DALLAS @ BOSTON (BOS -7, 209.5)
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MAVERICKS VS. CELTICS 6/17/24
Dallas G Kyrie Irving is one of the players who is most aware of the Boston Celtics' intense desire to eliminate the Mavericks in Game 5 of the NBA Finals tonight. Irving played for the Boston Celtics for two seasons (2017–19), but ever since he signed a contract to play for the Brooklyn Nets in the summer of 2019, Celtics supporters have viewed Irving as a villain.
After Mavericks losses in Games 1 and 2, TD Garden was filled with chants criticizing Irving on a regular basis. However, Boston went on the road and emerged from Dallas with a 3-1 series lead. As he gets ready to return to an unfriendly environment, Irving appears to have found peace with his place in Boston history, even though the Celtics are currently vying for their 18th championship in franchise history.
Boston coach Joe Mazzulla could care less about the great Celtics of the past. When asked how unique it would be to follow in the footsteps of legendary coaches like Red Auerbach, Bill Russell, and K.C. Jones and guide a Celtics team to a championship, Mazzulla talked about tonight’s Game 5. Mazzulla’s team will need to get back on defense, rebound, and execute on offense.
In Game 4, Boston lost 122-84 and was unable to shut down the Mavericks due to a lack of fundamentals on Friday night. For the Celtics, Jayson Tatum finished with a team-high 15 points. He hopes Boston finds the basketball formula that has helped them win 79 games out of 100 during the regular season and playoffs in 2023–2024.
Tatum thinks he and his teammates put too much pressure on themselves to be perfect in Game 4.
Irving scored 21 points and Luka Doncic added 29 on Friday to keep Dallas' season alive. In a best-of-seven series, the Mavericks are attempting to make NBA history by being the first team to come back from a 3-0 deficit.
NBA playoff teams that have lost the first three games of a best-of-seven series are now 0-156. The Mavericks will continue to believe they can dig themselves out of this 3-0 hole and win the series. Boston is 5-0 SU in its last five games at home and 8-2 SU in the last ten when playing Dallas at home.
Tonight marks the 16th anniversary of Boston’s 2008 NBA championship.
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FREE PICK: LUKA DONCIC OVER 9.5 1Q POINTS
We hit this prop in Game 4 and we’re going back for more. Luka has played 10-plus minutes in each of the last two first quarters. In each of the last three, he has scored 13 points, going well Over this prop. Some of it may have to do with the painkiller he receives prior to game time. He’s fresh and has less pain at the beginning of the game. In playoff games this season when Luka has played 10 or more minutes in the first quarter, he has gone Over 9.5 points in 8 of 11 games.
FREE PICK: DERRICK WHITE OVER 15.5 POINTS
It’s a bounce-back game for White. He only played 31 minutes since the Celtics were getting blown out. He had his second-lowest point total (6) in Game 4. His lowest (5) came in the series against Cleveland. White responded with 18 points in his next game. He’s averaging 16.9 points per game for the postseason and has cleared this number in 5 of his last 9 games. He just missed going Over twice more in that span with 15 points.
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