The 2024 NBA Finals are about to kick off with Game 1 on Thursday night, featuring a showdown between the Dallas Mavericks and the Boston Celtics.
Despite the Celtics securing a league-leading 64 wins during the regular season, the Mavericks are the favorites to win the series according to many of ESPN’s basketball experts. Out of 17 analysts, nine have backed the Mavericks to take the championship.
Here are the detailed predictions from ESPN’s panel for the NBA Finals:
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Mavericks in 6:
- Kendra Andrews
- Jerry Bembry
- Israel Gutierrez
- Chris Herring
- Bobby Marks
- Dave McMenamin
- Omar Raja
Mavericks in 7:
- Tim Legler
- Ohm Youngmisuk
Celtics in 6:
- Tim Bontemps
- Jamal Collier
- Zach Lowe
Celtics in 7:
- Andrew Lopez
- Kevin Pelton
- Ramona Shelburne
- André Snellings
- Marc J. Spears
When it comes to predicting the Finals MVP, the opinions are closely split among ESPN’s experts:
- Jayson Tatum of the Celtics is favored by eight experts.
- Luka Doncic of the Mavericks has seven votes.
- Kyrie Irving also of the Mavericks, garners two votes.
The first game of the NBA Finals is set to begin tonight at 8:30 p.m. ET, launching what promises to be an exciting series.
