth quarter and held on for a seven-point victory. The Celtics are obviously heavily favored to win the series with odds of -10,000. No NBA The team came back from a 3-0 playoff deficit. For now, Dallas is just trying to avoid getting swept.
Here’s a look at the odds and storylines for Friday’s Game 4 in Dallas.
All odds of PariMGM. Find the best deals on StubHub for tickets.
Boston Celtics vs. Dallas Mavericks
How to watch: 8:30 p.m. ET on ABC
The Celtics lead the series 3-0
Series odds: Celtics -10,000, Mavericks +2,000
As a neutral, there are two ways to look at what happened in Game 3. On the one hand, Dallas ultimately took the 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 until the end Luka Doncic fouled out with 4:12 left, but he and Kyrie Irving combined for 62 points and the Mavs showed there was a path to victory against this Boston team.
On the other hand, Boston leads 3-0 and none of that matters except that Dallas showed it had 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 slimmer than the 2.5 point spread for Game 3).
Irving played well for the first time in this series with 35 points on 13-of-28 shooting. Dončić scored 27 points, but was just 1 of 7 from 3-point range and fouled out with so much time remaining in what was a 3-point game when he came out, dealing a major blow to Dallas’ comeback attempt. The Mavs outscored Boston by nine points in Dončić’s 38 minutes. Boston outscored Dallas by 16 in the 10 minutes it sat.
Dallas came into Game 3 needing to regroup to find a way to beat Boston. It seems like the plan was there in Game 3, but it wasn’t enough.
Boston is now aiming for the first NBA Finals sweep since 2018, when the Warriors of the Golden State swept the Cleveland Cavaliers the year after Irving left Cleveland for Boston. The year before, Irving and the Cavaliers were down 3-0 against Golden State, but Irving dropped 40 points in Game 4, which was a blowout victory for the Cavs.
There have been nine sweeps in NBA Finals history. Will Boston make it 10 en route to the franchise’s 18th championship?
If the Celtics win on Friday, Jaylen Brown should be the Finals MVP, at least according to the betting odds. Brown is -350 to win the award. He averages 24.3 points, six rebounds, 5.7 assists and two steals per game. Jayson Tatum is +275 to win Finals MVP after shooting just 35.9 percent from the field for the series. He had 31 points in Game 3 and could win the award with a huge Game 4.
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(Photo by Luka Doncic and Jaylen Brown: Stacy Revere / Getty Images)
