Celtics vs. Warriors NBA Finals Game 2 Betting Odds, Picks, Predictions – June 5, 2022

OddsJam’s NBA expert take you through the betting odds, picks and predictions for Game 2 of the NBA Finals between the Boston Celtics and the Golden State Warriors from the Chase Center in San Francisco on Sunday, June 5 at 8 p.m. ET.

Celtics vs. Warriors Game 2 Odds

Celtics vs. Warriors Game 2 Betting Preview

Game 1 turned out to be one of the best games of these entire playoffs. I just feel bad for those individuals who went to sleep at the end of the third quarter thinking the Warriors were going to take Game 1 in a blowout!

Instead, the Celtics turned a 12-point deficit at the end of the third quarter into a 12-point victory.

The Celtics outscored the Warriors by 24 points in that fourth quarter, scoring a whopping 40 points to the Warriors’ lowly total of 16.

40 to 16 in the fourth quarter! In the Warriors’ home stadium! Insanity.

Funny enough, despite the Celtics’ convincing and dominant fourth quarter, they are actually greater underdogs in Game 2 than they were in Game 1.

The Celtics moneyline ended at +145 prior to the Game 1 tip, and now they currently sit at +151, according to the OddsJam Perfect Line.

Can the Celtics Do it Again?

There is a ton to takeaway from the Celtics’ Game 1 performance, but we have to start with that fourth-quarter barrage.

As stated earlier, they scored 40 points in the final frame. They did that on 9-12 shooting from deep, led by the heroics of Al Horford (11 points in the fourth) and Jaylen Brown (10 points in the fourth).

The Celtics had four separate players make two 3-pointers in that quarter. Compare that to the Warriors, who only made two from deep, one of which was in the final minutes when the game was already out of hand.

It was an absolutely dominant fourth quarter from the Celtics, and made even more impressive by the fact that Jayson Tatum struggled.

Despite playing over 11 minutes in the fourth, Tatum did not score at all and only attempted three shots. For the game as a whole, Tatum struggled. He finished with only 12 points on 3 of 17 shooting, albeit with 13 assists.

Instead, the Celtics got dominant performances from the aforementioned Horford and Brown, as well as Marcus Smart (18 points) and Derrick White (21 points).

With all this said, there are two sides to this story, and the side you take might end with which team you are a fan of.

The pro-Celtics side is saying that the Warriors are in trouble because they were able to steal a game on the road in which Tatum struggled.

Moving forward, it is unlikely Tatum struggles that much for the rest of the series.

The pro-Warriors side will concede that point, but also argue that it is unlikely all four of Horford, Brown, White and Smart all score as much as they did in Game 1, when they combined for 89 of the Celtics’ 120 total points.

Smart especially is one of the streakier players on the Celtics. He is almost guaranteed to not shoot 4-7 from deep again the rest of this series. He is a career 32% 3-point shooter.

Horford, meanwhile, scored over 10 points only twice in his previous nine games, so his 26-point barrage seems like an outlier as well.

White, on the other hand, couldn’t make a shot for three straight playoff series, before having a kid and now seemingly can’t miss.

Jaylen Brown is the only individual of the four that the Celtics can reasonably rely on to continue to contribute at the rate he did in Game 1.

Overall, it is unlikely that the Celtics shoot over 50% from deep as the series goes on.

Warriors Set to Bounce Back

With all that said above, the Warriors do have legitimate concerns that need to be addressed if they are going to get back in this series.

The Celtics’ shooting performance in the fourth quarter of Game 1 is almost guaranteed to be an outlier, but what is not an outlier is the Warriors struggling on the offensive end.

They are going to need to figure out how to generate offense when Steph Curry sits.

Curry played the entire first and third quarters, and the Warrior scored 32 and 38 points in those quarters, respectively. In the second and fourth quarters, meanwhile, is when he was on the bench for part of the time and the Warriors could only score 22 and 16 points in those frames.

The Warriors had been able to rely on Jordan Poole previously during this playoff run, but he struggled immensely in his first taste of NBA Finals action.

He scored 9 points on 2-7 shooting with 4 turnovers, and struggled with the Celtics’ length and aggressive defense. He was a game worse -19 in terms of plus/minus for the Warriors, and the eye-test matches that.

The Warriors are also going to need to figure out how to get Curry back on track after a somewhat slow second-fourth quarters after blowing up for 21 points in the first quarter.

Curry made seven total 3-pointers in Game 1, but six of those came in the first quarter, and four of those six came when the Celtics somehow had a total lapse in defense and left Curry wide open.

Now I don’t even know how that happens in the first place with a defense as good as Boston’s and a shooter at the level of Curry, but that was cleaned up after the rough start.

After that first quarter, Curry scored 13 points on 1-6 shooting from deep as the Celtics cleaned some things up and tightened up their defense.

It is going to be on the Warriors coaching staff to figure out how to get Curry free and also to generate offense when he rests.

Please also check out our betting preview in the video below in which we provide additional analysis!

Celtics vs. Warriors Game 2 Betting Pick

Overall, what it comes down to is that I find it incredibly unlikely that the Warriors go down 0-2 and lose two straight at home in these finals.

For that reason, I settled on the Warriors moneyline as my official betting pick.

Admittedly, the odds aren’t ideal, but I decided to play it safe and take the Warriors moneyline instead of their spread.

Pick: Warriors Moneyline | -170 at DraftKings Sportsbook

Celtics vs. Warriors Game 2 Prediction

Game 1 was the Warriors’ first home loss of these playoffs, and I doubt that becomes two losses in a row.

I see the Warriors taking this game 107-100, with the game total also going under the 215.5 number.