NBA Finals: Golden State Warriors vs. Boston Celtics Game 6 Preview, Odds, Prediction

The Boston Celtics are without options before tonight’s Game 6 of the NBA Finals against the Golden State Warriors. The Cs need to win and stay in the race for the title; otherwise, the Warriors will celebrate at the TD Garden, and that’s something nobody from Boston would want to see. After having a lead and making a break on the road in San Francisco, everything changed so fast in Games 4 and 5, with the Dub Nation flipping the series upside down.

Preview

Golden State Warriors (+130) come to Massachusetts without any particular tension or pressure. The Warriors are controlling the situation now and have a massive swing following back-to-back wins, one of them at the TD Garden.

What additionally relaxes the situation in the Warriors’ locker room is the fact that in Game 5, Steph Curry played badly, but the other players stepped up and covered his poor performance. Andrew Wiggins and Klay were there, while Gary Payton II and Jordan Poole added 29 points combined off the bench. For instance, the entire Celtics bench had ten buckets.

For most of the fans, Andrew Wiggins is the essential guy in this series. He had 26 points and 13 boards in Game 5, but what is more important, he was impeccable on the defensive side, and Jayson Tatum’s problems are a direct consequence of Wiggins’ tough defense.

Boston Celtics (-160) have to bounce back after two hard losses. They had an atrocious finish in Game 5, with the Warriors making a run in the end and closing the game. Boston didn’t have any players who might respond in those moments, and the fans are already starting to point fingers in Tatum’s direction.

And how wouldn’t they, when he has only five field goals in 21 shots throughout fourth periods in the series? That is an absurd productivity from a guy who should be their top scorer and a leader.

As said, the bench failed to show up, and when your top attackers aren’t delivering, that is a check-mate position. It is ironic that the Celtics won the battle on the glass and stopped the Warriors’ three-point shooting, limiting Steph to only 16 points, and still didn’t manage to win. It was something that made them even more frustrated.

Head to Head Games

Everything started well for the Celtics, who won Game 1, immediately taking away the home-court advantage from the Warriors, 120-108. After that, GSW responded, 107-88, and the series moved to Boston. Game 3 saw the hosts winning, 116-100, but the Warriors posted two wins in a row, 107-97 and 104-94.

Prediction

The line for the totals is set at 210 points. We would pick under in this case for one reason. Boston’s defense will have to be pretty rough and on the edge of a foul because the Cs have to fight for their life here. Each time they were in a problematic situation throughout the playoffs, Ime Udoka’s unit would turn towards tough defense. The current circumstances are demanding the same, and under 210 points is the logical solution. After all, we’ve seen such low efficiency several times in the series.

Pick: Under 210 points