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

June 4, 2024 Jimm Sallivan

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.

3 Jun 24 Jimm Sallivan

Public Bettors Heavily Backing Mavericks to Win NBA Finals Over Celtics

Luka Doncic and the Dallas Mavericks are underdogs in the 2024 NBA Finals, and public bettors... are loving it?

Dallas is around +175 to +180 (depending on the sportsbook) to win the Finals (an implied probability of 36.36 percent), yet more than 80 percent of the bets at BetMGM are on the Mavs to win the series against the Boston Celtics.

NBA Final series odds at #BetMGM
▪️ Celtics -225
▪️ Mavericks +180
85% of bets are on @dallasmavs to win. pic.twitter.com/TRuwPRvprs
— John Ewing (@johnewing) June 3, 2024

It's shocking to see bettors heavily backing Dallas since Boston has dominated the playoffs going 12-2 and finished the regular season with the best record and net rating in the NBA. Maybe it's the plus money that has bettors intrigued, but can Dallas really pull off the win in the Finals?

Odds via DraftKings Sportsbook.

Earlier on Monday, yours truly broke down this NBA Finals matchup with the latest odds, players to watch and keys to winning the series.

I still believe that Boston -- with a healthy Kristaps Porzingis -- is the better team and will go on to win the title.

However, Dallas has certainly made a compelling argument since the last 20 games of the regular season. Not only did the Mavs finish those 20 games 16-4 with the best defensive rating in the NBA, but they also won three straight playoff series as a road team and underdog.

That's extremely impressive, and it could be what is causing this massive influx of public bets on the Mavs to hoist the Larry O'Brien Trophy.

Doncic and Kyrie Irving will have their hands full with a tough defense that features Jrue Holiday, Derrick White and Jaylen Brown, but if the Mavs' stars outplay Brown and Jayson Tatum, it could be enough to win this series.

Still, taking note of where the public's money is can be a helpful strategy when deciding where to bet on a series.

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.

Find Peter Dewey's betting record here You can also follow my daily plays on BetStamp here.

7 May 24 Jimm Sallivan

Cavaliers-Celtics Odds Paint Grim Picture for Cleveland in NBA playoffs

If the Cleveland Cavaliers were looking for bulletin board material heading into their Eastern Conference semifinal series against the Celtics, all they’d have to do is look at the odds.

Recent NBA betting scandals notwithstanding, it's clear oddsmakers don't think the Cavs stand any chance against Boston. In fact, sportsbooks are giving the Cavs a better chance of getting swept than upsetting the top-ranked Celtics, and it’s really not even close.

The Celtics are -3000 to win the series at FanDuel Sportsbook and -1200 to win at DraftKings. That means those sportsbooks are giving the Celtics an implied probability to win the series of 96.8% and 92.3% respectively.

Even more telling, the Celtics are +140 at FanDuel and +170 at DraftKings to win the series 4-0. Those are the shortest odds of any correct series score. The Celtics winning 4-1 has the second shortest odds at +170 and +190, respectively.

For context, even after winning Game 1, the Knicks are only -440 at FanDuel to win their Eastern Conference semifinal series.

This is not exactly surprising.

The Celtics have been the betting favorites to win the NBA championship most of the season and remain so today. They are +100 to win the title at FanDuel and +115 at DraftKings.

The Cavs are +10000 and +8000 at those books, respectively, the longest odds of any playoff team.

All of this paints a grim picture for the Cavs, even more so when you consider the Celtics are expected to be without their third-leading scorer from the regular season, Kristaps Porzingis, who is dealing with a calf injury and is not expected to play the entirety of the series.

The Cavs are at full strength but struggled to beat a young Orlando Magic team in the first round of the playoffs. The series went seven games and the Magic had the Cavs on the ropes in the first half of Game 7 before Donovan Mitchell took over and willed Cleveland into the second round.

Led by Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown, the Celtics easily dispatched the Miami Heat in five games in the first round, though the Heat were without Jimmy Butler.

It’s clear oddsmakers believe in the duo of Tatum and Brown, not only against the Cavs, but against anyone in the league. The Cavs could look at that as an insult and use it as motivation. It won’t matter to oddsmakers though. It seems their belief is near certainty, at least in this round.

Game 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.

6 Jun 24 Jimm Sallivan

Kendrick Perkins Bashes LeBron James’s Recent Quote About Kyrie Irving

Kendrick Perkins wasn't thrilled with LeBron James's recent statement about former teammate Kyrie Irving ahead of the 2024 NBA Finals.

On his Mind the Game podcast with JJ Redick earlier this week, James said he is "so f------ mad" that he's not Irving's running mate anymore in the NBA.

While James's Los Angeles Lakers were bounced from the playoffs in the first round, Irving's Dallas Mavericks are preparing to face the Boston Celtics on basketball's biggest stage.

“Here we go again,” Perkins said Thursday on ESPN. “Bron weaseling his way into somebody else’s moment … This is not about you! Your team is at home. This is about the Mavs and the Celtics, but yet you’re so mad and disappointed that you’re not Kyrie Irving’s running mate anymore. Here we go again.”

“Here we go again, [LeBron James] weaseling his way into somebody else’s moment… This is not about you! Your team is at home... You’re so mad & disappointed that you’re not Kyrie Irving’s running mate anymore."
— Kendrick Perkins 😳
(via @espn / YT)pic.twitter.com/VUhC28b3gg https://t.co/gD4SdNBrYF
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) June 6, 2024

Irving and James played three seasons together on the Cavaliers from 2014 to '17 and brought an NBA championship to Cleveland in 2016.

In 2017, Irving asked the Cavaliers for a trade, and he ended up in Boston for two years. When that didn't work out, Irving signed with the Brooklyn Nets in 2019 and later requested another trade in 2023, where he landed with the Mavericks.

Seven years after departing James in Cleveland, things have finally come together for Irving. He and backcourt mate Luka Doncic have proven to be the NBA's best scoring duo throughout the fifth-seeded Mavericks' run to the NBA Finals.

Irving and the Mavericks tip off the NBA Finals in Game 1 on Thursday night at TD Garden.

US Sports News

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

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