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Going back to the initial play-in rounds and opening best-of-seven NBA playoff series, two teams started to emerge as the top elite powers in the league. Brooklyn and Milwaukee fell by the wayside in the Eastern Conference. The Phoenix Suns could not live up to its billing as the No. 1 seed in the West.
In the end, the Boston Celtics and the Golden State Warriors rose to the occasion to win their respective conference championship. Starting on Thursday, June 2 with Game 1 of the best-of- seven 2022 NBA Finals, these two teams will battle it out for this season’s NBA Championship.
2022 NBA Finals Series Odds
Shortly after Boston grinded its way to a 100-96 Game 7 victory over the Miami Heat, Golden State was opened as a -150 favorite on the series price. The early price on the Celtics has been set at +130. The Warriors have the home court advantage based on the better regular season record. They have been opened as 3.5-point home favorites for Thursday’s series opener. The total has been set at 211 points.
Game 2 in Golden State is scheduled for Sunday, June 5 with the series then moving to Boston for the next two games. These two teams met twice during the regular season with the road team winning each game straight-up and against the spread. The total went OVER 216 points in the first meeting in Boston with Golden State winning 111-107. It stayed UNDER 220 points in the second meeting in Golden State with the Celtics winning 110-88.
Handicapping this series comes down to evaluating each of these team’s top players. Boston’s top scorer in the playoffs has been Jayson Tatum with an average of 27 points per game. Jaylen Brown is next on the list with 22.9 PPG. This will be Boston’s first appearance in the NBA Finals since 2010. The Celtics went onto to lose that series to the Los Angeles Lakers in seven games.
Golden State returns to the league’s championship series after an amazing run of five consecutive appearances in the NBA Finals from 2015 through 2019. The Warriors won three world titles in that five-year span. Leading the way in 2022 has been veteran Golden State point guard Stephen Curry. Through 16 previous playoff games, he has averaged 25.9 points a game as the team’s leading scorer. Klay Thompson is next on that list with 19.8 PPG.
2022 NBA Finals Series Prediction
The betting public is likely to lean heavily towards Golden State in this series. However, there is still some solid betting value on Boston as the best team out of the East. The Celtics swept the Brooklyn Nets 4-0 in their opening round series before back-to-back seven-game grinders over Milwaukee and Miami. Boston went 12-6 both straight-up and against the spread in those 18 games. The total stayed UNDER in 10 of those tilts.
Golden State needed five games to get past the Denver Nuggets in the conference quarterfinals. The next series against Memphis lasted six games before the Warriors eliminated Dallas in five games. They are 9-7 ATS in 16 playoff games with the total going OVER in 10 of those contests.
Handicapping the opening series price, take the upfront value with Boston at +130 and then adjust accordingly with a small hedge on Golden State if the Warriors go on to win Game 1.
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