The Boston Celtics can build on a dominant start to the NBA Finals by leaving TD Garden with a 2-0 series lead over the Dallas Mavericks.
Following Thursday’s 107-89 victory, the Celtics are 6.5-point favorites on ESPN Bet to win Game 2. ESPN Analytics also backs another Boston triumph.
Per the network’s Matchup Predictor, the Celtics have a 66.5 percent win probability on Sunday night.
ESPN’s experts weren’t as confident in Boston entering the series. Nine of 17 participating pundits picked Dallas to prevail in either six or seven games.
Yet the Celtics may have delivered a forceful reality check in Game 1.
Led by Jaylen Brown’s 22 points, all five Celtics starters scored double-digits. That’s not including a returning Kristaps Porzingis, who tallied 20 points in 21 minutes off the bench.
The star center hadn’t played since suffering a calf injury in the first round, but Porzingis showed no rust after more than a month sidelined.
“Tonight was affirmation to myself that I’m pretty good,” Porzingis said after the game, per Kyle Hightower of the Associated Press. “I’m not perfect, but I can play like this and I can add to this team.”
Although both of their only playoff losses occurred at TD Garden, Boston is now 44-6 at home in the regular and postseason. Yet Mavericks head coach Jason Kidd is keeping calm ahead of Sunday’s game.
“There’s no panic with this group,” Kidd said after Saturday, per ESPN’s Tim MacMahon. “We didn’t play well in Game 1. Give credit to Boston; they did. But it’s a series. We don’t just look or capitalize on just one game. We’ve lost Game 1 a lot of times, and we’ve responded. We believe that we can respond in Game 2.”
Game 2 tips off at 8 p.m. ET on ABC.