2022 NBA Finals: Golden State vs Boston Game 4 Predictions & Odds

Warriors star Steph Curry injured his foot in the waning moments of Game 3 of the NBA Finals against the Boston Celtics but is expected to play in Game 4 in Boston on Friday. The Celtics are favored on the NBA odds to take a 3-1 series lead.

How to Bet Warriors at Celtics NBA Odds & TV Info

When: Friday, 9 PM ET
Where: TD Garden
TV: ABC
Stream: ESPN app
Radio: ESPN radio
NBA Odds: Celtics -4 (total 214.5)

Why Bet on Golden State?

The Warriors dominated the third quarter of the first two games and did so again Wednesday in the 116-100 loss. An 11-0 Warriors run in the third erased a 10-point Celtics lead and gave the Warriors their first lead of the game since they led 2-0 to start the game, 83-82, with 3:45 left in the third quarter. The Celtics quickly regained the lead for good on Marcus Smart’s 3-pointer and ended the quarter with a 93-89 lead. Boston outscored Golden State, 23-11, in the fourth quarter to prevent a Warriors comeback.

Stephen Curry led all scorers with 31 points but injured his foot late in the fourth quarter when Celtics big man Al Horford landed on top of Curry’s lower leg during a scrum for a loose ball. Though the Golden State guard looked hobbled, he remained in the game for a couple more minutes before coach Steve Kerr yanked all of his starters. It didn’t look great at the time but Curry felt better Thursday and will play Friday: “Obviously, there will be some pain, but I’ll be alright.”

Curry got in early foul trouble in Game 3, which made him more vulnerable on defense, and the Celtics punished the Warriors by getting him matched up on either Jayson Tatum or Jaylen Brown.

“Yeah, that’s not a surprise,” Coach Kerr said. “You know, they are going to put him in pick-and-roll. They are going to put a few of our guys in pick-and-roll. Try to make us guard. Steph picked up a couple of unfortunate ones early, but I didn’t think the foul trouble really affected the game.

Klay Thompson added 25 points. Andrew Wiggins recorded 18 points and a team-high-tying seven rebounds in the Game 3 loss. Jordan Poole scored 10 points off the bench.

Golden State is 5-0 following a loss in this year’s playoffs, second-best behind Boston’s 7-0 record. The Warriors have outscored their opponents by an average of 15.4 in those games, fifth-highest in the last 50 seasons. The Warriors have won at least one road game in 26 straight playoff series, an NBA record.

The Warriors have a 32-28 record in Game 4s in the playoffs, including 14-9 since 2015. In the NBA Finals, the Warriors have a 5-6 all-time record (3-2 since 2015). Since 2015, in playoff series in which they trailed 2-1, the Warriors are 2-2 in Game 4.

Why Bet on Boston?

Wednesday’s Game 3 victory saw Boston improve to 7-0 in these playoffs in games following a loss, as the Celtics have yet to lose back-to-back games this postseason. Since Jan. 23, the Celtics have gone 13-1 in games following a loss.

“I think that’s kind of when we turned our season around, when we turned that corner,” Boston forward Jayson Tatum said. “Earlier in the season, we would have given up leads and lost games like that, whereas now — things happen, right. They’re a great team. They’ve got great players. They’re going to make shots. They’re going to go on runs. But it’s all about how you respond.

Jaylen Brown led Boston with 27 points in Game 3 to go with nine rebounds and five assists. Brown is averaging 22.7 points, 7.3 boards, 4.3 assists and 3.0 three-pointers over the first three games of the series. What doesn’t show up in the stat sheet is how great Brown played at the defensive end as well, as he played a critical role in Boston limiting Golden State to just 11 fourth-quarter points as the C’s pulled away for the victory.

Jayson Tatum produced 26 points, nine assists and six rebounds. He is averaging 8.3 assists in the series after posting just 4.4 dimes per contest during the regular season. Tatum has supplemented his passing numbers with 22.0 points, 5.7 rebounds and 3.3 three-pointers through the first three games of this series.

Marcus Smart added 24 points, seven rebound and five assists. The point guard was relatively efficient with an 8-for-17 shooting line and knocked down multiple three-pointers for the third time in his past four playoff games. It was a big bounce-back effort for Smart after he scored just two points on 1-of-6 shooting in Game 2.

Brown, Tatum and Smart were the first trio of teammates to all have at least 20 points, five rebounds and five assists an NBA Finals game since Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Michael Cooper did it for the Los Angeles Lakers against the Celtics in 1984.

However, it was center Robert Williams who was a team-best plus-21 in 25 minutes, finishing with eight points, 10 rebounds and four blocked shots. Williams has been fighting every day, going through hours of treatment to get his knee feeling decent enough to play on for each game, and he hasn’t missed a Finals game yet after missing at least one game in each of the first three rounds.

“He’s a game-changer,” Al Horford said of Williams. “Rob is really a game-changer. We’re very fortunate to have a guy like that that impacts winning in the way that he does, because it’s beyond the numbers with him. It’s just all the things that he brings, being in the right places. I’ve been so impressed with Rob, just his ability to just continue to get better and learn.

Game Trends

Warriors are 7-3 ATS in their last 10 games as an underdog.
Warriors are 1-4 ATS in their last 5 games as a road underdog.
Warriors are 4-0 ATS in their last 4 games following a straight up loss.
Celtics are 4-1 ATS in their last 5 games as a favorite.
Celtics are 10-4 ATS in their last 14 games playing on 1 days rest.
Celtics are 5-2 ATS in their last 7 games vs. a team with a winning % above .600.