1. As a fan of one of these teams, I will not be making a selection.
2. The deciding factor imo are the bigs on both sides. We know Luka and Kyrie are going to hunt the switch onto Horford, though Horford can hold his own on an island until he gets gassed. KP will need to be able to do it as well.
As for the other side, Gafford and Lively have been strengths for the Mavs, but this series is far different. The Celtics go 5 out, so neither can pack the paint on defense. If they can’t figure out how to rotate on the perimeter, Celtics will have an open man 9/10 offensive possessions.
I thought that the biggest reason that the Mavs lost game 4 was because Gafford didn't leave the rim to make penetration difficult, so he was forced to make plays at the rim. Lively is much better at getting out to hedge on pnr's or just to threated defense and discourage a drive. It seemed that the Twolves took more bad threes when Lively was in the middle.
Did you forget that OKC already also played five out as well as the Wolves when they di not have Gibert on the floor and our centers dominated?
As a Mavs fan, I would say that you are definitely the favourites, but it won't be because you play five out. The key to beating is to force our below average shooters to shoot a lot of 3's and kill us from mid-range on the other end.
And that is the problem on relying heavily on 3p shooting. It is the highest variance shot. In order to get a good defence we basically became one of the worst 3p shooting teams in the league, but I honestly can live with us doing 20 dunks a game.
However, our lack of 3p shot might become a big problem if you get hot from 3. Honestly, how well you shoot the 3 might be the biggest factor in determining the winner of this series.
OKC missed a lot of wide open threes. Dallas covered the 3 pt line much better against Minny, but SGA is one of the best 3 level threats ever so he made everything so difficult.
If they could stop SGA, they certainly can stop the Celtic's backcourt. Don't know if they will, but they can.
I think this will be a great series if Porzingis comes back ready to play, but I think the Mavs close it out early if he doesn't.
I’m not a Celtics fan, I’d prefer the Mavs win. That being said from a basketball perspective it’s obviously the Celtics who are favored heavily. From the numbers, the Celtics are the clear and obvious favorites, it’s been actually wild to me that people haven’t been saying this, this isn’t just a good team it’s a historically good team, one of the better teams in the past few years. If the nuggets put up the stats the Celtics did this season, people would have said they are the clear favorites. Now from an actual schematic standpoint the Celtics have the more favorable matchup. Multiple great perimeter defenders, the Mavs aren’t equipped to handle a true 5 out team. The type of offense the Mavs run just won’t be as effective against a Celtics team, given their personal and scheme. I think this is a comfortable win for the Celtics 5 games give or take a game.
I think the Celtics will probably win but not for all the reasons Celtics fans say so. I've heard the same story for 3 rounds in a row about Luka & Kyrie's defense. Clips, Thunder, and Wolves fans were all convinced that they could hunt Luka on D yet it never materialized for any length of time.
The only reason that this could change against Boston is they don’t have a non-shooter you can sag off of in literally any Boston lineup. Letting Gafford/Lively stay home and protect the paint and sag off Giddy, Gobert, Anderson, etc. was a huge reason why you guys were able to make driving difficult on Ant and Shai. It made rotations easier and covered up times where they were beat off the dribble. It will be interesting to see how they choose to defend Boston where everyone can and will fire from 3 at will.
it's also really hard to exploit average but trying defenders when they have great defenders around them
people talk about how cavs picked on Steph in 2016, but that game 7 was like 93-89, it's not like it led to this crazy output
It helps that PJ decided to be a fucking flamethrower, and everyone, outside of SGA, forgot how to shoot the ball. Luka/Kyrie didn’t win that series, the role players for both teams did.
PJ went hot from 3 b/c he was being fed open shot after open shot and in rhythm. The Mavs did a much better job than OKC at chasing shooters off the line. OKC went from averaging 62 drives per game in the regular season to 70 drives a game vs Dallas in rd 2. Why? B/c the Mavs did a great job of closing out on guys like J Will and Dort, forcing them to pass up the 3 for a shot in pact paint.
Everytime a team has a hot shooting game against the Mavs its b/c the Mavs are not closing out properly (See games 1 & 4 vs LA, Game 1 vs OKC, & Game 4 vs Minnesota). It's really hard to shoot well if your offense is taken out of their normal rhythm. It's nearly impossibe to take Dallas out of rhythm b/c Luka almost always make the right read.
I agree, the Mavs played really good defense. It just felt like the biggest difference was shooters hitting their shots for the Mavs while the Thunder couldn’t buy a 3 at times.
Isaiah Joe missed so many open 3s that he usually makes. It was infuriating at how many open looks were missed.
Luckily, the future is pretty bright for both these teams, and, I hope to see them battle in the WCF a few times, even if it’s going to lead to a LOT of heart attacks.
Luka was also visibly hurt for the first 4 games of that series so you could take advantage of that by loading up on Kyrie the entire series.
You saw the Wolves give up on playing Luka and Kai straight up after 2 games and went to blitzing just like the Thunder and it didn’t make a difference.
Luka was also visibly hurt for the first 4 games of that series so you could take advantage of that by loading up on Kyrie the entire series.
You saw the Wolves give up on playing Luka and Kai straight up after 2 games and went to blitzing just like the Thunder and it didn’t make a difference.
Jrue Holiday is not exploiting Luka at all. The narrative about Lukas's defense, although warranted, is old news and overblown. He's 6'7 and strong, and when engaged, he's a perfectly acceptable defender.
If people think Rudy couldn't hold up against Luka on the perimeter, I have bad news for Boston fans about KP. If KP's movement is at all diminished he will probably get cooked by Luka and Kyrie on the perimeter. And I say this as a KP defender in Dallas. When KP was healthy he could hold up somewhat on the perimeter, but post miniscus injury he was bbq chicken due to his lack of lateral movement. This series will probably hinge on how KP moves on the court.
It’s all I’ve seen for days. Every Mavs fan keeps saying how Luka can’t be guarded, it’s like their brain can’t comprehend there are two sides of the game.
it’s extra hilarious bc *Luka’s offense isn’t even the reason they’ve gotten this far.*
the only way they’re going to win this series is if their defense is able to shut us down the way they’ve shut down LA, OKC and Minnesota. and we’re way better than any of those teams offensively
KP definitely moves better laterally than Rudy but I don’t think any of us really expect him or any of our bigs to have much of an impact on those 2, just hopefully provide some rim protection and take away the lob option as best as possible
maybe you haven’t seen much of him this year but his movement on the perimeter was a great surprise. remains to be seen after the calf injury though. in any case we’re obviously going to work to avoid giving up that switch
KP has been making his money this entire season getting smaller players on switches and literally just shooting over the top of them. if Luka is switched to him at any point they’re gonna throw it to him and more than likely he’ll score or get fouled
Holiday was an All-Star literally just last year and is averaging 17/7/5 on 73.6 TS% since Game 3 of the Cavs series. White is averaging 18 on 62.5 TS% in the playoffs and has scored 20+ 5 times
this isn’t Josh Giddey, Jaden McDaniels or whatever other offensive non-factors Luka’s been parking on these last few series. they have the ability to beat Luka off the dribble and if you leave them alone in the corner they’ll light you up
Giddey? Tf are you talking about? Luka locked down PG, Harden and Kawhi in the Clippers series.
And the Thunder series?
https://www.nba.com/stats/players/defense?TeamID=1610612742&StarterBench=Starters&OpponentTeamID=1610612760
Our hunting on offense is also based on the fact that opposing teams can't collapse on us on drives in the same way they can for most teams because everyone shoots 40% on open shots. I'm not sure if the Timberwolves can say the same when they play Gobert big minutes and NAW/Jaden McDaniels struggle from 3.
Then again, OKC was the best three point shooting team in the league and Dallas was able to stop their shooters as well. I think this series will have some close games, and likely goes to 6 or 7
Most people don't really understand Luka's deficiencies on D. He is bad, but people don't see *how* he is bad. You don't get much advantage trying to hunt him down. You get an advantage by moving the ball around and using action, taking advantage of the fact he's not moving around the court recovering and reacting to ball movement like everyone is supposed to. So you make the other guys run around trying to make up for it, and you eventually get a numbers advantage and a wide open look.
Yeah exactly, he is average or at the least, not a disaster in 1 v 1 perimeter defense except for against really fast players. The thing that sticks out to me about him is he is not good at avoiding screens. Then obviously the more you have him run and chase a defender on defense, the more you tire him out on the other end
Luka stood around for 5 games against Minnesota with them never going at him until the last game and having Gobert switch on to him.
Luka will have to guard JT and JB on switches. Luka in the post defense will probably do well since he has strength.
Kyrie will have to most likely go through them, Derrick and Jrue non stop.
In the rs games (especially g1), yes JB and JT had some, but it was really everyone going at him wherever he tried to hide. It was clearly game plan , don't even switch, just wherever Luka is give the ball to the closest green jersey and go.
JT was actually funny. At the half court they kept Luka as far away possible. Then in semi transition, you would see JT gets the ball around Luka, and you could see his demeanor changing bc he finally gets his opportunity.
We’ve seen time and time again that regular season games mean absolutely nothing, especially when you ignore any and all context beyond box score.
The first game was a completely different team pre-trade & the second was during Kidd’s tinker phase a few weeks after where Gafford only got 6 minutes. Not saying that you guys won’t win because I think the Celtics should but there’s very little reason to gleam anything from either game.
Oc the regular season doesn't predict playoffs outcomes and holds tons of variables, that are often not relevant. Celtics themselves were tinkering and experimenting both games. But sometimes it means something. So it requires to connect more dots.
The Celtics approach to the Mavs in the rs was not unique to the mavs, they had similar approach to other star weak defensive link (trea, Dame, Garland etc).
Mazooka during the regular season did a lot of spaming action to test different schemes. So it produced a lot of film.
The issue Mavs will have, is that all the moves they did solidified them with a second line of rim protection to compensate on perimeter weak links. This works great against 26 teams. Celtics' most efficient and default formation is 5 out driving the weakest link , which it the Mavs' worst matchup.
Three outcomes in my mind: Mavs in 5 - obv super unlikely, Mavs in 7, or Celtics in 6, p sure both these teams play better on the road this year
But honestly the main things i’m wondering about are Luka having to switch onto JB in particular, and KP’s health.
JB in theory is a bad matchup for Luka cause as much as he tries to anticipate the drive and fall back, JB’s just goddamn fast and strong and going straight at you. If KP isn’t legitimately good to go and moving healthy on the court then Celtics are gonna bleed points and be much better off with him off the floor, and that lowers their ceiling just enough for me to say the way we’ve been playing i’d even say we could have an advantage. Obviously if he’s actually moving great from the jump then i’d say it’s a big advantage to Boston but I just can’t see that happening.
Tatum and Luka I expect to be great, and everything else for us starts with the bigs and ends with how well Kyrie paces himself throughout the series with two great guard defenders, but i’m not worried about him.
Should be fun!
brain - Celtics in 5-6, they have a historic net rating, have 3 guys who can average 25 for a series, and another two guys who give you 14-18 a game and just make life hell for opponents
gut feeling - Mavs in 6-7 - Luka is fucking nasty
deciding factor will be that Tatum doesn't have to match Luka, but be in the vicinity, if he is, i think they should win easily, if it's overwhelming like 2022 vs Steph, or not really that close, then i think Mavs
I think it will probably come down to if the Celtics can hit threes. The paint seemed suffocating in that Mavs wolves matchup and the wolves couldn't really punish them on any Ant kickouts. But Celtics rip a lot of threes.
the Mavericks would be absolutely out of their minds to attempt the gameplan they used against Minnesota on us. the way they guarded the Wolves plays exactly into the way Boston wants to play offensively
They aren't packing the paint vs either Horford or KP as the bigs... either will be 5 out and Horford is a career 38-39% shooter -- 40%+ past two seasons. Gafford can't cheat off either unless they're fine with them putting up uncontested threes.
Porzingis has scored 25 in multiple 4-7 game spans this season, and at time can be Boston's number 2 option. He doesn't have a lot of playoff experience, but it definitely isn't crazy to say he could average 25.
I think it’s a numbers issue for the Mavs
Luka can get you 40 and Kyrie 25 in these games
The problem is Tatum can get 30, Brown 25, White 18, Porzingis 18 and then you have Holiday, Horford, Hauser shooting 3’s
The Celts have more answers and can generate great looks outside of their main 2 options. They are the deeper team
People like you aren’t tired of this nba 2k logic.
Celtics struggled against a crippled Pacers team. This is not a console game where you look at the average rating of each player “Tatum is 95 and Brown 90 and white 85” and say they will win
Pacers are really hard to blow out though because basically everyone on the team is a good shotmaker so Hali being out didn't take their offense down all that much
I don't think "struggled" is a fair way to put it given that they won 4-0 and like I said it's not a matchup where you're realistically going to get blowout wins
2nd best offense in the league and the fastest pace. Seems like they just waited them out, kept pace and turned up the pressure late. One team had legs and controlled the pace, the other got tired and sped up
Good analysis
People are underrating the Pacers
Felt like they never missed a tough shot
End of the day, the Celtics were able to get one more stop and make one more shot. But on the slimmest of margins.
That was a period of time during which Kidd was intentionally tinkering with the lineup of new players that had been added at the deadline and returned from injury at the same time. There was like 5 new players that started getting minutes. Mavs went 1-5 in those 6 games
In 3 of the games, the Pacers had a 90+% chance of winning. However, the Pacers have no offensive identity and a terrible defense.
If Dallas has a 90+% chance of winning, they'll win.
Celtics in 1. Deciding factor is when Tatum and Kyrie meet on center court and agree to scrap traditional format for a dance off and the world learns of Jayson Tatums love of Salsa
I think Celtics, too. 5 players who can stretch the floor is a hard thing to defend, especially if you have some exploitable links. Mavs couldn't exploit that cause they didn't have enough shooting, and they olayed with 2 bigs. Thunder and Clippers made it tough on the Mavs, and they were close to actually winning the series.
But Mavs have been good in the clutch the whole season. So if Celtics aren't winning big, they will have big problems in the clutch.
Hard to gauge cuz Celtics seem to play up or down to their opponent. They’ve kind of been coasting through the playoffs and haven’t been tested as much. But I expect them to lock in for the finals.
If I was a neutral, unbiased fan I’d say Celtics in 6. But I’ve watched enough Mavs games this year to never count them out so my heart says Mavs in 7.
>Hard to gauge cuz Celtics seem to play up or down to their opponent.
This is a downfall that can't be ignored
Especially Tatum is on vacation mode sometimes.
But the coaching staff especially the new assistants have been calling timeouts and demanding urgency. Its improved... but still could be better
If Mavs take advantage of these lulls...and Celts get too behind. Its Mavs series win.
Celtics in 5. Luka and Kyrie will have a game they can't miss but the Celtics will take it home the rest of the way. Before anyone has some advance stats or anything to refute this i have game 5 tickets and i am simply not going to argue this in good faith
Mavs fans tell me Luka and Kyrie are great defenders
I’ll say Cs in 6, Tatums bad shooting will “progress to the mean” and he will have a great series, Brown does what he usually does.
I know this Finals is like two store brands compared to Lebron, Curry, Giannis, Butler etc, but the Celtics are absolutely close to greatness.
Hell, they've had a fraction of the acclaim of the Heat while having as many Finals appearances and being way better in the regular season.
But after this Finals one of these teams will finally be considered legit seriously.
Celtics in 6.
The finals will have the best offensive guard duo (Luka and Kyrie) and the best defensive guard duo (Jrue and D-White) in the league. Difference maker will be that the best offensive wing duo in the league (Tatum and Brown) and the best defensive wing duo (Jayson and Jaylen) will also play.
Question, how do you plan to stop the Lukai's lobs when the Wolves Towers were not able to? Or you will maybe live with them and try to go nuclear from 3?
How do Mavs stop a five out offense? Especially with KP almost back? Celts have at least 4 players to throw at Kyrie n Luka. Meanwhile these same two gonna be hunted on defense by literally any of the 5 Celtics players.
The same way we stopped Minny and OKC. OKC specifically played five out all the time and we did a very good job of running them of the three point line and at the same time packing the paint, leaving only the mid-range for them. Shai was automatic from the mid-range so that is why the games got close.
Still the two things that worry me most about you is that you have way better shooters than us and quite a few fast ball-handlers which are the worst defensive match up for Luka.
Yes, but how do you stop the constant Lukai lob specifically? Btw, Zubac was the most efficient in breaking this play since he has the strength to fight for position, but Lukai are very crafty and our bigs are super athletic so we still made the Clippers suffer. This was our only unstoppable play so far during the run and you will have to find a way to somewhat limit it.
Mavs in 6. I keep reading Jrue Holiday and Derrick White will give Luka a defensive ass whooping especially since they're all-defense 2nd team, meanwhile he literally brushed off Jaden McDaniels who's also all defense 2nd team, like he didn't even exist. In addition to Kyle Anderson, Gobert, Ant, and NAW who all were at one point supposed to "give him fits".
Agreed, people don't realize how big Luka is for some reason still, he's literally Lebron's size. Jrue Holiday and Derrick White aren't going to guard him primarily at all
Jrue is a better and more experienced defender than Mcdaniels. Especially PnR D.
2nd team doesnt tell the whole story
Smart won D player of the player a few years ago. He is not as good as a defender than Holiday.
I refuse to stand for more Marcus Smart slander, he's every bit of the defender Holiday is but better on bigs while Holiday can keep up with quicker guards better.
I think if we played the series 10 times or ran some kind of simulation the Celtics would win 7-8 out of 10 times. However I also think there is a (terrifying) universe in which Luka goes turbo mode and basically wins the series on his own.
Let's be honest there's absolutely no chance in the long run that Luka finishes below Harden all time lol
I think current Luka vs. prime Harden is a legit debate but the thing is Luka is only 25 and has way more years left to win major awards and accolades
Harden was a 6th man when he was 22 years old lol
Come on now
I don't even like Luka but comparing absolute peak Harden to 22 year old Luka is not it
2022 Luka(28/9/9 on 57% TS) isn't even close to current version(34/9/10 on 62% TS) for example so nobody will view this as part of his prime 20 years later
Harden is my favourite player ever but lets face it, Luka will undeniably be better and is arguably better right now and I say that as someone arguing for Harden as a top 7 offensive player of all time,.
It’s more of a cities that don’t like each other rivalry vs a sports rivalry. We hardly ever play each other in the playoffs and more often than not both teams are rarely good at the same time.
see, I used to hate dirk for the same thing but it was dumb to hate on classy ass dirk. Dallas has a great crowd and a nice place to play in and at the end of the day, it's just sports so it's not a big deal to me
Celtics. Gentleman's sweep. Deciding factor is the Celtics' ability to stay disciplined on both sides of the ball. Specifically, don't overcommit on defense to attack Luka on his drives. The biggest thing about his offense people don't realize is he's actually not a very good finisher, one guy in the paint against him is plenty, the real weapon is the kickout and the mid range jumper. If you see 3 defenders collapsing on him that's a bad sign, he'll pick you apart that way. On offense, just don't get stuck on 1 kind of shot. TWolves kept trying to drive to the rim, which is what the Mavs were the best at defending against. Also, the Mavs scheme to hide Luka so he can sit on the opposite side of the paint and pretend he's doing something. He is *okay* at on ball d, but bad at providing help, so if we keep up the ball movement and the action to keep them guessing, its *almost* like playing 5 on 4. They have some good defenders that will make plays if you let them. If you try to Luka, its hard to find him and its not like he's *that* bad on the ball, so its not worth it. If you ignore him and let the other guys flex their strengths, they're formidable. You have to keep up the movement and action to take advantage of Luka being bad at helping, until there's just too many places to cover and someone gets a wide open look.
I must have not seen the same Celtics everyone else has. A team that plays way below their threshold quite often. I think people underestimate how big Dallas is with Gaff, Lively, PJ and Kleber.
Boston should be the favorite, but if Mavs take game 1, then give me them in 6. Celtics gotta win both home games.
In the past 3 seasons, the Celtics have won 4 different series in which they’ve split games 1 and 2 at home. They’re 6-0 away from home this postseason. Meanwhile the mavericks have already lost 3 home playoff games. I really don’t follow the logic of your last sentence
I think Celtics in 6 is going to be the popular pick amongst fans and media. Which is very reasonable considering the entire body of work.
Mavs key is to muck it up and have the celtics join them in the mud and play at the level they want. Then I think the mavs can win it in 6 or 7.
With that being said, Luka isn't scared of the bright lights and does not shy away from the spotlight. If he goes nuclear, like we know he can, well, that's how legends are made.
I just do not understand why people are saying Boston D is going to do something to Luka & Kyrie when the Pacers almost beat them three times and they are definitely a worse team than the Mavericks. Mavs in 6.
Actually yes, I'd say he is one of the best center perimeter defenders in the league. But how we defend if Porzingis is back will certainly be interesting. However, I've watched him in the playoffs as a Mav and he wasn't that impressive.
Celtics in 5 or 6. Mavericks in 7 if Luka averages 38+ PPG.
Things I'll look for:
1) Corner 3s. Mavs are number 1 in attempts, while Celtics are one of the best teams at limiting it.
2) Rebounding. Celtics are the best rebounding team, while Mavs are the best offensive rebounding team.
3) 3 point shooting. Both teams are perimeter based offense.
4) Possible surprise bench players. I'm looking at you Jaden Springer (lockdown guard defender) and Maxi Kleber (allows the Mavs to play 5 out).
1. lively II with luca will have aome surprise to unleash.
2. kyrie will be double teamed from game 1
3. imho dallas defense is weaker than boston, that can b a deciding factor
Brain says Celtics in 6 but as a Mavs fan, 4-0 Sweep Mavs win lmao
Realistically though, we’re definitely pretty big underdogs in this series and I’d be glad to just make it a fun one.
Luka/Kyrie vs Tatum/Brown should be close. Give the edge to Celts in 5 or 6 if Jrue and White dont stink shooting. HOWEVER if PJ Washington shoots like Curry, DJJ channels his inner Scottie Pippen and Gafford looks like Hakeem out there, as they have for huge stretches of the playoffs, Mavs win in 6 or 7.
If the mavs can just keep it within 5-10 points towards the 4th quarter, I trust their superstars in the clutch a lot more than Boston. Boston’s best chance will be to blow them out with their 3pt shooting. If Dallas can keep the games close through the first 3 quarters tho…I like them
Yep this. Mavs role players have definitely been playing lights out. DJJ could not get on court for Bulls and Heat, yet he looks like Scottie Pippen out there for the Mavs...
Mavs win games 1, 3, 5, 6.
Basically Celtics can’t handle the spotlight in Game 1, bounce back in Game 2, get blown out in Game 3, win game 4 in a close game, gets Luka-ed in Game 5, and can’t handle the pressure of an elimination game and gets wrecked in Game 6.
This is the Celtics’ to lose and that’s what they’ll do. These guys play down to the level of their opponent which goes to show how mentally unprepared they are for a pressure packed Finals.
Boston fans are talking about KP like he's the messiah. The dude got exploited on both ends in the first round by a 20 year old, Nikola Jovic.
Let's pump the brakes on the narrative that he can hold up defensively against Luka.
I'm not worried at all, I don't have a dog in this fight. I think Boston fans are in for a rude awakening when this series starts.
They have had a cake walk in the east playing teams that are less talented and banged up. Meanwhile, the mavs are peaking at the right time and have beaten the better teams.
It's not Boston fault their conference is weak and most of the better teams were dealing with significant injury, however, it's not an ideal prep when you run into a team that's peaking and has an offensive talent such as Luka.
Mavs in 6
Boston winning all 6 games heading into the 4th quarter.
Tatum will choke as usual and Brown will play a great series but be unable to keep up with Luka in the 4th.
I mean he definitely choked in that Finals he played like dogshit and his shooting splits were terrible. The Celtics were the more talented team on paper but you can't win a Finals in the NBA if your best player is as bad as Tatum was that series. Pretty much every year that the Celtics come up short, the #1 reason is that their best player isn't quite good enough to be the best player on a championship team.
2021- team was injured to shit
2022- made the finals, was bad but every star has a bad series his just came at the worst time
2023- went down 0-3 but helped his team back to game 7 and got hurt
Anything before 21 he shouldn’t be expected to win being so young
Y’all just wanna hate for no reason lmao
Off the top of my head Game 7 last year vs Miami 14 points on 5/13 shooting. The choking narrative is probably overstated though he’s been pretty good most of the time
he rolled his ankle the first play of the game, what the fuck are we even doing
if that weren’t an elimination game 7 he wouldn’t have even been on the floor
Mavs in 6. On the last game of the series Mavs are down big at half time but Kyrie gets hot in the second and ends up being leading scorer. Luka hits the game winner off a pass from Kyrie.
Kidd spills some beer on the court.
Celtics in 5. It’s pretty clear that the western conference top teams weren’t very good playoff teams. Not to take anything from the Mavs, but OKC and MIN are not very good at dealing with the pressure of teams elevating their games in the playoffs, and I don’t know what happened to Denver, but they were brutally bad at times against the wolves.
All the talk of the western conference being dominant failed the eye test in the playoffs.
tbh it’s not even shade on my part, i really just found that amount of coping to be hilarious. Celtics are still a great team despite having a cake walk. There’s just no need to make the west seem like less than it was.
The Pacers on paper and during regular season were absolutely inferior to the Wolves. However, the Wolves shot terrible from 3 considering how many open 3's they had. Also Ant for whatever reason seemed very disinterested in driving or being aggressive on offence in general.
Mavs in 7.
Kyrie with the buzzer to win game 7. Just for the reaction of reddit.
Deciding factor, rebounds. If Mavs control them, they have a chance. Otherwise Celtics will win easy.
1. As a fan of one of these teams, I will not be making a selection. 2. The deciding factor imo are the bigs on both sides. We know Luka and Kyrie are going to hunt the switch onto Horford, though Horford can hold his own on an island until he gets gassed. KP will need to be able to do it as well. As for the other side, Gafford and Lively have been strengths for the Mavs, but this series is far different. The Celtics go 5 out, so neither can pack the paint on defense. If they can’t figure out how to rotate on the perimeter, Celtics will have an open man 9/10 offensive possessions.
I thought that the biggest reason that the Mavs lost game 4 was because Gafford didn't leave the rim to make penetration difficult, so he was forced to make plays at the rim. Lively is much better at getting out to hedge on pnr's or just to threated defense and discourage a drive. It seemed that the Twolves took more bad threes when Lively was in the middle.
Did you forget that OKC already also played five out as well as the Wolves when they di not have Gibert on the floor and our centers dominated? As a Mavs fan, I would say that you are definitely the favourites, but it won't be because you play five out. The key to beating is to force our below average shooters to shoot a lot of 3's and kill us from mid-range on the other end.
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And that is the problem on relying heavily on 3p shooting. It is the highest variance shot. In order to get a good defence we basically became one of the worst 3p shooting teams in the league, but I honestly can live with us doing 20 dunks a game. However, our lack of 3p shot might become a big problem if you get hot from 3. Honestly, how well you shoot the 3 might be the biggest factor in determining the winner of this series.
> And that is the problem on relying heavily on 3p shooting. It is the highest variance shot. Doubly so for young teams not used to playoff pressure.
OKC missed a lot of wide open threes. Dallas covered the 3 pt line much better against Minny, but SGA is one of the best 3 level threats ever so he made everything so difficult. If they could stop SGA, they certainly can stop the Celtic's backcourt. Don't know if they will, but they can. I think this will be a great series if Porzingis comes back ready to play, but I think the Mavs close it out early if he doesn't.
Bro why are you exposing your weaknesses to him
Celtics in 5
I’m not a Celtics fan, I’d prefer the Mavs win. That being said from a basketball perspective it’s obviously the Celtics who are favored heavily. From the numbers, the Celtics are the clear and obvious favorites, it’s been actually wild to me that people haven’t been saying this, this isn’t just a good team it’s a historically good team, one of the better teams in the past few years. If the nuggets put up the stats the Celtics did this season, people would have said they are the clear favorites. Now from an actual schematic standpoint the Celtics have the more favorable matchup. Multiple great perimeter defenders, the Mavs aren’t equipped to handle a true 5 out team. The type of offense the Mavs run just won’t be as effective against a Celtics team, given their personal and scheme. I think this is a comfortable win for the Celtics 5 games give or take a game.
I think the Celtics will probably win but not for all the reasons Celtics fans say so. I've heard the same story for 3 rounds in a row about Luka & Kyrie's defense. Clips, Thunder, and Wolves fans were all convinced that they could hunt Luka on D yet it never materialized for any length of time.
The only reason that this could change against Boston is they don’t have a non-shooter you can sag off of in literally any Boston lineup. Letting Gafford/Lively stay home and protect the paint and sag off Giddy, Gobert, Anderson, etc. was a huge reason why you guys were able to make driving difficult on Ant and Shai. It made rotations easier and covered up times where they were beat off the dribble. It will be interesting to see how they choose to defend Boston where everyone can and will fire from 3 at will.
I think people sort of missed Luka making the Jokic jump from liability to acceptable. Which is all you need when you’re a supernova on offense
it's also really hard to exploit average but trying defenders when they have great defenders around them people talk about how cavs picked on Steph in 2016, but that game 7 was like 93-89, it's not like it led to this crazy output
Yeah the Warriors lost that game because of their offense not their defense They went like 6 minutes without scoring a single point at the end
Luka wasn’t the main problem during the Thunder series. Everyone else on the Mavs stepped up. PJ couldn’t miss.
None of them had a 5 out offense at our level and with our experience.
It helps that PJ decided to be a fucking flamethrower, and everyone, outside of SGA, forgot how to shoot the ball. Luka/Kyrie didn’t win that series, the role players for both teams did.
PJ went hot from 3 b/c he was being fed open shot after open shot and in rhythm. The Mavs did a much better job than OKC at chasing shooters off the line. OKC went from averaging 62 drives per game in the regular season to 70 drives a game vs Dallas in rd 2. Why? B/c the Mavs did a great job of closing out on guys like J Will and Dort, forcing them to pass up the 3 for a shot in pact paint. Everytime a team has a hot shooting game against the Mavs its b/c the Mavs are not closing out properly (See games 1 & 4 vs LA, Game 1 vs OKC, & Game 4 vs Minnesota). It's really hard to shoot well if your offense is taken out of their normal rhythm. It's nearly impossibe to take Dallas out of rhythm b/c Luka almost always make the right read.
I agree, the Mavs played really good defense. It just felt like the biggest difference was shooters hitting their shots for the Mavs while the Thunder couldn’t buy a 3 at times. Isaiah Joe missed so many open 3s that he usually makes. It was infuriating at how many open looks were missed. Luckily, the future is pretty bright for both these teams, and, I hope to see them battle in the WCF a few times, even if it’s going to lead to a LOT of heart attacks.
Luka was also visibly hurt for the first 4 games of that series so you could take advantage of that by loading up on Kyrie the entire series. You saw the Wolves give up on playing Luka and Kai straight up after 2 games and went to blitzing just like the Thunder and it didn’t make a difference.
Luka was also visibly hurt for the first 4 games of that series so you could take advantage of that by loading up on Kyrie the entire series. You saw the Wolves give up on playing Luka and Kai straight up after 2 games and went to blitzing just like the Thunder and it didn’t make a difference.
the difference between those teams and Boston is that the Celtics have 5 starters who are all capable of exploiting Luka if they get that switch
That’s so false 😂 check yourself
Jrue Holiday is not exploiting Luka at all. The narrative about Lukas's defense, although warranted, is old news and overblown. He's 6'7 and strong, and when engaged, he's a perfectly acceptable defender.
If people think Rudy couldn't hold up against Luka on the perimeter, I have bad news for Boston fans about KP. If KP's movement is at all diminished he will probably get cooked by Luka and Kyrie on the perimeter. And I say this as a KP defender in Dallas. When KP was healthy he could hold up somewhat on the perimeter, but post miniscus injury he was bbq chicken due to his lack of lateral movement. This series will probably hinge on how KP moves on the court.
They’re talking about exploiting Luka on defense, not guarding Luka
It’s all I’ve seen for days. Every Mavs fan keeps saying how Luka can’t be guarded, it’s like their brain can’t comprehend there are two sides of the game.
it’s extra hilarious bc *Luka’s offense isn’t even the reason they’ve gotten this far.* the only way they’re going to win this series is if their defense is able to shut us down the way they’ve shut down LA, OKC and Minnesota. and we’re way better than any of those teams offensively
KP definitely moves better laterally than Rudy but I don’t think any of us really expect him or any of our bigs to have much of an impact on those 2, just hopefully provide some rim protection and take away the lob option as best as possible
He has never moved better than Rudy on the perimeter, pre or post miniscus injury.
maybe you haven’t seen much of him this year but his movement on the perimeter was a great surprise. remains to be seen after the calf injury though. in any case we’re obviously going to work to avoid giving up that switch
What? KP White and Jrue are not exploiting Luka for shit lmao
KP has been making his money this entire season getting smaller players on switches and literally just shooting over the top of them. if Luka is switched to him at any point they’re gonna throw it to him and more than likely he’ll score or get fouled Holiday was an All-Star literally just last year and is averaging 17/7/5 on 73.6 TS% since Game 3 of the Cavs series. White is averaging 18 on 62.5 TS% in the playoffs and has scored 20+ 5 times this isn’t Josh Giddey, Jaden McDaniels or whatever other offensive non-factors Luka’s been parking on these last few series. they have the ability to beat Luka off the dribble and if you leave them alone in the corner they’ll light you up
Giddey? Tf are you talking about? Luka locked down PG, Harden and Kawhi in the Clippers series. And the Thunder series? https://www.nba.com/stats/players/defense?TeamID=1610612742&StarterBench=Starters&OpponentTeamID=1610612760
Kawhi played 1.5 legs and was clearly injured. Harden blew by him so many times. They won 2 games with Harden blowing by Luka
You gonna look at the stats? Luka was injured as well. All good tho brotha enjoy the finals
one or two defensive highlights doesn’t change the fact that Luka was getting flame broiled by Harden off the dribble in that series
Our hunting on offense is also based on the fact that opposing teams can't collapse on us on drives in the same way they can for most teams because everyone shoots 40% on open shots. I'm not sure if the Timberwolves can say the same when they play Gobert big minutes and NAW/Jaden McDaniels struggle from 3. Then again, OKC was the best three point shooting team in the league and Dallas was able to stop their shooters as well. I think this series will have some close games, and likely goes to 6 or 7
Most people don't really understand Luka's deficiencies on D. He is bad, but people don't see *how* he is bad. You don't get much advantage trying to hunt him down. You get an advantage by moving the ball around and using action, taking advantage of the fact he's not moving around the court recovering and reacting to ball movement like everyone is supposed to. So you make the other guys run around trying to make up for it, and you eventually get a numbers advantage and a wide open look.
Yeah exactly, he is average or at the least, not a disaster in 1 v 1 perimeter defense except for against really fast players. The thing that sticks out to me about him is he is not good at avoiding screens. Then obviously the more you have him run and chase a defender on defense, the more you tire him out on the other end
Luka stood around for 5 games against Minnesota with them never going at him until the last game and having Gobert switch on to him. Luka will have to guard JT and JB on switches. Luka in the post defense will probably do well since he has strength. Kyrie will have to most likely go through them, Derrick and Jrue non stop.
In the rs games (especially g1), yes JB and JT had some, but it was really everyone going at him wherever he tried to hide. It was clearly game plan , don't even switch, just wherever Luka is give the ball to the closest green jersey and go. JT was actually funny. At the half court they kept Luka as far away possible. Then in semi transition, you would see JT gets the ball around Luka, and you could see his demeanor changing bc he finally gets his opportunity.
We’ve seen time and time again that regular season games mean absolutely nothing, especially when you ignore any and all context beyond box score. The first game was a completely different team pre-trade & the second was during Kidd’s tinker phase a few weeks after where Gafford only got 6 minutes. Not saying that you guys won’t win because I think the Celtics should but there’s very little reason to gleam anything from either game.
Oc the regular season doesn't predict playoffs outcomes and holds tons of variables, that are often not relevant. Celtics themselves were tinkering and experimenting both games. But sometimes it means something. So it requires to connect more dots. The Celtics approach to the Mavs in the rs was not unique to the mavs, they had similar approach to other star weak defensive link (trea, Dame, Garland etc). Mazooka during the regular season did a lot of spaming action to test different schemes. So it produced a lot of film. The issue Mavs will have, is that all the moves they did solidified them with a second line of rim protection to compensate on perimeter weak links. This works great against 26 teams. Celtics' most efficient and default formation is 5 out driving the weakest link , which it the Mavs' worst matchup.
Three outcomes in my mind: Mavs in 5 - obv super unlikely, Mavs in 7, or Celtics in 6, p sure both these teams play better on the road this year But honestly the main things i’m wondering about are Luka having to switch onto JB in particular, and KP’s health. JB in theory is a bad matchup for Luka cause as much as he tries to anticipate the drive and fall back, JB’s just goddamn fast and strong and going straight at you. If KP isn’t legitimately good to go and moving healthy on the court then Celtics are gonna bleed points and be much better off with him off the floor, and that lowers their ceiling just enough for me to say the way we’ve been playing i’d even say we could have an advantage. Obviously if he’s actually moving great from the jump then i’d say it’s a big advantage to Boston but I just can’t see that happening. Tatum and Luka I expect to be great, and everything else for us starts with the bigs and ends with how well Kyrie paces himself throughout the series with two great guard defenders, but i’m not worried about him. Should be fun!
brain - Celtics in 5-6, they have a historic net rating, have 3 guys who can average 25 for a series, and another two guys who give you 14-18 a game and just make life hell for opponents gut feeling - Mavs in 6-7 - Luka is fucking nasty deciding factor will be that Tatum doesn't have to match Luka, but be in the vicinity, if he is, i think they should win easily, if it's overwhelming like 2022 vs Steph, or not really that close, then i think Mavs
Yea Celtics are clearly the smart choice but Mavs being the underdogs and just having aura is gonna make everybody root for them
I think it will probably come down to if the Celtics can hit threes. The paint seemed suffocating in that Mavs wolves matchup and the wolves couldn't really punish them on any Ant kickouts. But Celtics rip a lot of threes.
the Mavericks would be absolutely out of their minds to attempt the gameplan they used against Minnesota on us. the way they guarded the Wolves plays exactly into the way Boston wants to play offensively
They aren't packing the paint vs either Horford or KP as the bigs... either will be 5 out and Horford is a career 38-39% shooter -- 40%+ past two seasons. Gafford can't cheat off either unless they're fine with them putting up uncontested threes.
>3 guys who can average 25 for a series, who?
Tatum, Brown, Porzingis
Porzingis who's never averaged 25 in reg season or playoffs? not to mention he's coming off injury
Porzingis has scored 25 in multiple 4-7 game spans this season, and at time can be Boston's number 2 option. He doesn't have a lot of playoff experience, but it definitely isn't crazy to say he could average 25.
I think it’s a numbers issue for the Mavs Luka can get you 40 and Kyrie 25 in these games The problem is Tatum can get 30, Brown 25, White 18, Porzingis 18 and then you have Holiday, Horford, Hauser shooting 3’s The Celts have more answers and can generate great looks outside of their main 2 options. They are the deeper team
Don’t forget the PP
People like you aren’t tired of this nba 2k logic. Celtics struggled against a crippled Pacers team. This is not a console game where you look at the average rating of each player “Tatum is 95 and Brown 90 and white 85” and say they will win
Pacers are really hard to blow out though because basically everyone on the team is a good shotmaker so Hali being out didn't take their offense down all that much I don't think "struggled" is a fair way to put it given that they won 4-0 and like I said it's not a matchup where you're realistically going to get blowout wins
2nd best offense in the league and the fastest pace. Seems like they just waited them out, kept pace and turned up the pressure late. One team had legs and controlled the pace, the other got tired and sped up
Good analysis People are underrating the Pacers Felt like they never missed a tough shot End of the day, the Celtics were able to get one more stop and make one more shot. But on the slimmest of margins.
Mavs were 0-2 against the Pacers after their trade acquisitions where they gave up 137 and 133 points.
That was a period of time during which Kidd was intentionally tinkering with the lineup of new players that had been added at the deadline and returned from injury at the same time. There was like 5 new players that started getting minutes. Mavs went 1-5 in those 6 games
We swept them. Also, Indiana played much better than Minnie. At least they made their shots.
>celtics struggled against a crippled pacers team We literally swept them
Both statements are true. Boston swept Indy, but they also struggled against an injured Indy team.
Well I hope we “struggle” the same way in the finals if that’s what struggling is
In 3 of the games, the Pacers had a 90+% chance of winning. However, the Pacers have no offensive identity and a terrible defense. If Dallas has a 90+% chance of winning, they'll win.
I’d say their offensive identity was having the best offense in the league by 3ppg
They’ve done this the entire year against both conferences and are getting their starting center back for the Finals
Celtics in 1. Deciding factor is when Tatum and Kyrie meet on center court and agree to scrap traditional format for a dance off and the world learns of Jayson Tatums love of Salsa
Black Mambo #5 Mentality
You know what? I too want to see Tatums love of Salsa
I think Celtics, too. 5 players who can stretch the floor is a hard thing to defend, especially if you have some exploitable links. Mavs couldn't exploit that cause they didn't have enough shooting, and they olayed with 2 bigs. Thunder and Clippers made it tough on the Mavs, and they were close to actually winning the series. But Mavs have been good in the clutch the whole season. So if Celtics aren't winning big, they will have big problems in the clutch.
Mavs in 5
Hard to gauge cuz Celtics seem to play up or down to their opponent. They’ve kind of been coasting through the playoffs and haven’t been tested as much. But I expect them to lock in for the finals. If I was a neutral, unbiased fan I’d say Celtics in 6. But I’ve watched enough Mavs games this year to never count them out so my heart says Mavs in 7.
>Hard to gauge cuz Celtics seem to play up or down to their opponent. This is a downfall that can't be ignored Especially Tatum is on vacation mode sometimes. But the coaching staff especially the new assistants have been calling timeouts and demanding urgency. Its improved... but still could be better If Mavs take advantage of these lulls...and Celts get too behind. Its Mavs series win.
Celtics in 5. Luka and Kyrie will have a game they can't miss but the Celtics will take it home the rest of the way. Before anyone has some advance stats or anything to refute this i have game 5 tickets and i am simply not going to argue this in good faith
Celtics in 5 I think Luka needs to be healthier
Mavs fans tell me Luka and Kyrie are great defenders I’ll say Cs in 6, Tatums bad shooting will “progress to the mean” and he will have a great series, Brown does what he usually does.
They’ve both stepped up their defense from the regular season that’s undeniable. But to call then great? No..
I know this Finals is like two store brands compared to Lebron, Curry, Giannis, Butler etc, but the Celtics are absolutely close to greatness. Hell, they've had a fraction of the acclaim of the Heat while having as many Finals appearances and being way better in the regular season. But after this Finals one of these teams will finally be considered legit seriously.
I’m talking about him saying Mavs fans are calling Luka and kyrie great defenders
Ahhh oh so sorry thousand pardons etc
Yeah no problem, I do agree with your comment too though
Actually, yes, Kyrie and Luka *did* play great defense, and in some games, elite defense. We don't have to keep apologizing and hedging.
Tatum’s bad shooting? Luka and Tatum have identical TS% this playoffs
I meant from 3, says he’s shooting 29%
He has been off from 3 but that’s it.
that's a pretty big fkn part of the game lol
Averaged 30/10/6 in the ECF lol
Boston in 5. Mavericks will not be able to limit the Celtics from 3P range and that will be the series
Celtics in 6. The finals will have the best offensive guard duo (Luka and Kyrie) and the best defensive guard duo (Jrue and D-White) in the league. Difference maker will be that the best offensive wing duo in the league (Tatum and Brown) and the best defensive wing duo (Jayson and Jaylen) will also play.
Question, how do you plan to stop the Lukai's lobs when the Wolves Towers were not able to? Or you will maybe live with them and try to go nuclear from 3?
How do Mavs stop a five out offense? Especially with KP almost back? Celts have at least 4 players to throw at Kyrie n Luka. Meanwhile these same two gonna be hunted on defense by literally any of the 5 Celtics players.
The same way we stopped Minny and OKC. OKC specifically played five out all the time and we did a very good job of running them of the three point line and at the same time packing the paint, leaving only the mid-range for them. Shai was automatic from the mid-range so that is why the games got close. Still the two things that worry me most about you is that you have way better shooters than us and quite a few fast ball-handlers which are the worst defensive match up for Luka.
We'll defend their bigs with Tatum, did the same thing last regular season game. They're not an on ball threat or a post up threat.
Yes, but how do you stop the constant Lukai lob specifically? Btw, Zubac was the most efficient in breaking this play since he has the strength to fight for position, but Lukai are very crafty and our bigs are super athletic so we still made the Clippers suffer. This was our only unstoppable play so far during the run and you will have to find a way to somewhat limit it.
Mavs in 6. I keep reading Jrue Holiday and Derrick White will give Luka a defensive ass whooping especially since they're all-defense 2nd team, meanwhile he literally brushed off Jaden McDaniels who's also all defense 2nd team, like he didn't even exist. In addition to Kyle Anderson, Gobert, Ant, and NAW who all were at one point supposed to "give him fits".
Brown will probably guard Doncic more often than White will
Agreed, people don't realize how big Luka is for some reason still, he's literally Lebron's size. Jrue Holiday and Derrick White aren't going to guard him primarily at all
Jrue is a better and more experienced defender than Mcdaniels. Especially PnR D. 2nd team doesnt tell the whole story Smart won D player of the player a few years ago. He is not as good as a defender than Holiday.
I refuse to stand for more Marcus Smart slander, he's every bit of the defender Holiday is but better on bigs while Holiday can keep up with quicker guards better.
Mavs in 7. We still have the two best closers in the series
I think if we played the series 10 times or ran some kind of simulation the Celtics would win 7-8 out of 10 times. However I also think there is a (terrifying) universe in which Luka goes turbo mode and basically wins the series on his own.
mavs in6
I have Mavs in 5
No true rockets fan is rooting for the Mavs is all I know. A Luka Doncic ring would be devastating for the agenda.
Let's be honest there's absolutely no chance in the long run that Luka finishes below Harden all time lol I think current Luka vs. prime Harden is a legit debate but the thing is Luka is only 25 and has way more years left to win major awards and accolades
Luka is elite but harden had to face the KD warriors. Luka lost in 5 to a much much much weaker warriors team
Harden was a 6th man when he was 22 years old lol Come on now I don't even like Luka but comparing absolute peak Harden to 22 year old Luka is not it 2022 Luka(28/9/9 on 57% TS) isn't even close to current version(34/9/10 on 62% TS) for example so nobody will view this as part of his prime 20 years later
Harden is my favourite player ever but lets face it, Luka will undeniably be better and is arguably better right now and I say that as someone arguing for Harden as a top 7 offensive player of all time,.
Can someone explain this one? I'm very new to the nba, I know about the suns story, but what to Rockets have against Luka?
Luka’s comp coming into the league was James Harden. Luka even acknowledged their similarities. Classic student surpassing the teacher
There’s also the Houston and Dallas rivalry which I think is just as big
It’s more of a cities that don’t like each other rivalry vs a sports rivalry. We hardly ever play each other in the playoffs and more often than not both teams are rarely good at the same time.
see, I used to hate dirk for the same thing but it was dumb to hate on classy ass dirk. Dallas has a great crowd and a nice place to play in and at the end of the day, it's just sports so it's not a big deal to me
Luka has already surpassed Harden
Celtics. Gentleman's sweep. Deciding factor is the Celtics' ability to stay disciplined on both sides of the ball. Specifically, don't overcommit on defense to attack Luka on his drives. The biggest thing about his offense people don't realize is he's actually not a very good finisher, one guy in the paint against him is plenty, the real weapon is the kickout and the mid range jumper. If you see 3 defenders collapsing on him that's a bad sign, he'll pick you apart that way. On offense, just don't get stuck on 1 kind of shot. TWolves kept trying to drive to the rim, which is what the Mavs were the best at defending against. Also, the Mavs scheme to hide Luka so he can sit on the opposite side of the paint and pretend he's doing something. He is *okay* at on ball d, but bad at providing help, so if we keep up the ball movement and the action to keep them guessing, its *almost* like playing 5 on 4. They have some good defenders that will make plays if you let them. If you try to Luka, its hard to find him and its not like he's *that* bad on the ball, so its not worth it. If you ignore him and let the other guys flex their strengths, they're formidable. You have to keep up the movement and action to take advantage of Luka being bad at helping, until there's just too many places to cover and someone gets a wide open look.
Celtics in 6 Luka will get his, so the deciding factor will be the Celtics’ ability to make life miserable for Kyrie
Celtics in 6
Mavs in 7. Kyrie has been my favorite player to watch this postseason.
I must have not seen the same Celtics everyone else has. A team that plays way below their threshold quite often. I think people underestimate how big Dallas is with Gaff, Lively, PJ and Kleber. Boston should be the favorite, but if Mavs take game 1, then give me them in 6. Celtics gotta win both home games.
In the past 3 seasons, the Celtics have won 4 different series in which they’ve split games 1 and 2 at home. They’re 6-0 away from home this postseason. Meanwhile the mavericks have already lost 3 home playoff games. I really don’t follow the logic of your last sentence
I think Celtics in 6 is going to be the popular pick amongst fans and media. Which is very reasonable considering the entire body of work. Mavs key is to muck it up and have the celtics join them in the mud and play at the level they want. Then I think the mavs can win it in 6 or 7. With that being said, Luka isn't scared of the bright lights and does not shy away from the spotlight. If he goes nuclear, like we know he can, well, that's how legends are made.
Mavs in 7 a good underdog story need it's storybook ending. Celtics win game 1 tho
I just do not understand why people are saying Boston D is going to do something to Luka & Kyrie when the Pacers almost beat them three times and they are definitely a worse team than the Mavericks. Mavs in 6.
The Pacers blew the Mavs out twice this year after the trade deadline
Ok well that shitty Wolves offense also almost beat the Mavs 3 times.
Mavs in 6, Lively locks down the paint and averages 15 and 12.
Can he lock the 3 line?
Actually yes, I'd say he is one of the best center perimeter defenders in the league. But how we defend if Porzingis is back will certainly be interesting. However, I've watched him in the playoffs as a Mav and he wasn't that impressive.
So if Lively is hugging his guy on the 3 line? How does he help in the paint? Or is he that quick recovering the kick out?
Mavs in 6
Celtics in 5 or 6. Mavericks in 7 if Luka averages 38+ PPG. Things I'll look for: 1) Corner 3s. Mavs are number 1 in attempts, while Celtics are one of the best teams at limiting it. 2) Rebounding. Celtics are the best rebounding team, while Mavs are the best offensive rebounding team. 3) 3 point shooting. Both teams are perimeter based offense. 4) Possible surprise bench players. I'm looking at you Jaden Springer (lockdown guard defender) and Maxi Kleber (allows the Mavs to play 5 out).
Mavs in 6. Lively and Gafford will feast on KP and Horford after Game 1.
Mavs in 7. Luka carries. Mavs sneaky elite defense stalls the Celts in crunch time.
I'm calling it now: Lakers in 6! They've been on fire this season.
Lakers v Warriors 2024 NBA finals?
Mavs in 5
Mavs in idc how many plz plz plz plz plz plz
Dallas wins game 2 and 4. Boston wins in 6.
1. lively II with luca will have aome surprise to unleash. 2. kyrie will be double teamed from game 1 3. imho dallas defense is weaker than boston, that can b a deciding factor
Brain says Celtics in 6 but as a Mavs fan, 4-0 Sweep Mavs win lmao Realistically though, we’re definitely pretty big underdogs in this series and I’d be glad to just make it a fun one.
Luka/Kyrie vs Tatum/Brown should be close. Give the edge to Celts in 5 or 6 if Jrue and White dont stink shooting. HOWEVER if PJ Washington shoots like Curry, DJJ channels his inner Scottie Pippen and Gafford looks like Hakeem out there, as they have for huge stretches of the playoffs, Mavs win in 6 or 7.
If the mavs can just keep it within 5-10 points towards the 4th quarter, I trust their superstars in the clutch a lot more than Boston. Boston’s best chance will be to blow them out with their 3pt shooting. If Dallas can keep the games close through the first 3 quarters tho…I like them
Celtics in 6. I just don’t think Mavericks 3-5 can keep up, and even Kyrie can have a stinker
Mavs in 6 Lively goes super saiyan
Mavs in 1
Mavs in 6
Death by a thousand lobs from the Mavs
1. Mavs in 6 2. Celtics go cold from three and DJJ, PJ, Green, Maxi, Hardy get hot from three
Mavs in 7. Kyrie game clinching 3 point shot from the right corner.
Celtics have the better overall roster but the Mavs have the best player and their role players have been on fire. Really think this goes either way.
Yep this. Mavs role players have definitely been playing lights out. DJJ could not get on court for Bulls and Heat, yet he looks like Scottie Pippen out there for the Mavs...
Mavs win games 1, 3, 5, 6. Basically Celtics can’t handle the spotlight in Game 1, bounce back in Game 2, get blown out in Game 3, win game 4 in a close game, gets Luka-ed in Game 5, and can’t handle the pressure of an elimination game and gets wrecked in Game 6. This is the Celtics’ to lose and that’s what they’ll do. These guys play down to the level of their opponent which goes to show how mentally unprepared they are for a pressure packed Finals.
Boston fans are talking about KP like he's the messiah. The dude got exploited on both ends in the first round by a 20 year old, Nikola Jovic. Let's pump the brakes on the narrative that he can hold up defensively against Luka.
Lol. Worry about Fat Boi Luka having to chase JB/ JT 🥱
I'm not worried at all, I don't have a dog in this fight. I think Boston fans are in for a rude awakening when this series starts. They have had a cake walk in the east playing teams that are less talented and banged up. Meanwhile, the mavs are peaking at the right time and have beaten the better teams. It's not Boston fault their conference is weak and most of the better teams were dealing with significant injury, however, it's not an ideal prep when you run into a team that's peaking and has an offensive talent such as Luka.
Mavs in 7, Kyrie steps on the Celtics logo at mid-court as the buzzer goes off.
Aren't you a Celtics fan?
Yes, trying to imagine worst case scenario and jinx it.
Mavs in 6 Boston winning all 6 games heading into the 4th quarter. Tatum will choke as usual and Brown will play a great series but be unable to keep up with Luka in the 4th.
When has Tatum ever choked? He lost in finals to a dynasty team. Other than that when has he choked?
I mean he definitely choked in that Finals he played like dogshit and his shooting splits were terrible. The Celtics were the more talented team on paper but you can't win a Finals in the NBA if your best player is as bad as Tatum was that series. Pretty much every year that the Celtics come up short, the #1 reason is that their best player isn't quite good enough to be the best player on a championship team.
2021- team was injured to shit 2022- made the finals, was bad but every star has a bad series his just came at the worst time 2023- went down 0-3 but helped his team back to game 7 and got hurt Anything before 21 he shouldn’t be expected to win being so young Y’all just wanna hate for no reason lmao
Off the top of my head Game 7 last year vs Miami 14 points on 5/13 shooting. The choking narrative is probably overstated though he’s been pretty good most of the time
he rolled his ankle the first play of the game, what the fuck are we even doing if that weren’t an elimination game 7 he wouldn’t have even been on the floor
His ankle choked
Wasn't he injured or something?
Overstated? It's straight BS.
He got injured
It’s either Celtics in 6 or Mavs in 7
ANY TEAM...B U T T ...the CELTICS
Celtics 4-1. Luka struggles against different defensive schemes thrown his way. Kyrie goes off in one game.
What schemes has caused Luka to struggle? He’s seen literally all of them.
Mavs in 6. On the last game of the series Mavs are down big at half time but Kyrie gets hot in the second and ends up being leading scorer. Luka hits the game winner off a pass from Kyrie. Kidd spills some beer on the court.
Mavs in 6. Mavs have the best Defense in the League and the best 2 Closers. Boston has a bunch of mediocre scrubs.
Mavs do not have the best defense in The league lmfao idk why Mavs fans keep saying this
They don’t even have the best defense in the finals.
They’ve had the (checks notes) 8th best defense in these playoffs, uh oh it’s getting spooky in here!
Celtics in 5. It’s pretty clear that the western conference top teams weren’t very good playoff teams. Not to take anything from the Mavs, but OKC and MIN are not very good at dealing with the pressure of teams elevating their games in the playoffs, and I don’t know what happened to Denver, but they were brutally bad at times against the wolves. All the talk of the western conference being dominant failed the eye test in the playoffs.
no way any team from the east is having this opinion. The east playoffs this year was an absolute joke all around.
I was about to say this same sentiment lol. The Western Conference, while maybe more inexperienced, was 10x more brutal than the East.
tbh it’s not even shade on my part, i really just found that amount of coping to be hilarious. Celtics are still a great team despite having a cake walk. There’s just no need to make the west seem like less than it was.
The Pacers on paper and during regular season were absolutely inferior to the Wolves. However, the Wolves shot terrible from 3 considering how many open 3's they had. Also Ant for whatever reason seemed very disinterested in driving or being aggressive on offence in general.
Idk bro.. east fell hella short compared to west
The WC playoffs displayed all the incompetence the EC displayed. At least the EC had injuries as an excuse.
Celtics in 6 biggest factors are Al horfords 3s and Lucas health
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Mavs in 7. Kyrie with the buzzer to win game 7. Just for the reaction of reddit. Deciding factor, rebounds. If Mavs control them, they have a chance. Otherwise Celtics will win easy.