Boston Celtics vs Dallas Mavericks Game 4 preview: Three things to watch, injury news, odds

Boston fans have the brooms out.

Mavericks fans want to see their team win one at home (then they can start to dream of a historic comeback).

The Celtics have been much the better team through the first three games of the NBA Finals, primarily because of their depth of talent. It’s not just that Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum have been great, it’s been the ability to defend one-on-one and not send two to the ball, it’s been guys like Kristaps Porzingis in Game 1 and Jrue Holiday in Game 2 stepping up. Dallas role players have been schooled and their big star, Luka Doncic, has been targeted and exposed by the Boston offense.

Does any of that change for Game 4, or does the conversation turn to where to rank this Celtics team historically? Let’s break it down.

Betting odds for NBA Finals Game 4

Boston Celtics (-115) vs. Dallas Mavericks (-105)
Spread: Mavericks -1 | O/U: 211.5

Injury news, updates

• Kristaps Porzingis is officially questionable for Game 4 as he was for Game 3 (which he missed with a “torn medial retinaculum, allowing dislocation of the posterior tibialis tendon”). While Shams Charania of The Athletic reports there is a chance he could play, other reports — and a medical professional NBC Sports spoke with — think it’s unlikely he will return to this series. The injury is so rare that nobody knows for sure, but after winning Game 3 it seems doubtful Boston will push him to play in Game 4. Ultimately, Boston’s team doctors will make the call.

• Luka Doncic is listed as “probable” with a chest bruise he has played through for a few games now.

Three things to watch for in Game 4

1) Which team loses focus

It feels like a game where one team lets go of the rope.

I hope I’m wrong, I hope we get a close, dramatic game that goes down to the wire. I’m just not expecting it.

Does Dallas just roll over after a big run from Boston in the second or third quarter? Expect the Mavericks to come out of the gate with pure desperation and energy, but we’ll find out how mentally tough the Mavericks are when the Celtics make their inevitable run.

Does Boston know in the back of its mind it can close this out at home Monday…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/boston-celtics-vs-dallas-mavericks-145636693.html

Author : NBC Sports

Publish date : 2024-06-14 14:56:36

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