What a difference a game makes.
The Golden State Warriors opened as pretty significant favorites over the Boston Celtics according to Cesars Sportsbook, with the price set at -160 ($160 bet to win $100) last week. That number flipped and then some after the Celtics’ 120-108 win at Chase Center in Game 1 on Thursday. According to Cesars, the Celtics are now favored at -165 to win the series. The Warriors price is now set at +145.
In the Steve Kerr era, the Warriors have only last the first game of a playoff series twice. Once was in 2018, when the dropped the first game of the West Finals to the Rockets in Houston. The other instance was in 2019, when the Durant-less Warriors dropped Game 1 to the Toronto Raptors. The Warriors would end up losing that series.
Most significantly, the Warriors have lost their home court advantage immediately with Thursday’s loss, setting up a must win situation in Game 2 on Sunday. Were the Warriors to lose, they’d be down 2-0 heading to Boston for the next two games.
There is reason to be concerned that may happen, which is probably why the Vegas reaction is so significant. Golden State lost by 12 points, despite the fact that Jayson Tatum scored 12 points and went 3-of-17 from the field, missing a number of open shots.
The Warriors would also point to the fact that aside from Stephen Curry, they didn’t get great offensive performances. The problem is that the Celtics defense isn’t getting any worse, and scoring points may be an issue for Golden State for the entire series.
