The NBA Finals begin tonight and I'm backing Luka Doncic and the Dallas Mavericks in this same-game parlay.

The pregame narrative: Dallas hasn't gotten blown out since Game 1 of the second round and should keep things close in the series opener behind Doncic. Kristaps Porzingis returns to the Boston Celtics lineup and I'm backing him from beyond the arc.

Check out the full Mavericks vs. Celtics SGP picks for Game 1 on Thursday, June 6.

Mavericks vs. Celtics SGP picks

Parlay: Mavericks +10.5 + Doncic over 32.5 points + Porzingis over 1.5 threes (+310)

Mavericks +10.5 (-210): The Mavericks are playing their best basketball at the right time — here's hoping a lengthy layoff doesn't mess with that mojo.

Dallas dismantled the Minnesota Timberwolves in the Western Conference final, sending Anthony Edwards and Co. home in five games. That came after winning four of the final five games against the West's top-seeded Oklahoma City Thunder.

The Mavs are on a five-game road winning streak and are 7-2 away from American Airlines Center with a +5.1 net rating this postseason.

But that's not to say winning in Boston will be easy.

The Celtics are one of the best home teams of all time, posting a 43-6 record at TD Garden with a +14.4 average margin of victory.

They've covered a -10.5 spread in five of eight home playoff games but haven't had to play a team like the Mavericks yet.

Boston started its playoff run against the Jimmy Butler-less Miami Heat while Donovan Mitchell and Tyrese Haliburton missed extensive time in the following series.

Other parlay picks

Doncic over 32.5 points (+102): Doncic didn't look like himself through the first few weeks of the playoffs it's safe to say he's back.

The NBA's regular-season leading scorer has scored 30-plus points in five of his last seven games. He's averaging 31.7 points in that span while shooting 49.7% from the field and 45.7% from deep.

Boston is a great defensive team but Luka tends to be matchup proof.

When you're averaging north of 20 shots a game and knocking them down at a near-50% rate, there's not much an opponent can do.

Doncic scored 33 and 37 points in his two matchups against the Celtics this season.

Porzingis over 1.5 threes (-167): Porzingis tweaked his knee in Game 4 against Miami and hasn't played since.

But the big man is back for the Finals and I expect him to pick up where he left off — making it rain from deep.

Porzingis shot 37.5% from beyond the arc this season and cleared this bet in two of his three full playoff games.

He knocked down 4-of-8 attempts from deep in his lone game against Dallas this season. It's a small one-game sample but the Mavs seemed content with letting Porzingis do his thing on the perimeter.

Porzingis cleared this line in 35 of 57 regular season games (61.4%).

Picks as of 8:40 a.m. on 06/06/2024.