The Celtics stunned the Chase Center crowd Thursday night with a fourth-quarter run to turn a 12-point deficit entering the final frame into a 12-point victory over the Warriors.
It was a barrage of seven straight 3-pointers from Boston that did the Warriors in, followed by Golden State’s own scoreless spell of nearly five minutes. The Celtics took Game 1, 120-108.
The betting markets figured that was enough to install Boston as the new betting favorite in the series after initially favoring the Warriors before Game 1.
The Celtics are now -175 to become NBA Finals champions, according to the Vegas Insider consensus. The Warriors are now at +146. Prior to Thursday’s tipoff, the Warriors were favorites at -135, with Boston installed as +155 underdogs.
Steph Curry said after the loss the Warriors will rely on their experience as they seek to bounce back.
“We have been through this a couple times. You know, you lose in the first game of a series but we have obviously had some tough losses in series and you find a way to bounce back,” he said Thursday night. “You have to rely on that experience but it’s also just making the necessary game plan adjustments and coming out with a focused effort that everybody can kind of feel like they are going to impact the game at some point.”
Celtics star Jason Tatum (+140) has also leapt over Steph Curry (+180) as the favorite for NBA Finals MVP. Tatum scored only 12 points on an inefficient 3-for-17 shooting night, but he contributed with 13 assists. Curry dazzled in the first quarter Thursday night, scoring 21 points, but he cooled off and finished with 34 on the night.
Oddsmakers are not expecting much competition for Tatum and Curry in the race for MVP: Jalen Brown sits at +500, per Vegas Insider, then the odds drop to +1600 for Al Horford and Marcus Smart. The next Warriors listed are Klay Thompson and Andrew Wiggins at +2500.
As for Sunday’s Game 2, the Warriors are still expected by oddsmakers to salvage a split over the first two games at home. They are four-point favorites as they seek to even the series.
Story by Michael Nowels, Bay Area News Group