Mavericks vs Celtics NBA Finals Game 3 Betting Odds, How To Watch

Dallas Mavericks vs. Boston Celtics NBA Finals Game 3 Betting Odds

All odds provided by Sports Interaction.

Team	Moneyline	Point Spread	Total
Dallas Mavericks	-143	+2.5 (-105)	O212.5 (-115)
Boston Celtics	+120	-2.5 (-115)	U212.5 (-105)

When to Watch and How to Watch Mavericks vs. Celtics Game 3

Game 3 of the 2024 NBA Finals between the East’s No. 1-seeded Boston Celtics and the West’s No. 5-seeded Dallas Mavericks continues the pattern of this series, with two days separating Game 2 and Game 3, which will take place on Wednesday, June 12 at 8:30PM E.T. at Dallas’ American Airlines Center. The game will be broadcast across Canada on all of the TSN Network’s channels, and can also be streamed on the TSN app. American viewers will continue to get the ABC/ESPN broadcast.

Mavericks vs. Celtics Point Spread Betting Preview

There are a few major reasons why the Mavericks have struggled so far in these NBA Finals. First off, they’re getting zero offensive efficiency from Kyrie Irving, P.J. Washington, and Derrick Jones Jr. That trio will need to shoot around 50 percent if the Mavericks are going to stay alive here.

Next, their three-point shooting has been beyond abysmal, as they’ve so far shot 24.5 percent from deep in the Finals. That’s a far cry from their 36.9 mark in the regular season, as well as their 36.1 clip in the playoffs. In fact, prior to this series, they were actually more efficient from beyond the arc in these playoffs than the Celtics, whose overreliance on that three-point shot nearly sunk them in Game 2, when they were 10-for-39 from three.

Dallas has also shot a comical 65 percent from the free throw line in this series. The charity stripe has been tough for them all year, but even still, they shot 75 percent in the regular season and 72 overall during the playoffs. Playing in front of their home fans and with head coach Jason Kidd having two full days to get the guys on the line to practice their stroke, that efficiency should improve markedly in Game 3.

The Mavericks can take solace in the fact that the Celtics are in a very unfamiliar position going into this one. For just the fourth time all year, and the first in the playoffs, sports betting sites have the Celtics coming into this one as underdogs. All of these games have been on the road, and they’re 1-2 ATS so far in such games.

Not to mention that the porcelain-constructed Kristaps Porzingis is likely to sit out again, as he picked up yet another injury in Game 2. He’s only played 22 minutes a game so far in this series, but they’ve been extremely efficient minutes, as he’s shooting 60 percent from the floor for 16.0 points a game. They’ll miss his scoring, but also his defensive presence at the rim.

Not only will his absence create lanes in the paint for Doncic and Irving, it will also reopen the lob game flood-gates for the Mavericks, which they’d used expertly through the first three rounds to get their peripheral players involved and in rhythm.

Other than that, a coach like Kidd will have been harping on two other factors: lax defense in transition (they lost the fast break battle 15-7 in Game 2) and lack of focus overall (15 turnovers in Game 2, plus a 12-21 disadvantage on points off TOs) which both contributed massively to the Game 2 loss. A tiny spread like this -2.5 one for the Mavs is always a good look, and we like them to get one back here at -115 odds.

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