Warriors Favored with NBA Final Game Odds

The NBA finals game odds, have been released for Game One and it’s the Golden State Warriors tipped to win.

They are the -3½ point favorites to beat the Boston Celtics, who came through a tough seven-game Eastern Conference Finals series against the Miami Heat.

Winning Game One is crucial in the best-of-seven series and Thursday’s opening game creates intrigue.

Celtics Ready for Challenge

It’s no secret that the Eastern Conference is considered the weaker conference but the Boston Celtics are out to change that opinion.

They showed plenty of skill in beating the Heat and they have numerous threats on the court. They look ready for the challenge of facing the Golden State Warriors, who have been to the NBA Finals on more than one occasion in the last few years.

This needs to be factored in when betting on NBA games and it has been reflected in betting markets. The Celtics are underdogs, but that’s to be expected playing on the road.

They’ll be fit and ready to go in the first game of the series and NBA betting markets believe they can pull off an upset at +135, which is a respectable line.

Robert Williams III is a key defensive player and he’ll defend the paint with vigor. Marcus Smart is a great on-ball defender and the Defensive MVP will need to be at his best when guarding the likes of Steph Curry.

The Celtics need to close out games better. They showed frailties against the Heat but Jayson Tatum has been excellent and he’s ready to show some fight.

“It was tough,” Tatum told CBS Sports. “Like truly. There were definitely some tough moments throughout the season where — not doubt yourself but maybe a question, right, question, can we do it? You start to realize how hard it is to win. You start to question yourself; are you good enough to be that guy? “But I think you just trust in yourself, trust in the work that you put in to get to this point and continue to work. It can’t rain forever. Good days were coming. I felt that we were — whatever it was, one step away from clicking throughout the season, and obviously once we did, we haven’t looked back.”

If Tatum can match the scoring of Curry, the Celtics have every chance of scoring an upset, and their NBA final game odds are attractive.

Celtics team stats show that they are one of the best defensive teams in the NBA, so they have that to fall back on.

Experience with Warriors

The Golden State Warriors dominated the Dallas Mavericks in the Western Conference Finals, winning 4-1, setting up a finals series with the Boston Celtics.

They’ve had plenty of time to prepare for the Celtics, which could be a negative, however, the Warriors roster has a wealth of NBA Finals experience and it might not make a difference.

The -155 favorites have been in this position multiple times, so there won’t be nearly as much nervous energy as the Celtics. That should play in the Warriors’ favor and it’s one of many reasons to be in their camp.

Golden State Warriors stats suggest Klay Thompson is only getting better with time. He took a while to recover from the lengthy layoff, but he’s starting to hit his straps at the right time.

He is another shooting threat for the Warriors, who already have Curry and Bradley Wiggins in their arsenal. We haven’t forgotten about Jordan Poole either, so the team runs deep with shooting stars.

You can bank on the fact that Curry isn’t overlooking the work ethic of the Celtics, who play tough basketball and NBA final game odds are giving them respect.

“Obviously a great team, they’re in the Finals,” Curry said. “They’ve had a group together, gone through a lot in the last four, five years. Had some success early, had to figure out how to sustain it and now they’re here on this stage so it’ll be an amazing test.”

The -3½ point favorites are tough to beat at home and we think the line will move. It’s a generous line for Warriors’ backers, so it could pay to jump on the opening odds before they shift on game day.