Boston Celtics vs Dallas Mavericks: How to Watch, Betting Odds & Prediction

(Featured image: Alamy Images)

Written by: Akram Miah

The Boston Celtics (46-12) will host the Dallas Mavericks (33-25) on Friday at TD Garden ahead of an important stretch of games for both teams.

How to Watch Boston Celtics vs Dallas Mavericks in the UK:

UK viewers can watch the game live on BBC One with coverage beginning at 12:30am on Saturday morning.

Recent Form:

The Celtics are riding high after a victory against the Philadelphia 76ers where they won to maintain a nine-game win streak. They continue to dominate at home with a league-best home record of 27-3.

Boston currently find themselves top of the Eastern Conference. Power forward Kristaps Porzingis faces his former team for the second time since he was traded in 2022.

The Mavs meanwhile are on their East Coast trip and ended a two-game losing streak when they beat the Toronto Raptors at Scotiabank Arena 136-125 on Thursday. They come into the game looking to split the season series after losing to the C’s back home in the American Airlines Center 119-110 in January.

Jason Kidd's Mavs look to push back into the top six of the Western Conference for an automatic play-off seed. They currently find themselves in eighth after recent results against the Indiana Pacers and Cleveland Cavaliers.

The game will showcase two of the NBA's brightest talents in Boston's Jayson Tatum and the Mavericks' Luka Dončić. Both are currently in the top five of NBA.com’s latest MVP race and serve as the driving forces behind their respective teams' success.

Dončić is the league's leading scorer with 34.4 PPG. The Slovenian also leads his team in rebounds, assists and steals (8.8 RPG, 9.7 APG, 1.5 SPG). Tatum meanwhile is leading Boston in scoring with 27 points per game (PPG).

Team News:

The Mavericks will have Dante Exum back after an ankle injury kept him out of the last 13 games. Forward Maxi Kleber's appearance remains questionable with a toe and nose injury.

Boston have guard Jalen Springer listed as questionable with an ankle injury and fan-favourite rookie forward Jordan Walsh has been reassigned to Boston’s G-League affiliate team in Maine.

Betting Odds:

The Celtics enter the match as strong favourites, coming in at 1/4 with UniBET, carrying an implied probability of 80%.

Dallas hope to push closer to an automatic play-off seed but come in as heavy underdogs. LiveScoreBet have the Mavs at 4/1, with an implied probability of 20%.

Prediction:

OddsNow backs the Celtics to impose their identity on the Mavericks to cement their position as the strongest team in the NBA.