Celtics vs Mavericks NBA Finals Game 2 Betting Odds, How To Watch

The Boston Celtics got a massive boost from the return of Kristaps Porzingis in Game 1, and the Dallas Mavericks will need to find a way to counter the versatile big man in Game 2 on Sunday. After rough Game 1s for both Jayson Tatum and Kyrie Irving, bettors can expect those stars to bounce back in Boston for Game 2, but will an improved performance from Irving be enough to overcome the talent advantage of the Celtics?

Boston Celtics vs. Dallas Mavericks NBA Finals Game 2 Betting Odds

All odds provided by Sports Interaction.

When to Watch and How to Watch Celtics vs. Mavericks Game 2

Game 2 of the 2024 NBA Finals between the East’s No. 1 seed, the Boston Celtics, and the West’s No. 5 seed, the Dallas Mavericks, will take place on Sunday, June 9 at 8:00PM E.T. at Boston’s TD Garden. Canadian viewers can catch the action on Sportsnet and Sportsnet 1, or they can stream on the Sportsnet app. American viewers will continue to watch on ABC/ESPN.

Celtics vs. Mavericks Point Spread Betting Preview

Boston’s Game 1 win turned out to be a blowout, and it was representative of why they’re going to be so tough to beat in these Finals—but also a reminder of how they can be their own worst enemy.

The good part was that the return of Kristaps Porzingis didn’t affect the team’s chemistry, instead resulting in a well-rounded and even scoring performance from Boston’s top guys. All six players who played 20+ minutes finished with double-digits, four of which went for 15+. They have such a deep wealth of scorers, though after those six, the quality falls off pretty heavily.

The bad news, however, is that the one chink in their armor reared its ugly head once again: their overreliance on the three-point shot. When you’ve got seven guys hitting multiple threes in a game, the strategy looks great, but the Boston offense is still very stagnant.

Despite winning by nearly 20, they were outscored 46-38 in the paint. Their seven-footer had 20 points, but only two buckets at the basket, as he shot jumpers almost exclusively. The Celtics have a lot of great shooters, but the three-point shot is the most unpredictable; you never know when it’s going to come and go.

In the third quarter, Boston saw what can happen when the threes stop dropping and they don’t have any backup apart from stagnant one-on-one offense for Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown. During a 10-minute stretch in the third quarter, Boston saw their lead shrink from 22 to 8 as they missed 10 straight jump shots, including seven threes.

Their stroke came back late in the third and Dallas’ inability to take advantage of their defensive stops allowed Boston to rebuild their lead, but that hiccup shows how erratic they can be when they’re not hitting shots.

It’s also worth noting that Boston has lost two of three Game 2s during these playoffs, as their home playoff struggles of the past few years have persisted. This Mavericks team may be outmatched, but they’re well-coached, and they have two absolute killers.

Daniel Gafford was the only player to take more than one shot and shoot above 50 percent from the field for Dallas in Game 1. The Mavericks will not shoot the ball that poorly again. We’ll take the generous +7.5 point spread being offered by Ontario sportsbooks on the Mavs at -115 odds here.

Here are a few NBA betting trends from this season to consider:

• Boston is 15-17 ATS at home over the past four postseasons
• Boston has gone 1-3 SU in their last four Game 2s
• Mavericks have gone 6-2 SU in Game 2s since Luka Doncic was drafted
• Dallas is an NBA-best 34-17 ATS on the road this year
• Boston is 2-5 ATS in their last seven games
• Dallas is 9-5 ATS in their last 14 games

Top Celtics vs. Mavericks Player Points Props

We’re going with Kyrie Irving again here. He shot just 32 percent from the field in Game 1 while going 0-for-5 from deep. He was getting tons of good looks too, he just couldn’t seem to get the bounce he needed at times.

He’s only shot below 35 percent four times all year, including both the regular and postseasons, and in the games following those duds, he’s scored 26, 23, 22, and 36, the latter of which came in Game 5 of the West Finals. Irving’s got extra incentive to perform considering his history in Beantown, so we’re going back to the well and taking the over on his slightly lower 22.5 prop at -115.