The 2024 NBA Finals tipped off tonight in Boston, and both Kristaps Prozingis and Jaylen Brown made sure Bill Walton was honored the right way. The Celtics won big over the Mavs, and the Sporting News' BetMGM live betting blog won big, too!
For every game of the 2024 NBA Finals, our betting blog will release a handful of pregame best bets. Then, once each game tips, we will come back with live score updates, highlights, and a slew of live-betting recommendations and player prop offerings.
Want to add some fun to your Finals-watching experience? Enjoy the game alongside a betting analyst, and see how we identify value and make real-time wager decisions on BetMGM.
Sporting News' BetMGM live betting blog will focus exclusively on tonight's championship series-opener, providing live score updates, betting lines, odds, picks and advice.
MORE FINALS BETTING:
Series prediction/top props | Finals MVP best bet/value picks
Missed our live blog for Game 1? Fret not — the Sporting News' betting team will be here all series long. Here's a recap of what our live betting blog offers:
- We highlight the best bets and top props leading up to the game, so you can lock in value well ahead of the opening tip
- We offer live betting advice, provide game and score updates, and relay intriguing betting lines and over/under props throughout the game
- We close out the night detailing our hits and misses, going over the results of the game as well as the Sporting News best bets both pregame and live
Throughout the season and postseason, this live betting blog helped bettors achieve success with pregame wagers as well as live bets and props. We kept the fun rolling tonight, winning big just like Boston. Let's get to how the game went, and go over our BetMGM hits and misses from Game 1!
Celtics vs. Mavs: Game 1 final score, highlights
Celtics vs. Mavericks Game 1 score
| Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | Q4 | Total | |
| Mavs | 20 | 22 | 24 | 23 | 89 |
| Celtics | 37 | 26 | 23 | 21 | 107 |
The Sporting News' Celtics-Mavs best bets roundup
Here's a complete breakdown of every BetMGM bet the Sporting News served up for Game 1, both pregame and during the live-betting window:
- Celtics -2.5 (1Q) vs. Mavericks (-105) ✅ 37-20
- Celtics vs. Mavs total: UNDER 216.5 (-130) ✅ 196
- Derrick White three-pointers: OVER 2.5 (-135) ✅ 3
- Luka Doncic OVER 31.5 points (-175) ❌ 30
- Daniel Gafford OVER 1.5 blocks (+130) ❌ 0
- Jayson Tatum double-double (-145) ✅ 16 pts/11 rebs
- Jayson Tatum OVER 2.5 turnovers (+100) ✅ 6
- Mavericks +7.5 live spread (placed in 2nd quarter) ❌
- Sam Hauser OVER 8.5 points (-125) ❌ 8
- Jaden Hardy OVER 5.5 points (-125) ✅ 13
- Payton Pritchard OVER 2.5 points (-110) ❌ 0 (on 0-7 shooting)
- Al Horford OVER 8.5 points (+105) ✅ 10
- Jayson Tatum to make his first shot of the second half (+105) ✅
- Celtics -7.5 live spread (placed in 3rd quarter) -110 ✅
Total win-loss record for Game 1: 9-5
Celtics vs. Mavs Game 1 updates, live betting advice
This is where the Sporting News' live betting blog posts updates and offers live up-to-the-minute betting advice. Be sure to check in early and often for Game 2 so we can carry over the momentum!
7:25 p.m. ET: A little over an hour from tipoff, the Celtics are standing firm as solid -250 favorites while the Mavericks are getting 6.5 points on the spread. As good as Boston has been all season, it's tempting to lay the points with this Mavs team. The only value the Celtics yield against the spread is in the first quarter (-2.5) and halftime (-3.5). Even halftime gives us pause — Boston hasn't played in 10 days and almost always has a tough quarter in the first half of an early-series game.
7:40 p.m.: According to our friends at BetMGM, bettors have been hitting the Mavs hard ahead of this series. The sportsbook said a whopping 84 percent of the series bets have gone Dallas's way, and the Mavs also represent 69 percent of the series handle (all the money bet on this Finals matchup). Similarly, the Game 1 spread, over/under, and moneyline betting action has been dominated by the visiting team. Take a look at the respective handle percentages for each:
| Team | ATS | Handle | O/U | Handle | ML | Handle |
| Mavs @ | +6.5 | 67% | O 215.5 | 84% | +200 | 77% |
| Celtics | -6.5 | 33% | O 215.5 | 16% | -250 | 23% |
Wow — that's either a ton of disrespect for the 64-win top seed that just went 12-2 in the Eastern Conference Playoffs, or the bettors are just planting their flags on the underdogs in hopes of big paydays. We understand the crowd on the +6.5, but we would be shying away from a Game 1 OVER this high — and we want nothing to do with the Mavs' moneyline.
8:00 p.m.: Here's the most heavily bet player props for Game 1 according to BetMGM (most tickets):
- Dereck Lively over 1.5 assists (-105)
- Daniel Gafford under 1.5 blocks (-175)
- Kristaps Porzingis over 23.5 points/rebounds/assists (-120)
- Kyrie Irving over 31.5 points/rebounds/assists (-125)
- Kristaps Porzingis over 1.5 three-pointers (-175)
Lively assists feels like a fade — that's not what Dallas needs him for, so it's too volatile to invest in either way. Gafford OVER 1.5 blocks is the play — he has 12 blocks over the Mavs' past four games. These KP and KI bets seem risky — Porzingis is just returning from a monthlong injury and Irving is returning to an arena that will be loaded with sauced-up boo-birds.
8:30 p.m.: With Kristaps Porzingis coming off the bench, we're even more happy we didn't touch his over/under on points and points/rebounds/assists. And now that the market seems to be overcorrecting on him (O/U points 13.5, O/U P/R/A 21.5), it seems too low to even get value on the UNDER.
9:00 p.m.: With the Mavs (not surprisingly) coming out a bit lackluster, they're getting +7.5 on the spread right now. Seems like value to us!
9:16 p.m.: Starting to look like a runaway. Might be a good time to start betting the OVER on some role players (we see you, Sam Hauser 8.5 at -125!)
9:38 p.m.: Wow, talk about a dominant half. We couldn't have been more wrong about Kristaps being rusty, but we did hit a bunch of pregame and live bets on the Celts and we're on our way to the Sam Hauser OVER of 8.5. Our favorite halftime props:
- Jayson Tatum to make his first shot of the second half (+105) — no pressure at this point with the big lead...watch him come out and hit an easy one to get himself going (he only has eight points at the half).
- Al Horford OVER 8.5 points (+105) — he already has five, so the plus odds seem too good to pass up. KP won't be playing 30 minutes if this game stays the way it has so far (he had 13 mins. in the first half).
- Payton Pritchard OVER 2.5 points (-110) — zero points in six first-half minutes for PP, but he should see even more PT in the second half and the Celts have been more than encouraging with their younger shooters all postseason. Watch him stroke a three and score us an easy win.
- Jaden Hardy OVER 5.5 points (-125) — he just needs four to get the green checkmark. Dallas needs a spark outside of Luka, because Kyrie has been struggling mightily to get anything going. Hardy will be aggressive if Jason Kidd asks him to be.
10:06 p.m.: Mavericks never say die. Dallas has capitalized on some awful Celtics miscues this third quarter, and also seems to be out-hustling Boston on the boards and on the interior. But it's important to note that the Mavs have four team fouls and they're exerting a lot of energy. This might be a good value opportunity to grab the Celtics -7.5 at -110. You have to think Joe Mazzulla will do something to blitz Luka Doncic and force someone else in a Dallas uniform to score.
10:51 p.m.: It's a wrap! The Celtics win Game 1 in commanding fashion, holding off a third-quarter surge by the Mavs with some timely threes and big Jaylen Brown blocks. Boston might jump up to heavy series favorites after this one. The Celts made Red, Tommy, Sam, and the Bills proud tonight. And we hit a ton of bets! Full results roundup coming.
Celtics vs. Mavs Game 1 best bets
Here's a complete rundown of the best bets we recommended ahead of the Game 1 opening tip. Be sure to check out our Game 2 best bets dropping this weekend, and then come back for our live betting blog throughout the game on Sunday night!
Celtics -2.5 (1Q) vs. Mavericks (-105)
Dallas has arguably exerted much more energy than Boston so far this postseason, and the Celtics have enjoyed a decent rest advantage over their Finals foes. Boston will also have the energy boost that comes with a championship-round opener at TD Garden, one of the more raucous arenas in sports.
Oh, and starting center Kristaps Porzingis is back from his month-long absence due to a heel injury — so the starting five and the Al Horford-led bench should both get a bump in offensive production. That's fantastic news for a Celtics team that has already sat atop the NBA in first-quarter scoring (31.4) since the start of the 2023-24 season.
Dallas smashed Minnesota in the mouth in the first quarter of the series-clinching Game 5 of the Western Conference Finals. But before that game, the Mavs had been outscored by the Wolves in the first frame by a collective score of 120-106. That's a +14 first-quarter scoring margin and an average plus-minus of +3.5.
Boston turns up at this time of year. But the Green-teamers have been pretty solid all season, helping their squad go 37-4 in the regular season and 7-2 in the playoffs. With public enemy No. 1 Kyrie Irving coming back to face the fans he once pledged his allegiance to — only to leave and return with sage and logo foot-stomps — the tension will be palpable in this one and the passion should transmit to the players. Bet the Celtics to cover the 2.5-point first-quarter spread.
Celtics vs. Mavs total: UNDER 216.5 (-130)
People love betting the OVER, especially in the playoffs and Finals. It's more fun to root for points than it is to root for defensive stops, so sportsbooks tend to bump the projected totals up for Game 1 because they can always get away with it. As of Wednesday, a whopping 90 percent of BetMGM Game 1 over/under bettors had put their money on the OVER of 214.5.
Don't follow the sheep, people. The Celtics have been one of the best defenses in the Association the entire season, and the Mavs turned into an elite defensive unit once they acquired Daniel Gafford and P.J. Washington at the deadline — and Derrick Jones Jr. turned into Superman. Sure, these squads also have premier scorers — but they also probably have some rust to kick off after many days of rest leading up to this game (never mind the nerves associated with the Finals).
If you're a little nervous about betting the UNDER, utilize the value opportunity and bet the UNDER on the alternate total of 216.5. That way, you buy an extra two points and still get in at just -130, which is very little juice considering the number you're getting.
The Celtics have held opponents to 102 points or fewer in nine of their 14 games this postseason. The Mavs held opponents to 103 or fewer in eight of their 17. Act on the UNDER now, because this might be the highest the over/under projection will be the entire championship series.
Derrick White three-pointers: OVER 2.5 (-135)
One of the most underrated scorers and impact players on the Celtics, Derrick White has consistently come through in big moments for Boston. He hit what ultimately ended up being the game-winner of the fourth and final game of the Celtics-Pacers Eastern Conference Finals, and he should be a huge part of Game 1 if Dallas tries to blitz Tatum and Brown.
Joe Mazzulla's squad also benefits from having Porzingis back, meaning the floor will be spaced that much better for Boston's perimeter shooters. White has already hit three-plus three-pointers in eight of the Celts' 14 postseason games so far, and he's averaging 3.4 per game in the 2024 NBA Playoffs. He should easily knock down three triples, and maybe he'll even get interviewed on the sideline to make up for being snubbed after the ECF closeout.
Other solid player prop bets:
- Luka Doncic OVER 31.5 points (-175)
- Daniel Gafford OVER 1.5 blocks (+130)
- Jayson Tatum double-double (-145)
- Jayson Tatum OVER 2.5 turnovers (+100)
