Public betting is strongly favoring the Mavericks to beat the Celtics in the NBA Finals.

Luka Doncic and the Dallas Mavericks are underdogs in the 2024 NBA Finals, but is the average betting man happy about that?

The odds of Dallas winning the Finals vary between +175 and +180 (implied probability of 36.36%) depending on the sportsbook, but at BetMGM, over 80% of the bets are on the Mavs to win their series against the Boston Celtics.

It's shocking to see bettors betting heavily on Dallas, even though Boston went 12-2 in the playoffs and finished the regular season with the NBA's best record and net rating. Maybe it's the positive money that's intriguing bettors, but can Dallas really pull off a Finals victory?

Odds Via DraftKings Sportsbook.

Earlier on Monday, I broke down this NBA Finals matchup with the latest odds, players to watch and what could be the keys to winning the series.

I still believe that with Kristaps Porzingis healthy, Boston is the better team and will win the title.

But Dallas has certainly made a compelling argument since the final 20 games of the regular season. Not only did the Mavs finish 16-4 through those 20 games with the best defensive rating in the NBA, they also won three straight playoff series as the visiting team and underdog.

This is extremely impressive and may be the reason behind the massive influx of money being spent by the public on the Mavs winning the Larry O'Brien Trophy.

Doncic and Kyrie Irving will have their hands full with a strong defense featuring Jrue Holiday, Derrick White and Jaylen Brown, but if the Mavs' stars can overpower Brown and Jayson Tatum, it might be enough to win the series.

Still, keeping an eye on where the public's money is can be a useful strategy when deciding where to bet on a series.

Odds are updated regularly and are subject to change.

If you or someone you know has a gambling problem and needs help, please call 1-800-GAMBLER.

Peter Dewey's Betting record here You can also follow my daily play BetStamp is here.