9:08 pm
June 10

Warriors @ Celtics

Who will WIN this matchup?

Golden State Warriors (53-29)

@ Boston Celtics (51-31)

 

Current odds:

Golden State Warriors: (+137)

Boston Celtics: (-164)

 

• The line for this game is Celtics by 4 points.

• The Boston Celtics are in position to take a commanding lead in the NBA Finals, while the Golden State Warriors are hoping they don’t have to play without star guard Stephen Curry. Boston is halfway toward winning its first NBA title since 2008 and the Celtics will look to take another step Friday night when they host the Warriors in Game 4 of the best-of-seven series. Boston is looking to grab a 3-1 lead after outplaying Golden State for most of the contest in Wednesday’s 116-100 home victory.

• The Celtics have had issues at home in the postseason but the raucous Game 3 atmosphere fueled a fast start and an energetic ending.

• The Warriors are more concerned about the left foot of Curry, who was injured during a scramble for the ball when Celtics big man Al Horford landed on his leg. Curry was in pain on the floor and initially remained in the game with 4:07 to play. He was removed less than two minutes later when coach Steve Kerr decided the game was out of reach.

• Curry scored 31 in Game 3 and made 6 of 11 from 3-point range. He is averaging 31.3 points and has made 18 of 37 (48.6 percent) of his shots from 3-point range in the series.

• Golden State continued its trend of stellar third quarters as it outscored Boston 33-25 to trail 93-89. But the Warriors tallied just 11 final-quarter points on 5-of-15 shooting, including misses on eight of nine 3-point attempts.

• A lot of the credit for the Celtics’ strong defensive showing went to big man Robert Williams III, who contributed eight points, 10 rebounds, four blocked shots and three steals.

• Boston has been impressed with the way Williams has fought through a left knee injury. He has missed just one of the team’s past 10 games despite the ailment that limited him to 14 ineffective minutes in Game 2. Williams helped Boston possess a 47-31 rebounding edge in Game 3. Golden State forward Draymond Green had just two points and four rebounds.

• Thompson enjoyed his best game of the series with 25 points.

• Boston had three players top 20 points: Jaylen Brown (27), Tatum (26) and Marcus Smart (24).

5/10
Confidence
StreakSmarter Pick
Boston Celtics
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