NBA Finals Tips: Mavericks v Celtics Preview
Craig Jones 
We’ve got NBA finals tips as the series between the Dallas Mavericks and the Boston Celtics tips off on Thursday night UK time, the early hours of Friday morning.
The latest odds from betting sites show that the Celtics are strong favourites to win the series, and rightfully so, given how they’ve played over the past few weeks, but of course, the Mavericks are not going to make this easy for them.
NBA Finals Tips: Mavericks v Celtics
I think the Celtics will prove to be too strong and win the NBA Championship, but their odds to win the game are too low to get involved.
So, instead of going with the easy option, here are two further angles I’ve taken a look at in the series, which offer better value.
Series Correct Score
Firstly, the correct score. I think the Celtics will dominate, but of course, it’s not too often we see a sweep in the final, so it makes sense to assume the Mavericks will win at least one game.
But I think that’s all they’ll win. This Celtics team is on a roll, the Mavericks have been good, but have slipped up on occasions.
I think back to when they dropped two games against the Thunder, yes they won that series, but didn’t stand out as potential champions.
Compare that to Boston, 4-1 over the Heat, 4-1 over the Cavs, and then 4-0 over the Pacers in the Eastern Final. We can talk about strength of opposition, but the Celtics have absolutely dominated many games across those three series.
I’ll take the Celtics to win the series 4-1, which is available at 7/2 with Unibet.
Series Top Points Scorer
Give my talk of how much I think the Celtics will dominate this, it won’t be surprised to see that I think Jayson Tatum offers rock solid value in the race to score the most points in the series.
Luka Doncic of the Mavs is favourite, rightfully so, but I’m not sure he should be so strong in the betting, leaving Tatum at a backable 5/2 with bet365.
Kyrie Irving is 10/1, and comes into this as an outsider, but his inconsistency is likely to prevent him making a real surge, so it’s a two-horse race for me.
On the stats, Doncic should win, averaging 33.9 points per game in the regular season, compared with 26.9 for Tatum. But recently, it’s been closer.
In the last 10 games, Doncic has scored over 30 points on five occasions, compared with four for Tatum. But we’ve seen Tatum managed better, with lower game minutes at the end of the series with the Heat, and start of the series with the Cavs.
That should bring him here fresher, and the Celtics will be best equipped to stop Doncic, more so than others he’s faced so far. Put those together, and while I agree Doncic should be favourite, I think Tatum should be under 2/1, so the 5/2 on offer here is more than reasonable.
Latest NBA Free bets
Check out what is on offer, if you are looking to find some NBA free bets for the final, which are listed below.
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