Dave Portnoy and the rest of his fellow Boston Celtics supporters will have to wait a while longer to light their celebratory cigars – after a heavy defeat in Game 4 of the NBA Finals.
The outspoken Barstool Sports supremo headed to Dallas one win from the championship, and came prepared with a cigar to light when his team completed the job.
In the build-up to the game, Portnoy had been bullish in his prediction that the Celtics would sweep the Mavericks in four – but that turned out to be misguided.
Instead, Luka Doncic put in a monstrous display to help the Mavs to the third-largest win in NBA Finals history, guaranteeing a Game 5 back in Boston on Monday.
Not that Portnoy watched the entirety of the game, though, as he posted a video of himself outside the American Airlines Center towards the end of the third quarter.
Dave Portnoy left the NBA Finals Game 4 early with his Celtics losing heavily
The clip begins with a cigar in Portnoy’s mouth, before he then takes it out and safely stores it away in a bag, before putting it in his back pocket.
He then followed up his video with a tweet in which he listed the ‘positives from tonight’.
They were:
- 1. I’d rather get blown out like that than lose close
- 2. Dallas fans were very nice
- 3. More fun to win in Boston
If Portnoy were to have stayed until the end, he would have seen the Mavs see out a 122-84 win, with Doncic putting up 29 points, five rebounds and five assists.
Portnoy sits courtside in the American Airlines Center ahead of Friday night’s Game 4
Luka Doncic put on a show to score 29 points in the Mavericks’ impressive rout of Boston
Portnoy was previously spotted at a Celtics game with Camryn D’Aloia, 25 (center right)
It is still the Celtics who hold a huge lead in the Finals, though, and they travel back to Boston on Monday with a 3-1 lead, and the ability to win it at home.
The Celtics last won the championship in 2008, and tickets are expected to sell for thousands on Monday night.
Portnoy also has financial skin in the game when it comes to the NBA Finals, given he stands to scoop $1.6million if the Celtics win.
He already claims to have won $5.4m on sports betting this year, and can take his profits to $7m at the start of next week.
His bet was a two-leg parlay that began with Scottie Scheffler winning the Masters back in April, and the second part was the Celtics winning the Finals.
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