A Florida bettor dropped $1.5 million on the Celtics to win Game 3 in Dallas

The Boston Celtics haven’t played their best basketball in the NBA Finals just yet as they head to Dallas with a 2-0 series lead against the Mavericks.

That’s either a comfort or a concern if you’re a Dallas fan, but one bettor in Florida is going with the former. Despite the Mavericks entering Game 3 as a moneyline favorite (-150), this bettor put $1.5 million on the Celtics (+105) to take a 3-0 series lead, according to Ben Fawkes.

A Boston win on Wednesday night would pay out just over $3 million.

It’s simply a ridiculous amount to wager on a single game, especially with multiple days of rest and familiarity starting to play a factor in the series.

One bettor at @HardRockBet wagered $1.5 MILLION on the Boston Celtics ML at +105 odds in Game 3 of the #NBAFinals pic.twitter.com/qHHNAqfdzS

— Ben Fawkes (@BFawkes22) June 12, 2024

As FTW’s Prince Grimes noted, it’s not time to write off the Mavericks just yet:

Despite 30-point performances from Doncic in the first two games, the Mavericks have been unable to score with Boston because his supporting cast has failed him. After shooting 37% from three all postseason entering the finals with just two games of worse than 30% shooting, the Mavericks have shot worse than 30% in both games of the finals for a combined 25% from three.

Boston’s defense certainly deserves some credit for that — it’s the best defense Dallas has played all postseason. But many of those looks were shots the Mavericks hit in previous series, including the conference finals against the Minnesota Timberwolves, who had a better defensive rating than Boston in the regular season.

If Doncic continues getting his guys decent looks, we should expect them to hit more at home, where Dallas is favored for Game 3 Wednesday.

Here’s hoping that $1.5 million is just a drop in the bucket for whoever placed the wager.