MIAMI, FL – Thanks to surviving a late rally by the top-seeded Miami Heat, the second-seeded Boston Celtics escaped South Beach to the tune of a 100-96 win to advance to the franchise’s 22nd NBA Finals, where they will face the Golden State Warriors in the 2022 NBA Finals.
Boston, seeking to break a tie with their long-time rivals from the West Coast, in the Los Angeles Lakers are looking for the franchise’s 18th NBA championship, while the Warriors are going for their franchise’s seventh, and fourth over the last seven years.
According to NBA.com, the Warriors have opened as slight favorites over the road-weary and battle-tested Celtics at -165, with Vegas giving Dubs a 60% chance to hoist the Larry O’Brien Trophy.
Vegas has the Warriors as a 3.5-point favorite in Game 1 where they are 8-6 against the spread this season, including 7-2 as home favorites. Conversely, the Celtics are 6-1 ATS as road underdogs in the playoffs this season. The current over/under is 210.5, in watch promising to be a classic clash of styles.
Thanks to the emergence of key players such as Jordan Poole and former top overall Pick Andrew Wiggins, Golden State has only lost four total games in three playoff series vs. Denver, Memphis and Dallas, whereas the Celtics have gone the distance in their last two series vs. the defending NBA champion Milwaukee Bucks and the East’s top seed, the Miami Heat.
Game 1 tipes off the from the Chase Center in San Francisco Thursday evening at 9 p.m. EST