2022 NBA Finals Warriors vs Celtics odds and predictions: who is the favorite to win?

The Golden State Warriors and the Boston Celtics are set for a showdown in the NBA Finals. The series starts on Thursday night from San Francisco, but before tip off from the Chase Center, let’s have a look at the odds and our prediction for the the 2022 Finals.

Celtics were huge long shots to start season

The Celtics are coming off a Game 7 win over the Heat in the Eastern Conference Finals on Sunday night. While the Warriors are back in the finals for the sixth time in eight years.

Boston has a chance to make history after coming into the season at 50-1 odds to win the title. It would be the first time in 35 years that a team with that high of odds lifts the Larry O’Brien Trophy.

Steph Curry and the gang were listed at 10-1 odds to take the title this year after missing the playoffs the last two years. The other Splash Brother, Klay Thompson, was inching his way closer to recovery around the start of the season after missing two seasons with two catastrophic injuries. Thompson back in the starting five obviously sky rockets the Warriors chance to take the title.

After the Conference Finals the Warriors come into this series as the favorites over the Celtics. Golden State (-160) are tabbed to beat Boston (+140).

A series breakdown

So who do we at AS.com thing will win this series?

There are a ton of factors to consider coming into this thriller of an NBA Finals. Will Golden States’ experience come in to play? Will the amount of rest affect the Celtics or the Warriors? We know what the stars of these teams are capable of, but how important will the role players be for each team?

It’s no secret that Golden State will have a big edge when it comes to Finals experience. While many of their youngsters like Jordan Pool and Moses Moody have never been in this situation Steph Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green are more than season vets in the Finals. The Warriors are one of only four franchises to reach six Finals in eight years, joining Chicago, Los Angeles and Boston in this rare air.

Rest could also come into play in this series when you take into account the Celtics have played a handful of games more than the Warriors have. Boston is coming off of their second straight seven game series after going to Game 7 against the Milwaukee Bucks and the Miami Heat. Meanwhile the Warriors haven’t played since the 26th of May and have closed out two of three series in five games this postseason.

Make no mistake, the Boston Celtics, although they were a big long shot to get all the way to the Finals have been one of the top teams since the turn of the New Year. They had a losing record to close out 2021, but caught fire in the final half of the season. They finished second in the East after a 51-31 regular season, and have looked like one of the favorites in the postseason.

Healthy Big Three for Warriors spells trouble for Boston

As we mentioned before, getting Klay Thompson back from injury gives huge boost to the Warriors chances. While it took him a while to find his fitness, and still doesn’t look like the Thompson of old, he has had some fantastic performances in the playoffs including a 30 points night in Game 6 against the Memphis Grizzlies and 32 in Game 5 against the Dallas Mavericks. Since the trio of Thompson, Curry and Green united, the Warriors have never lost a series that all three started and finished.

Boston have their stars that they will be expecting to perform in their first Finals appearance. Jayson Tatum was playing at an All-NBA level and was seated to the NBA First Team at the end of the season. Tatum has had an incredible season, but his numbers have tamed since the end of the Milwaukee series. He had games of 34 and 46 against the Bucks, but his top scoring performance against the Heat was 31 points in Game 4. Jaylen Brown has been a perfect secondary scorer for the Celtics and posted 24.1 points a game in the last series against the Heat.

Role players will play a huge part of this series. Draymond Green is part of the Warriors Big Three, and while he doesn’t put up big scoring numbers he does a little bit of everything, much like Al Horford does for the Celtics. Derrick White had a break out series against the Heat filling in for Marcus Smart who was injured or in foul trouble for parts of the series. Jordan Poole has emerged as a top scoring threat in the Warriors squad, he and Kevon Looney are enjoying themselves this postseason.

The match up: Curry vs. Smart

When it comes to defensive ratings, were are looking at the top two teams in the league. The Celtics had every member of their starting five get votes for the Defensive Player of the Year. Marcus Smart eventually won the award, becoming the first guard to win it since Gary Payton. He will have his work cut out for him this series he will be shadowing Steph Curry the majority of the time.

With all this taken into account, I’m taking the Warriors. I just think Golden State is too good of a team, and have the experience to know how to win in tight games late on. Golden State’s trio will stay healthy and extend their undefeated streak of series won when each start and finish every game.

The NBA Finals will begin on Thursday, June 3rd with tip off set for 9 p.m. ET from the Chase Center. The Warriors are 3.5 point favorites going into Game 1, while the Over/Under is set at 211.5.