NBA FINALS 2024: ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW

NBA Finals 2024: All you need to know as the Boston Celtics and the Dallas Mavericks go for all the marbles.

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CELTICS EYE 18TH NBA TITLE AND SET NEW RECORD

The Boston Celtics will come into the NBA Finals 2024 as the favorites after they lost only twice in the playoffs so far.

Led by All-Stars Jayson Tatum and Eastern Conference Playoffs MVP Jaylen Brown, the Celtics went off for 64 wins in the regular season.

Boston then blew by the opposition in the playoffs, when the Celtics defeated the Miami Heat and the Cleveland Cavaliers with similar 4-1 outcomes.

Boston then swept the Indiana Pacers, 4-0, in the Eastern Conference Finals, with Brown named as conference MVP.

Overall, the Celtics went 12-2 in the first three rounds of the playoffs.

MAVERICKS TOP THE WEST BEHIND DONCIC, IRVING PLAY

The Dallas Mavericks had a tougher route to reach at this point as the No.5 seed, taking out three of the West’s top three seeds.

Dallas ousted the Los Angeles Clippers (4-2) and No.1 seed Oklahoma City Thunder (4-2) both in six games.

Behind their high-scoring All-Star backcourt in Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving, the Mavericks ousted the third-seeded Minnesota Timberwolves (4-1) to come out on top of the West.

Dallas is back in the NBA Finals for the first time since 2011 when it won its first-ever championship.

Retired legend Dirk Nowitzki and current Mavs coach Jason Kidd then led Dallas to a 4-2 victory over the Miami Heat for the title 13 years ago.

BOSTON TO OPEN AS ODDSMAKERS’ FAVORITES OVER DALLAS

The Celtics were listed as -225 favorites among oddsmakers the moment the Mavericks officially claimed the Western Conference title.

One more thing going for Boston, aside from homecourt advantage in the Finals, is the possible return of big man Kristaps Porzingis.

Porzingis, who missed more than a month due to a right calf strain injury, has been participating in Boston’s practices a few days before Game 1.

Dallas is listed as +185 underdogs being the lower seed and the road team in the finals/

Tatum is a -120 favorite to claim Finals MVP, followed by Doncic (+200), and Brown (+550).