This first game is going to go over the total. Both teams are going to get their points. Boston will get their 3 pointers because Dallas will be hard pressed to stop them and they have five shooters on the court shooting at all times. That’s hard to stop. However, the Mavericks will also get their points, so it will be tough for Boston to Stop Kyrie and Luka from getting their shots, at least in game 1. These two teams played two regular season games that saw a combined of 229 and 248 which is much higher than the total for this game. This will be the series for 3 point shooting since both love to shoot them more than get points in the paint. Boston when at home shoots closer to 40% from the 3 while Dallas on the road shoots at 36% from the 3. This first game is not going to have that defensive intensity yet and it will be more of a feel out game because the oddsmakers have set the total as high as 214 indicates that this will be a higher scoring game. This game will have a good pace that is going to encourage shooting so the over looks really good here.

Best bet: take the Over the Total.