Celtics vs. Warriors NBA Finals Game 3 picks, best bets

With the 2021-22 NBA regular season now in the books, the basketball betting market is hotter than ever. CBS Sports will be providing daily picks for the duration of the postseason.

Sam Quinn will make at least one pick for every game between now and the NBA Finals. All lines courtesy of Caesars Sportsbook.

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If you're picking Boston in Game 3, don't do it because of home-court advantage. Boston has been a better road team (8-3) this postseason than home team (5-4). No, I'm leaning Boston for a few other reasons.

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The Celtics seem to be figuring out that going small is their best bet against the Warriors. Marcus Smart playing just 25 minutes in Game 2 was concerning, but Payton Pritchard has done an admirable job defensively thus far.

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We're also overdue for a Stephen Curry clunker. He's been to the Finals five times and has five games below 25 percent from 3. At his volume, those games become very difficult to win.

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Boston's defense has done a great job of stifling Golden State's motion. If this turns into another pick-and-roll-athon as the third quarter of Game 2 did, odds are, the Warriors won't hit quite so many shots.

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Game 2 totaled just 195 points despite both teams making over 40 percent of their 3-pointers.

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That should tell you everything you need to know about the quality of defense in this series.

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Gary Payton II coming back gave the Warriors yet another weapon on the perimeter, and Draymond Green spent plenty of Game 2 on Jaylen Brown as well.

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