An incredible NBA season has reached its climax as the Western Conference champions Golden State Warriors will take on the Eastern Conference champions Boston Celtics in the NBA Championship finals in a best-of-seven series through June.
The Warriors will travel to Boston for Game 4 of the series once again in what is sure to be an exciting one, as they look to claim their first title since they went back to back in 2017 and 2018, in the midst of making five finals in a row. This is their first finals since 2019, when they lost to Toronto Raptors.
For Boston, they are looking to take the lead in the all-time table for championship wins by moving to 18 by securing their first title since 2008. They are currently tied with the LA Lakers on 17 titles.
We'll look ahead to Game 4 and break it down before providing you with our best free betting picks for what is set to be an explosive start to the final series of the season.
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Game 4 information
- Friday, June 10th, 2022
- 21:00 ET
- TD Garden, Boston
- Live on ESPN
NBA Championship finals series so far
It's been a thrilling series so far, and after three games the momentum is heavily in favour of the Celtics after some strong defensive performances across the series so far.
Game 1 surprised a few people as the Warriors lost their 100% home record throughout the playoffs when they fell to a disappointing 120-108 defeat at the Chase Centre.
Steph Curry was the main man, as usual, hitting 34 points and five assists and rebounds, while his supporting cast performed well too. Draymond Green grabbed 11 rebounds, Andrew Wiggins hit 20 points, while Klay Thompson and Otto Porter Jr hit 15 and 12 points each, respectively, but unfortunately that wasn't enough.
Incredibly it was the veteran Al Horford who top-scored for the Celtics in Game 1, hitting 26 points with six rebounds, while Jaylen Brown hit 24 points with seven rebounds and five assists. Derrick White hit 21 points and Marcus Smart hit 18, while star man Jayson Tatum managed just 12 but backed it up with 13 assists and five rebounds.
Game 2 was a different story though, as this time it was the Celtics who lost as the Warriors produced a quality display to earn a blowout 107-88 win.
Curry top-scored once again with 29 points in the game and rounded off a brilliant performance with a further six rebounds and four assists. Four other players hit double figures for points on the night, with Jordan Poole hitting 17, Kevon Looney hitting 12 and both Wiggins and Thompson hitting 11.
Tatum gave a good go of matching Curry hitting 28 points, six rebounds, and three assists himself. Brown hit 17 points himself and White hit 12, but nobody else hit double figures as they fell to a crushing defeat.
Game 3 was a tense affair as home advantage played it's part with the Celtics claiming a comfortable 116-100 victory in the TD Garden.
Brown turned in a monster performance with 27 points, nine rebounds and five assists, while Tatum hit 26 points, six rebounds and nine assists himself. Marcus Smart was impressive too with 24 points, seven rebounds and five assists as the team recovered from a third quarter surge by the Warriors to take control down the stretch and wrestle back momentum.
Curry hit 31 points but suffered an ankle injury late on when contesting for a loose ball and was shaken afterwards, while Draymond Green struggled on the board and fouled out of the game.
Golden State vs Boston NBA Betting Trends
So far this season, Golden State have gone 52-48-3 against the spread, and when playing as at least -3.5 point favorites, they are 34-32-2. Alternatively, Boston is 58-42-3 against the spread this season, and when they have been at least -3.5 point underdogs, they have gone 10-3.
With the Over set at 215 points for this game, there is plenty of chance that they hit it. Golden State have seen 66 of their 106 games this season hit the mark over the course of the regular season and playoffs, while the Celtics have managed it on 64 of 107 occasions.
Compared to their averages this season, the over/under for the game is currently set at 8.3 points fewer. During their two meetings earlier this season the teams combined for 198 and 218 points, respectively, showing that it's definitely capable of landing once more. So far in the series they've combined for 228, 195 and 216 points.
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NBA Finals Prediction
It's the small details in the big games that make the biggest difference always, and having 20,000 fans behind you pushing you through tough moments is exactly that.
The Celtics led by a dozen at half-time but found themselves behind in the early stages of the fourth quarter, before finally managing to fight back and claim victory through some monstrous individual performances.
Game 4 is likely to be more of the same but with the fitness of Curry up in the air, plus the fact that Boston will know a win means they're one away from a championship ring it seems to me like they'll claim victory once again in a tighter game and put themselves in the perfect position to be crowned NBA champions.
