Betting My Way Through The NBA Playoffs: Warriors Look To Bounce Back In Game 2
ScoresAndOdds NBA betting expert Derek Farnsworth breaks down Celtics vs. Warriors odds and gives you his pick for Game 2 of the NBA Finals. Make sure to use our Caesars promo for $1100 in free bet insurance on
There are few things that surprise me in sports these days, but the Warriors getting outscored by 24 points in the fourth quarter at home is one of them. Everything was going to plan through the first three quarters, but then Al “MJ” Horford decided to take over the game. He set a career high in three-pointers made, he broke the record for three-pointers made in an NBA Finals debut, and he became the oldest player in Finals history to make six three-pointers.
While we lost the bet for Game 1 and one of the series props in the process, we finally got four quarters of great basketball. As many mentioned on Twitter, dealing with so many blowouts in the conference finals will be worth it if we can get seven extremely competitive games in the NBA Finals. While I don’t feel particularly good about the series bet at this point, it was really only one bad quarter from the Warriors. The series is far from over.
Betting My Way Through The NBA Playoffs: Running Totals
- Series Bets: 11-2
- Series Props: 3-5
- Series Profit/Loss: +1.53
- ATS Bets: 45-35-1
- ATS Profit/Loss: +5.7 units
- Total Profit/Loss: +7.23 units
Celtics vs. Warriors Game 2 Pick and Prediction
During the regular season, the Celtics and Warriors were ranked first and second in defensive rating. With the NBA Finals being so pressure-packed, I was expecting more of a grind-it-out type of game in the opener. However, both teams were consistently looking to push the pace and both teams were able to get whatever they wanted on the offensive end of the floor (with the exception of the Warriors in the fourth quarter). For those that like to bet totals, it’s worth noting that the over/under for Game 2 opened at four points higher than the over/under for Game 1.
One of my favorite bets during the playoffs is when a home team can’t afford to lose. The Warriors have won a road game in 26 straight playoff series, but winning the NBA Finals after losing the first two games at home would be an extremely difficult task. The Warriors need to bounce back and they honestly don’t need to make too many adjustments. They did a tremendous job on Jayson Tatum, but they do need to close-out and rotate on shooters better than they did in Game 1.
Turnovers have been a big issue for Golden State all season and that continued in Game 1. I love the talent and the story of Jordan Poole, but he needs to make better decisions in the rest of the series. Hero ball isn’t going to work against the best defense in basketball. The Warriors bench needs to play better than the Celtics bench, especially at home.
As far as the Celtics go, they have to be ecstatic after winning Game 1 in San Francisco. While they certainly won’t rest on their laurels, I’m not sure they’ll have the same urgency as the Warriors. Boston has more wins than any team in the playoffs, but I have to side with Golden State in Game 2. They were my pick to win the series and I’m not going to over-react after one extremely disappointing quarter of basketball.
Game 2 ATS Pick: Golden State -4, Caesars Sportsbook