NBA Finals Best Bets | Mavericks vs Celtics Game 2 Picks (Sunday, June 9)

Game 2 of the NBA Finals tips off at 8 p.m. ET from TD Garden on Sunday. The Boston Celtics took Game 1 over the Dallas Mavericks in dominant fashion on Thursday, and Boston will have a chance to take a commanding 2-0 lead with a win Sunday. Our Action Network staff has locked in on nine NBA Finals best bets, including picks against the spread, over/under predictions and numerous player prop picks.

Read below for our Mavericks vs. Celtics Game 2 picks on Sunday, June 9. Keep in mind that just a few hours before tip, Luka Doncic was listed as questionable on the injury report; however, every indication is that was a precautionary measure, as he's dealing with back issues, and the Mavs star is expected to play his full load in Game 2.

NBA Finals Best Bets

Mavericks vs Celtics Game 2 Odds

By Joe Dellera

Let’s run this one right back!

Kristaps Porziņģis looked great in Game 1 and played seven mins in the first quarter, scoring 11 points on 4-of-5 shooting.

Porziņģis averages seven points in the first quarter for an 81% hit rate on over 3.5 1Q points this season. Last game we cashed on 7+ (+350, bet365) and 10+ (+1200, Bet365) and honestly there’s no reason not to sprinkle both once again.

The man was cooking early and he’s now scored 11 and 13 in two first quarters vs. the Mavericks this season.

Pick: Kristaps Porziņģis Over 3.5 1Q Points

By Maltman

As a Luka Dončić MVP backer, Game 1 of the Finals was not great. The Mavericks seemed lost on defense, having no answer for Porziņģis and frequently leaving shooters open without walling off the paint. They essentially did nothing they wanted to do; they couldn't prevent them from getting quality looks from 3s, and then they went away from their centers and had little rim protection. It was even worse on the offensive end, where they got no assists, couldn't hit a 3 and passed up open opportunities.

In case this sounds familiar, this is exactly how Game 1 for Boston went against Miami and Cleveland. For the Mavs, they lost Game 1 of both the Clippers and Thunder series on the road with horrific offensive performances and a defense that took almost nothing away. In all four of these cases, when Game 2 came around, Boston lost and Dallas won.

It may not seem like it, but there is a lot for the Mavs to clean up. Dereck Lively II had five fouls and started to play timid; he hasn't had five fouls in three months. Dončić held the ball for too long, turned it over in ways I haven't seen him do before and didn't really create advantages against the myriad defenders who were on him. Dallas shot 24% from 3s, its worst shooting performance of the entire playoffs, and while some were contested, others were not. Boston has a history of making lazy contests on 3-pointers at times, and this could be an instance where it swings wildly back in their favor.

Going into this series, the game I felt most confident Dallas would win was Game 2, and that hasn't changed after Game 1. I'm putting .5u on Dallas moneyline at +230 (would bet down to +200), and .15u on Dallas -8.5 at +700 on FanDuel (would bet down to +650).

Pick: Mavericks ML & Mavericks Alt Spread of -8.5

By Joe Dellera

Luka Dončić was leaned on heavily as a scoring option in Game 1 with a 37% Usage Rate. Boston switched everything and this slowed down the offensive process for Dallas but it also continued to give Dončić matchups that he considered exploitable in isolation. As a result, he had just one assist on seven potentials.

While it’s unrealistic to expect Dončić to have just one assist in Game 2, the Mavericks need to not only make schematic and tactical changes but they then need to convert on those. This will be easier said than done when you consider Boston just allowed Indiana to continually torch them on the interior and they just didn’t care because they out math’d them in the 3s vs 2s battle.

Dončić is always a threat to post a triple-double, but here there are too many variables for us to back a significant uptick in dimes.

Pick: Luka Dončić Under 8.5 Assists (-135)

By Bryan Fonseca

I mentioned this on Buckets' Game 2 preview alongside Matt Moore and Joe Dellera.

P.J. Washington went 0-fer from deep last time, but has made two or more 3s in 11-of-13 games and generally has hit this over in the playoffs.

Dallas took just 32% of its shots from 3 in Game 1, an unsustainable recipe if the Mavs have any plans at winning, or even reasonably challenging, in these NBA Finals.

I expect more 3s and for them to be closer to their 40% three-point attempt rate they're at in the playoffs. And, as a result, Washington should benefit from that. My guess is that he gets up at least five or so attempts. All we need is two.

Pick: P.J. Washington Over 1.5 3s (-135)

By Bryan Fonseca

Plus money on this? Gimme that.

I almost mentioned this on Buckets and I am highlighting it for many of the same reasons I like P.J. Washington to hit at least two from deep.

For Maxi Kleber, he only shot once in nearly 20 minutes last game, don't love that. But he's hit a 3 in 6-of-9 playoff appearances. He's a Jason Kidd favorite and is needed in this series because of his offensive stretchability and defensive switchability.

I think he gets a good run of minutes and is able to knock down a 3 while he's out there.

Pick: Maxi Kleber Over 0.5 3s (+105)

By Joe Dellera

Tatum has been an incredible rebounder throughout the playoffs and has seen an uptick to over 10 boards per game over the last two playoffs. The biggest swing here for the inclusion of dimes is his potential assists.

In Game 1, Tatum logged five assists on 14 potentials while kicking out on over 60% of his drives. The defense continued to collapse on him and he created looks for his teammates.

As for the rebounds, his floor has been incredibly high and he is averaging over 10 rebounds per game during the playoffs.

I like the combo stat here for a number of reasons. Just on hit rate, Tatum has exceeded this 14.5 RA line in 80% of playoff games, including 16 in Game 1. Additionally, both the rebounds and the assists have a high floor while also having some ceiling potential. We will have to see if Dallas continues to collapse on Tatum when he drives, but even if they don’t, he continually kicked out to the perimeter when he grabbed offensive boards.

I like Tatum to exceed 14.5 RA in Game 2.

Pick: Jayson Tatum Over 14.5 Rebounds + Assists (-125)

By Andrew O'Connor-Watts

The Celtics have a lot they can throw at this Mavericks team defensively, but that's especially true for Kyrie Irving. When the Celtics switch, there aren't many defenders he can attack. Jaylen Brown, Derrick White and even Jayson Tatum can all hold their own against Irving, but Jrue Holiday especially did a fantastic job navigating screens and giving Irving little-to-no space to operate like he normally does.

Boston seemed pretty content in Game 1 selling out on Irving even at the expense of Dončić giving them the usual 30+ points. I see no reason for them to stray from the Game 1 game plan, so I think 24 points is too high for Irving in this series. He had just 12 points on 6-of-19 from the field without any trips to the line. I like him to go under 23.5 points and would take it to 21.5.

Pick: Kyrie Irving Under 22.5 Points (-104)

By Matt Moore

I completely did a 180 from Game 1, when I bet the Over. Why? The pace.

The Mavericks will probably shoot a little better than they did in Game 1. Boston didn't shoot the lights out (47% FG, 38% 3pt) so they could have better numbers too.

But the Mavericks had 84 possessions in Game 1. If they had a 120 offensive rating — a phenomenal figure which would likely lead to a Game 2 win — but played at the 84-possession pace, they would still only score… 100 points.

With both teams switching, these games are going to be a grind. Switching just mucks up screen actions and cuts, making each possession difficult.

The last time we had a series with this much switching was the 2018 Western Conference Finals between the Rockets and the Warriors. The Under in those games was 5-1-1.

There's going to be a lot of 3s in this series, but those 3s will be built off slow, tough possessions with a lot of dribbling. I'm reversing course and taking an Under in Game 2.

Pick: Under 214.5

By Chris Baker

I was on this in Game 1 and the handicap played out exactly as I expected, with the Celtics choosing to play Dončić in single coverage and daring him to outscore their offense with tough 2s. I expect a similar game plan here from the Celtics' defense, making an effort to keep just one defender on the ball as much as possible.

Dončić finished with 30 points in Game 1 but shot just 40% from the free-throw line and 33% from 3 and didn’t play the last five minutes of the game because of the blowout. Dončić should be closer to 45 minutes here, and if he shoots it with just average efficiency he should be closer to 35 points.

Pick: Luka Dončić Over 31.5 Points (-115)