It’s a critical Game 3 in Dallas. The Boston Celtics are up 2-0 and could deliver the knockout punch to the Mavericks on Wednesday night to go up 3-0. No team in NBA History has come back from a 3-0 deficit so Game 3 is the most important game of the 2024 NBA Finals so far.
The Celtics continue to play championship-level basketball. Jaylen Brown is playing amazing while Derrick White and Jrue Holiday are playing fantastic also. Holiday is playing lockdown defense and White’s block on P.J. Washington sealed a Game 2 victory for the Celtics.
Boston Celtics vs. Dallas Mavericks Odds
Team |
Spread |
Total |
MoneyLine |
| Boston | +2.5
-110 |
O 213
-110 |
+110 |
| Dallas | -2.5
-110 |
U 213
-110 |
-130 |
**Odds Subject to Change** |
|||
Boston Celtics vs. Dallas Mavericks Game Details
two wins away pic.twitter.com/c75HaJ0A5R
— Boston Celtics (@celtics) June 11, 2024
- Fixture: Boston Celtics @ Dallas Mavericks
- Date and Time: Wednesday, June 12, 2024 @ 8:30 PM ET
- Location: American Airlines Center, Dallas, TX
Apex Tale of the Tape
| Boston Celtics | vs. | Dallas Mavericks |
| 14-2 | Record | 12-7 |
| 110.7 | Points Per Game | 106.4 |
| 36.2 | 3PT% | 36.1 |
| 80 | FT% | 72.1 |
| 9.9 | OREB Per Game | 11.2 |
| 100.3 | Points Allowed Per Game | 104.1 |
| 23.9 | Assists Per Game | 21.6 |
| 46.4 | Defensive FG% | 44.7 |
| 32.9 | Defensive 3PT% | 35.2 |
| 5.6 | Blocks Per Game | 5.7 |
| 33.8 | DREB Per Game | 31.9 |
| 92.1 | Pace | 92.6 |
Key Stats
Boston Celtics
Jaylen Brown and Jrue Holiday have been the top scorers for the Boston Celtics this Finals. Brown is averaging 21.5 points per game and Holiday is averaging 19. The “Jruth” is also leading the team in field goal and three point percentage this finals, averaging 65.2 percent from the field and 44.4 percent from deep.
Holiday has been absolutely huge for the Celtics and might be one of the factors that gives Boston banner number 18. Derrick White ranks second in field goal percentage at 38.9 percent.
While star Jayson Tatum isn’t up to his usual scoring output, ranking third on the team with 17 points per game, he is picking up the slack in other areas, leading the team in assists with 8.5 per game, and leading in rebounds with 10 per game.
Center Kristaps Porzingis is now day-to-day with a new injury he suffered in Game 2, tearing his medial retinaculum in his left leg.
The Celtics have done well without Porzingis on the court as they won two full series handily without him in the earlier rounds. However, Porzingis brings that extra offensive and defensive strength that would be nice for the Celtics in hopes of closing out the series. I don’t think it’s going to be a huge issue if Porzingis is limited the rest of the Finals or doesn’t play at all, but it is something to monitor.
Dallas Mavericks
An otherwise very strong Dallas Mavericks team has struggled in the 2024 NBA Finals so far. They lost by 18 in Game 1 and came closer in Game 2 but ultimately couldn’t pull it out, losing by seven. Luka Doncic has played great, but he isn’t getting much help elsewhere.
Fellow star Kyrie Irving has failed to make a significant contribution, averaging only 14 points per game this series. P.J. Washington is averaging more points than that, averaging 15.5 in the Finals. That’s not a good sign. Even more shocking, Irving has not made a single three-pointer in the 2024 NBA Finals and is making 35 percent of his shots.
The blame is not all on Kyrie though. The rest of the Mavericks team has showed up even less. All other players besides Doncic and Irving are averaging just one assist or less. Additionally, center Daniel Gafford is the only other player besides Doncic and Irving to average 10 or more points in the Finals, averaging 10.5 points.
Adding to Luka Doncic’s greatness, he is carrying this team (yet not enough) with a chest contusion, a right knee sprain, and left ankle soreness. His chest contusion was so bad that he got a pain-killing injection before Game 2. After that, he recorded a 32-point triple-double.
Doncic is playing amazing, but it’ll be up to the rest of the team to pull their weight and start contributing in a bigger way. Simply put, making less than 37 percent of your shots, shooting 24.5 percent from three, and averaging just 15 assists per game isn’t going to get it done in the NBA Finals.
Prediction
Despite what I just said about the Dallas Mavericks and how I was trashing them, I’m picking them to cover and win this game. The biggest factor in this game for Dallas is gonna be motivation. No team wants to go down 3-o in the NBA Finals, especially on their home court!
Luka Doncic is going to have another amazing game and Kyrie Irving is going to wake up and have a great game like we know he can. Even just two or three three-pointers would be a big improvement. P.J. Washington and Derrick Jones Jr. are going to pick up the slack and help get take the load off Luka’s back a little.
This pick also hinges a bit on the status of Kristaps Porzingis. If he’s playing and at more than 50 percent, I’m taking the Celtics +2.5. But if I’m going off what I saw from him last game where he didn’t look very mobile and didn’t react as quickly as he usually did, then I could see the Mavericks pulling this one out and making the 2024 NBA Finals a little more interesting.
Final Pick
Dallas Mavericks -2.5 (-110) and Over 213 (-110)
About the Author
Cooper Sherman is an avid NFL fan and enjoys watching and covering it the most. The NFL is king. He previously wrote and was a podcaster for the online publications Pro Sports Fanatics and Jersey Column. He is also an NBA fan and watches it occasionally, more when the NFL season ends. Tennis is also an underrated sport to watch. His teams are the Patriots and Celtics, as tough as it is to be a Patriots fan right now. He is optimistic that Jerod Mayo will turn this team in the right direction! Follow him on Instagram and Threads @coopstershermy456, and X/Twitter @justcoopthings.
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