Dallas came out breathing fire. Boston was so relaxed with a 3-0 series lead (as the superior team anyway) that it just let the Mavericks frolic for a couple of hours before everyone flew to Boston for a likely Monday night coronation.
Mavs led 34-21 after the first quarter, 61-35 at halftime, yada-yada-yada.
Stats don’t really mean much in a game like this. Loser got very lax on defense. Winner had a lot of pent up aggression, so scoring at will made it feel better. Likely a meaningless result unless lightning strikes for real Monday night.
Here are the final stats.
Dallas (+1) 122, Boston 84
2-point Pct: Boston 38%, Dallas 57%
3-pointers: Boston 14/41 (34%), Dallas 15/37 (41%)
Free Throws: Boston 12/13, Dallas 15/22
Rebounds: Boston 31, Dallas 52
Turnovers: Boston 13, Dallas 8
Estimated Pace: 95 possessions
I guess it’s helpful to see what happens when good teams don’t bring intensity. That helps you spot signs of laziness or team discord with other teams down the road. Suddenly, Dallas was getting and making open looks from long range. First time all series. Boston would never lose rebounding 52-31 in a game in cared about. Celtics defense wasn’t forcing TO’s either. Allowing 122 points on 95 possessions was already shorthand for “no-show.”
Kinda interesting that the game stayed Under anyway! Scoring sums have landed on 196, 203, 205, and 206 so far. Market still skewing higher than that. If Boston gets a big lead and sits on it Monday, G5 might not make it to 200. Horrible series to be rooting for Overs. Probably most player props too…and least in sum total. Somebody’s scoring points every night. No games where EVERYBODY’s scoring points.
Boston leads the series 3-1. Current line for G5 at Draftkings is Boston -6.5/209.5.
You regulars know I’m traveling all day Sunday, and recuperating Monday. I’ll post game stats for G5 Tuesday morning. We’ll also have catch up articles soon after that for the UFL Championship game, and our MLB run prevention study in innings 4-8. There seems to be some betting interest in the Euros that started this week. I’ll try to put together estimated “market” Power Ratings on a goal supremacy scale by midweek as well. Will help outline expectations for later rounds.
Thanks for reading and subscribing. Happy Father’s Day to all of you fathers out there. See you again Tuesday from the other side of the world.