The 2022 NBA Finals in San Francisco, where the Golden State Warriors host the Boston Celtics in the first game of the championship series on Thursday.
Golden State has been waiting a long time to see which counterpart would come out of the East after finishing the Western Conference Finals on May 26th. Boston again needed seven games to advance and will have three full days off to travel, rest and prepare. before match 1, getting 3.5 points on the road.
Check out our free NBA picks and predictions for the Celtics Warriors on June 2nd.
Game odds for Celtics vs. Warriors
This odds widget represents the best odds available for each regulated sports betting market.
Bettors opened Golden State as the home favorite with 3.5 points for Game 1, with that differential jumping briefly to -4 before returning to -3.5 (-112) in some stores. The total reached the board up to 211.5 points, down to 210.5 before returning to the original number.
Use the live odds widget above to keep track of future line moves until they’re shipped, and be sure to check the full NBA odds before betting to make sure you get the best number.
Predictions of Game 1 of the Celtics vs. Warriors
Predictions made on 31/5/2022 at 14:00 ET. Click on each prediction to go to the full analysis.
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Celtics vs Warriors match information 1
• Location: Chase Center, San Francisco, CA • Date: Thursday, June 2, 2022 • Notice: 9:00 PM ET • TV: ABC
NBA Celtics vs. Warriors finals odds
Celtics: +130 Warriors: -150
Celtics vs Warriors game 1 betting preview
Key injuries
Celtics: No injuries to report. Warriors: Gary Payton II PG (probable), Otto Porter Jr. F (questionable), Andre Iguodala SF (questionable), James Wiseman C (out). Find our latest NBA injury reports.
Betting trend to know
The Warriors have a 24-8-1 ATS in their last 33 home games against a team with a record of road wins. Find more NBA betting trends for Celtics vs. Warriors.
Selections and predictions from Game 1 of the Celtics vs. Warriors
Our side and total predictions are based on our analysis of the line and total of this game. Our best bet is our preferred choice in all markets.
Diffusion analysis
The Celtics have shown a great heart and ability to win on the road during the playoffs, but I’m a little confused about the distribution for game 1. Before I even dive deep into these two clubs , there are obvious edges in this opener for the Warriors right on the surface.
Golden State has the advantage over the rest after finishing the Western Finals in five games and is generally a healthier team in terms of its main rotation. The Dubs have the advantage of experience to enter the series with a lot of veteran players who will not be blinded by the bright lights of the finals. And, at least for the first two games, the Warriors have a home advantage, with the Celtics facing the country and facing a Chase Center crowd that has rivaled the old Oracle Arena in terms of volatility this postseason. .
All these added angles and edges only come out to 3.5 points?
If the Celtics are going to change the home court in the finals, Game 1 is the place. After a grueling seven-game series that affected the C highlights, Thursday is probably the healthiest we’ve seen this Boston team since before the Bucks.
So while I think this broadcast of Game 1 should be more in the Warriors’ -5.5 range, I could see that the odds creators are giving the Celtics a chance to fight given how good they are. have played away from home (7-2 SU and 8-1 ATS) and the fact that key players like Marcus Smart and Robert Williams have had time to recover a bit from persistent injuries.
However, beyond these surface factors, Golden State has more ways to earn or at least can make adjustments easier if its bread and butter methods don’t work.
Boston needs young stars Jayson Tatum and Jalen Brown to take on the challenge every night against a defense almost as stingy as theirs. Let’s not forget that the focus of Steve Kerr’s 2021-2022 campaign is defense, with the Dubs ranked just behind the Celtics in defensive qualification during the regular season.
Kerr could have three vital defensive pieces for the final, with Gary Payton Jr., Otto Porter and Andre Iguodala on their way back, putting them alongside unconditional starters Draymond Green, Kevin Looney and Andrew Wiggins. They’re a lot of cool-legged advocates for throwing Celtic stars.
The Warriors have a deep advantage over Boston, something Miami also had in the Eastern Finals before Tyler Herro got hurt and Kyle Lowry’s illness made him useless. Golden State still relies on Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson to lead the charge, but it has capable support players like Wiggins and Jordan Poole, who can take charge of a game if the vets have a bad night.
Boston’s last two opponents depended on a main cube source and did not have a second constant scorer to share the load. Giannis Antetokounmpo missed injured Khris Middleton, and Jimmy Butler had no choice but to score 40 per night to keep the Heat viable. The Warriors, however, have options, not just in who they score, but in how they score.
The Bucks and Heat recorded attendance rates of just 51.4% and 54.5% against Boston, with Antetokounmpo and Butler getting the ball and everyone else watching. Golden State makes you work your ass on defense with a lot of movement and ball action away from basketball, leaning on screens and cuts to get a better attendance rate of 66.9% in the playoffs. Points can come from anywhere.
This is the finals match the league wanted, the fans and the bettors wanted. Hopefully it lives up to the hype and doesn’t follow the path of the explosion games we’ve seen this postseason. Boston has their best chance of stealing a road victory in Game 1, but I think we’re getting a discount on Dubs at -3.5.
Prediction: Warriors -3.5 (-110 on PointsBet)
Covers NBA betting analysis
Over / inferiority analysis
Perhaps the most important factor in this series comes down to which team can get rid of their chronic “butter fingers” case first.
The Celtics and Warriors have been plagued by permanence problems during the playoffs, with Boston coughing up the ball 15.3 times per game in the Eastern Finals, scoring 17.1 points against losses. Golden State wasn’t that bad against the Mavericks in the Western Finals, but he threw the ball 18.2 times per competition against Memphis in the conference semifinals, and it cost him 20.3 points per outing.
These changes can translate into easy points at the other end, but they also hurt the overall offensive flow of the team. If both sides exchange billing issues in the first game, they will cancel each other out on the scoreboard, but will give Under’s bettors an advantage in altering the goal rates of two teams that can be warmed up.
Golden State won’t be as easy scoring cubes against Boston as it did against Dallas, which protected the perimeter but virtually gave the Warriors clean air inside without a true rim protector. Williams is the C’s inside goalie, using his length and athleticism to change shots and secure defensive rebounds. Golden State, which had an effective field goal rate of 58.9% in the last series, also owned the offensive boards and added 14.4 second-chance points per game against Dallas.
I wouldn’t be surprised to see Golden State become obsolete to start game 1. While the Warriors have the edge over the rest, this can sometimes leave a team rusty or passive, especially when facing a fresh enemy to the intensity of a do-o. – Game to die.
As we’ve seen from Golden State so far, this offense needs some time to get started (54.4 points 1H vs 60.1 points 2H). As for the Celtics, the nervousness of the NBA Finals and the feeling process of this Dubs defense could also keep the points low in the first 12-24 minutes. This sets the table for Under’s sponsors, who may feel a little uncomfortable in the second half when things get better.
Prediction: less than 211.5 (-110 on PointsBet)
The best bet
While things obviously seem stacked against Boston in terms of rest, experience and place, this Celtics team is perfectly capable of stealing a first game win on the road. I just don’t think he will.
Golden State is a perfect 9-0 SU within the Chase Center this postseason and has an overall record of 40-10 a year against the Bay Area faithful. Of course, one of those home defeats came at the hands of the Celtics in March, but Curry was injured in the second quarter and Wiggins was also down.
Maybe it’s just my memory or individual betting patterns, but I often find myself betting on the Warriors money line instead of putting the dots when the spread throws me a curved ball. And, as has been said, this line of match 1 seems about two points below what was expected.
As it stands, the Dubs aren’t a great selection of points as short favorites, as they only go 7-5-1 ATS when they give -3.5 or less this year. They are, however, 9-4 SU in such tight competitions. We saw this bubble as a 2.5-point road chalk in Game 1 against Memphis: a 117-116 win in which I overcame the points distribution and stuck to the Golden State money line.
We’ll do the same on Thursday, buying the local team’s lowest odds and looking forward to an exciting start to the NBA Finals.
Choose: Warriors moneyline (-160 at PointsBet)
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