Historic Trend Gives Celtics Massive Edge to Win NBA Finals Over Mavericks

June 11, 2024 Jimm Sallivan

Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown and the Boston Celtics have a 2-0 series lead over the Dallas Mavericks in the NBA Finals, and that puts them in some great company all time.

There have been 36 teams that have led 2-0 in the NBA Finals, and they are 31-5 straight up in the series all time. Not only that, but Boston as a franchise has a 43-1 record when leading 2-0 in a playoff series, only losing in the 2018 Eastern Conference Finals.

The C’s — the finals favorite for most of the 2023-24 season — are now -800 at DraftKings Sportsbook to win the title this season heading into Game 3 in Dallas on Wednesday night.

Odds via DraftKings Sportsbook.

Based on these odds, the Celtics have an implied probability of 88.89 percent to win the title this season. Dallas — at +550 — has just a 15.38 percent chance based on implied probability.

Even though Boston is going on the road in Game 3, I wouldn’t be worried as a Boston bettor.

The C’s are a perfect 6-0 straight up on the road in the playoffs, and Dallas is just 25-24 against the spread at home in the 2023-24 season.

Betting strictly on a historic trend isn’t the best way to wager on a series, but this is a great sign for bettors that are holding a Celtics future. In fact, there is one bettor that wagered $215,000 on the Celtics to win the series prior to the start of the NBA Finals.

Boston is set as a slight underdog heading into Game 3 despite being 14-2 straight up this postseason.

Odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.

If you or someone you know has a gambling problem and wants help, call 1-800-GAMBLER.

13 Jun 24 Jimm Sallivan

Joe Mazzulla, Celtics Deploy Interesting Tactic to Prepare for Adversity

When the Boston Celtics jumped out to a 91-70 lead at the start of the fourth quarter against the Dallas Mavericks during Game 3 of the NBA Finals on Wednesday night, many watching believed the game was over.

The Mavericks seemed spent, and the Celtics were firing on all cylinders offensively for what seemed like the first time in the series.

Then Dallas started getting stops, the crowd got back into the game, and the Mavericks were all of a sudden delivering on the offensive end to the tune of a 20-2 run that eventually cut the Boston lead all the way down to one.

Boston closed the game with a 13-6 spurt following Luka Doncic's sixth foul with just over four minutes to play, and closed out Game 3 staring adversity square in the face - something that Celtics teams of the recent past may not have done. So how does Boston prepare for moments of intense adversity? It's an interesting approach, according to Celtics star Jayson Tatum.

"Joe [Mazzulla] does a great job of showing us clips and things from different sports," Tatum began. "He's a big UFC fan, showing us fights of people that...I don't know the terminology of UFC, but put him in a chokehold and s---. Like they're about to tap out, and to see the guy or woman relaxing because they know they're about to win and you give the other person life. Just trying to translate that to the game of basketball where the closer you are to winning, the closer they are to surviving. Basically just trying to remind us in a group that we've still got a long way to go. We still have to play the right way. We still gotta win. They're not going to quit and we should expect the best from them from here on out."

JT on how Joe Mazzulla uses UFC film to help the Celtics and motivate them to never quit pic.twitter.com/A3VQUfvHUY
— Celtics on NBC Sports Boston (@NBCSCeltics) June 13, 2024

The Celtics take a 3-0 series lead into Friday night's Game 4, as Boston looks to raise banner No. 18, while the Mavericks will fight to keep their season alive.

3 May 24 Jimm Sallivan

Celtics’ Payton Pritchard Reveals Why He Wears Sabrina Ionescu’s Signature Shoes

Payton Pritchard and the Boston Celtics are currently awaiting the end of the Orlando Magic - Cleveland Cavaliers series to learn their opponent for the upcoming Eastern Conference semifinal series.

While everyone waits for the unofficial NBA TV series to wrap up on national television sometime this weekend, the local press gets to ask whatever questions they don't have time for when there are actual games to talk about, which is probably why someone finally asked Pritchard about his sneakers.

Prtichard wears Sabrina Ionescu's signature Nike shoes. Pritchard and Ionescu both went to Oregon as freshmen in 2016 and played all four years in Eugene before turning pro.

Ionescu was selected with the first pick of the 2020 WNBA draft, while Pritchard was taken 26th by the Celtics. While Pritchard doesn't have his own signature shoe, at least he found a comfortable one with his friend's name on it.

Payton Pritchard on why he wears Sabrina Ionescu’s shoes:
“Me and Sabrina are in the same class, and we went to Oregon together as freshmen. Her shoes are probably the most comfortable out right now. It’s light. I like it.” pic.twitter.com/rbROb4F1MU
— Noa Dalzell 🏀 (@NoaDalzellNBA) May 3, 2024

Pritchard is not the only NBA player rocking the Sabrina's. During All-Star Weekend, Dallas Mavericks center Dereck Lively II revealed that he had an exciting exchange with Ionescu about her shoes. She thanked him for wearing them while he thanked her for making them so comfortable.

"Thank you for wearing my shoes."
"Thank you for making them that comfortable."
This Dereck Lively II and Sabrina Ionescu interaction 🤣 pic.twitter.com/XdhQecEtPP
— NBA (@NBA) February 17, 2024

That's some solid word-of-mouth. Not only does Ionescu have the skill and profile to be featured during NBA All-Star Saturday, but she also has got the footwear to back it up.

And if she has it her way, more WNBA players will get signature shoes. If they're half as comfortable as hers apparently are, that's a good thing for all basketball players.

4 Jun 24 Jimm Sallivan

Luka Dončić Denies Kristaps Porizingis Feud After Chandler Parsons’s Claim

The reunion between Kyrie Irving and the Boston Celtics won't be the only meeting of a player with their former team during the 2024 NBA Finals. Kristaps Porzingis will also be up against his old squad, having played for the Dallas Mavericks back from 2019 to '21.

On Monday, Fanduel's Chandler Parsons suggested there was some bad blood between Porzingis and Luka Dončić stemming from their time as a tandem in Dallas.

Dončić addressed the claims from Parsons on Tuesday, indicating he and Porzingis have a good relationship, despite their on-court efforts not yielding much success, and added that he's scarcely ever even spoken to Parsons.

"I've talked to Chandler Parsons maybe twice in my life, so I don't know how he would know... But me and KP have a good relationship," said Dončić, via Joey Mistretta of ClutchPoints.

Chandler Parsons previously said that Luka Doncic and Kristaps Porzingis don’t have a good relationship.
Doncic shut down that narrative and said he’s only talked to Paraons “maybe twice in my life.”#Mavericks #OneforDallas pic.twitter.com/uA6UcnKbuu
— Joey Mistretta (@JoeyMistretta_) June 4, 2024

Porzingis joined the Mavs and was paired alongside Dončić with the goal of making an elite offensive tandem. Expectations were not quite met, however, and the plug was pulled on the experiment after a little more than two seasons.

They've both since gone on to find success, with Porzingis playing a vital role for the Celtics as they earned the league's best record in the regular season and Dončić emerging as arguably the sport's best player and leading his Mavericks to their first NBA Finals appearance since 2011.

Porzingis was also asked about the situation with Dončić in Dallas, though he didn't want to spend too much time on the topic.

"It didn't work out. I think it was–yeah. I don't know, I'm not even thinking about that right now. I'm focused on the job ahead. We can talk about that later," said Porzingis, via Noa Dalzell of SB Nation.

Kristaps Porzingis didn't want to get into the weeds of his relationship with Luka / his Mavericks tenure today:
"It didn't work out. I think it was - yeah. I don't know, I'm not even thinking about that right now. I'm focused on the job ahead. We can talk about that later." pic.twitter.com/GU2S0vrVAs
— Noa Dalzell 🏀 (@NoaDalzellNBA) June 4, 2024

Game 1 of the NBA Finals tips off on Thursday, June 8 at 8:30 p.m. EST from the TD Garden in Boston.

US Sports News

Historic Trend Gives Celtics Massive Edge to Win NBA Finals Over Mavericks

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Jimm Sallivan