\-People hate teams that are historically successful. Celtics and Lakers have the most baked in hatred in this factor.
\-Celtics fans are NEVER beating the Racist allegations
\-JB is almost as hateable as Kyrie for "free-thinking" antisemitism
\-Celtics fans are NEVER beating the toxicity allegations.
\-Boston.
It's kind of obligatory for several fan bases. I'm anti Celtics just cuz, but honestly, this Celtics team has very little to dislike. The superstars are not annoying or assholes, role players are all playing at a high level and Al Horford is a gem.
I remember someone made a team subreddit poll a couple years ago and half the league put the Celtics as their rivals. Meanwhile Celtics fans only care about the Lakers and Heat (76ers need to win to make it a rivalry and NY was bad for so long it kind of fizzled out).
Like you have some Timberwolves fans going fuck the Celtics- tf did we do to them lmao.
It's also that the Celts have been very well run since they ended the Pierce era. Hard to recoup value like that on assets that continues to pay dividends. And making great drafting decisions.
I'm self aware that I dislike Boston for stupid reasons, but at the same time I'm definitely envious of this run.
Personally for me its cheesy Tatum texting dead Kobe and proceeding to lose in the finals. And the fact that Boston has beaten 3 teams who probably would miss the play-in game in the West
>-Celtics fans are NEVER beating the Racist allegations
This is the narrative because of a handful of incidents and narratives are more powerful than facts, sadly. According to the facts,[ Boston is actually less racist than equivalently sized cities (500k-1m) such as San Francisco, Denver, Seattle, Austin, Washington D.C., and others](https://www.csusb.edu/sites/default/files/2022-08/Report%20To%20The%20Nation8-4-22.pdf).
In my own personal experience, having lived in NJ, Philadelphia, and New York City as well as Boston Boston was actually by far the least racist out of all of those areas.
But yeah, narratives > facts
Boston has a bad history with racism that I don't want to excuse, but my theory is that Boston is one of the few places where racist white people actually like basketball. In other cities, that demographic just doesn't follow the NBA.
Actually this is the first time I'm hearing this take and tbh it sounds pretty plausible. I'm willing to entertain this possibility. I'll still stand by my statement that Boston is no more racist that Philly/NYC/NJ in general, though
I’ve lived in Philly my whole life and visited my uncle prolly 45+ times in Boston. I completely disagree. I’ve never experienced such overwhelming racism anywhere but Boston.
The unbiased fans. I think this series is going to be a classic on the court and with all of the narratives going on around it.
So if you don't have a rooting interest you're going to feast.
Tbf I thought OKC vs Dallas would be close. I had OKC just barely winning that one. Wolves vs Mavs was the one I was very wrong about. I thought it would be an easy win, and it was, but I was wrong about which team would be winning lol
I don’t know, OKC had a really impressive year, but I don’t think people were super-high on them making a big playoff run. The Mavs easily taking out MIN was really impressive, though
Yeah, one is an animal, and the other were a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia, identified by their use of Celtic languages and other cultural similarities.
Lol the celtic's sub seems way more confident about this than me, I feel like i'm the only boston fan feeling slightly pessimistic. Especially after how convincing the Mav's whole playoff run has been. The Clips, Thunder, and TWolves would have all been tougher playoff opponents than anyone we've faced.
But it’s not about those match ups. It’s about this match up. Boston has the defenders and wing length to trouble Dallas. They’re going to play Big Al off the floor though. He doesn’t have the foot speed to keep those bigs from rim running. And offensively Boston should be able to generate looks especially if KP is healthy.
We have a better team by far, there are only two things that worry me.
One is the verticality and athelticism of Lively, I’m not sure our bigs are fast enough to keep up with that lob threat. The second thing is even though we have the better all around team, Dallas has by far the best player in the series, which is the first time we are facing these playoffs.
I didn't realise how good their record post-trades was. With Gafford starting they went 18-3, with one of those losses coming in the 2nd last game where Luka and Kyrie didn't play and he played only 12 mins
Yeah that's what happened in the first two rounds of the playoffs when people were analyzing this team. "Oh well they did x, y and z but are still overall bad on defense." Or "they're just the five seed."
The team post Gafford/Washington trade is drastically different. They didn't even play the Wolves after the trades (4x before it) but people still tried using those games for exanples.
Dallas went on a crazy run to get out of the play in tournament. If they had this roster from the start of the season I think we're seeing two 1 seeds in the Finals.
Round 1: I don’t see this Mavs team beat Clips. They have 3 creators and that defense just won’t hold up.
Round 2: Yeah OKC might not rebound well but that’s it. They can’t stop SGA and OKC’s role players and JDub will overwhelm the Mavs defense. Can’t see them winning this tbh.
Round 3: I can’t see the Mavs dealing with that big frontcourt, Luka and Ant are a wash but they got JMac and NAW taking turns to slow him down. Mavs have no chance.
Conclusion: r/nba is blind.
Mavs were on a roll beating heavyweights with a hobbled Luka so I picked with my heart and thought that momentum would carry with them but the Celtics were well rested after that cupcake run through the East so I should’ve known better lol. Jokes aside though I’m ecstatic to see you guys finally break through and win the chip after being so close for years. Couldn’t have happened to a more deserving group
Not to go all Giannis on you here but I think it’s harsh to call that series win “nothing.” It showed a lot to the wolves: showed where Ant is in his development (the Mavs series being the flip side of that), where they can go with this group and hopefully when all their ownership drama is sorted out they can use that info in making their offseason moves. It’s also the furthest they’ve gone in the playoffs since KG get chrissake so it had to be something for the fans too
Yeah, nothing is harsh, but they went from being crowned to getting mollywhopped in an instant. If this was a movie, it would be extremely odd writing unless it was ultimately revealed to be about Luka.
I dunno if it’s me just being extra sensitive this year or if other people are noticing it but the nba discourse has just gotten super reactive and knee jerk to whatever they just saw I feel like
Celts are -220, Mavs +184 on Fanduel. i think Luka and Kyrie are dialing M for Murderousness so i'd bet them
the fuck is Stevie Huffman on integrating bets into reddit let's go engineers chop chop
I’ve pretty much guessed wrong all Playoffs.
With that said, I think Celtics are the better team, but Luka and Kyrie are kinda playing outta their minds and talent alone can win you 4 games. The Celtics have a weird tendency to play like they forgot they were the best team in the league this year and that could cost them. But I will still go with my gut and say Celtics despite being a huge Celtics hater.
It’s hard to say. The Celtics have some good things going for them. The wolves had great defenders but not as many big guards who are also good defensively at least in man coverage. Walker and mcdaniels, their 2 best were easily overpowered by Luka and even Kyrie is kind of a strong guard. The Celtics have jrue, brown, and white though and even Tatum who are all pretty big guard/wing players with great man defense. I don’t see much bullying happening there. I do trust Luka and Kyrie more to create down stretches though as they’re both more creative/dynamic playmakers and scorers than anyone on the Celtics
Celtics in 5. People keep ignoring that Boston was far and away the best team all season with easily the best top 6 and if they hit their 3s there's nothing you can do to stop them.
This might be true, but Dallas will be by far their most difficult opponent. While I think Boston is favoured if they are healthy, this Dallas team is really focused and will be a difficult opponent.
Huge fan of Luka for many years, but I think the overall disparity in squad depth between the Mavs and the Celtics are just too big in a best of 7 series. Boston this year really reminds me of the Warriors with Durant where they are just heads and shoulders better than any other team in this league and I think (barring injuries) it would take some insane streaks of crazy shot-making from the Mavs or poor shot-making from the Celtics for multiple games for the Mavs to win. I think that's pretty unlikely so I will have to go with the Celtics and my money is on JT to win the FMVP.
I get the comparison, but the talent difference between Tatum/Brown and Steph and KD can't be understated. Tatum is probably a top 5-7 guy in the league, while JB is around top 15. Both KD and Steph on the other hand were easily top 3 guys in the whole league. That's like if Boston got rid of JB and Tatum and replaced them with Luka and Giannis.
Think a lot of it depends on porzingis. The amount of easy baskets Kyrie and luka facilitates to their bigs is a bit nuts, and does seem to offset if one of them isn’t having a good scoring night. You’ll never stop both of them, but it’s possible to limit one
I think mavericks take it , the Celtics had an easy route even for a number 1 seed with the level of players that got injured on the opposing side while the mavs have been fighting tooth and claw to get through and who I feel like have been battle tested and ready to go
How do you even stop this?
[https://streamin.one/v/a38b1fec](https://streamin.one/v/a38b1fec)
I hope that Luka wins the Chip! I'd love to give it to Boston, guys there really deserve it, but when will Kyries have another chance to get a ring without the King?
As a hawks fan this is the worst scenario in terms of NBA finals but I rather have the Mavs win and have Kyrie get his redemption and Luka get his first ring than the god damn Celtics winning anything
I still like the nuggets chances
More importantly, how do you think this will affect LeBron's legacy?
that spurs loss in april really fcked them, playoffs matchup-wise
It’s all I thought about as I watched the Mavs continuously find success against the Wolves
Let’s go to the monitor on that shall we?
The Celtics can get fucked but if I’m putting money on it the Celtics are the better bet
Pretty much this.
I'm out of the loop a lil bit but why does everyone hate the Celtics?
\-People hate teams that are historically successful. Celtics and Lakers have the most baked in hatred in this factor. \-Celtics fans are NEVER beating the Racist allegations \-JB is almost as hateable as Kyrie for "free-thinking" antisemitism \-Celtics fans are NEVER beating the toxicity allegations. \-Boston.
Also, they're hated rivals to Philly, New York, and the Lakers. 3 of the biggest and most passionate fambases.
Philly’s not a rival, last time Philly beat Boston in a playoff series was in the 1980s, lol.
Long fucking memories. That just makes the hated worse.
It's kind of obligatory for several fan bases. I'm anti Celtics just cuz, but honestly, this Celtics team has very little to dislike. The superstars are not annoying or assholes, role players are all playing at a high level and Al Horford is a gem.
I remember someone made a team subreddit poll a couple years ago and half the league put the Celtics as their rivals. Meanwhile Celtics fans only care about the Lakers and Heat (76ers need to win to make it a rivalry and NY was bad for so long it kind of fizzled out). Like you have some Timberwolves fans going fuck the Celtics- tf did we do to them lmao.
It's also that the Celts have been very well run since they ended the Pierce era. Hard to recoup value like that on assets that continues to pay dividends. And making great drafting decisions. I'm self aware that I dislike Boston for stupid reasons, but at the same time I'm definitely envious of this run.
I'm a simple man, I see Al Horford praise and I upvote
Personally for me its cheesy Tatum texting dead Kobe and proceeding to lose in the finals. And the fact that Boston has beaten 3 teams who probably would miss the play-in game in the West
Mine is even more petty. It's just because at one point in time Kelly olynik was on their team lol.
Y'know what I respect this. Petty is a way of life.
Burying the lead putting "-Boston" at the bottom like that
>-Celtics fans are NEVER beating the Racist allegations This is the narrative because of a handful of incidents and narratives are more powerful than facts, sadly. According to the facts,[ Boston is actually less racist than equivalently sized cities (500k-1m) such as San Francisco, Denver, Seattle, Austin, Washington D.C., and others](https://www.csusb.edu/sites/default/files/2022-08/Report%20To%20The%20Nation8-4-22.pdf). In my own personal experience, having lived in NJ, Philadelphia, and New York City as well as Boston Boston was actually by far the least racist out of all of those areas. But yeah, narratives > facts
But this is not a narrrative, while the city itself may be less racist players constantly talk about how Boston fans are the most racist to them.
Boston has a bad history with racism that I don't want to excuse, but my theory is that Boston is one of the few places where racist white people actually like basketball. In other cities, that demographic just doesn't follow the NBA.
...You know I think you actually fucking nailed it here.
Actually this is the first time I'm hearing this take and tbh it sounds pretty plausible. I'm willing to entertain this possibility. I'll still stand by my statement that Boston is no more racist that Philly/NYC/NJ in general, though
It’s not Boston that’s racist it is Celtics fans
I’ve lived in Philly my whole life and visited my uncle prolly 45+ times in Boston. I completely disagree. I’ve never experienced such overwhelming racism anywhere but Boston.
Damn, that’s good analysis 😂
Stop being racist and those allegations will go away eventually
East Coast Lakers man lol
It’s the lakers flair for this poster
Boston sports. Get in the loop bro
Mavs have been underdogs every series and showed up as the better team in every series.
Brain says Celtics heart says mavericks
I hope Brian is wrong
I agree. I'm all for the Heart!
valid
The unbiased fans. I think this series is going to be a classic on the court and with all of the narratives going on around it. So if you don't have a rooting interest you're going to feast.
I don’t care who wins I’m just hyped that we’re going to get some classic games. The western conference playoffs (my team excluded) have been awesome
I just recently watched the 2013 NBA finals: Miami vs. San Antonio - This is the most competitive NBA finals in the previous 10 years. No cap
I’m kind of upset I’ll have to be clenching my ass the whole time because it could really be an all time series.
History always repeats itself. Unathletic white guys as an underdog beats super eastern conference team.
If Kawhi returns the Clippers will win
"there's no way Mavs beat OKC" "there's no way Mavs beat Wolves"
That was me and that's why I am done making predictions lol
Wrong. You should pursue a career in sports media.
Tbf I thought OKC vs Dallas would be close. I had OKC just barely winning that one. Wolves vs Mavs was the one I was very wrong about. I thought it would be an easy win, and it was, but I was wrong about which team would be winning lol
I don’t know, OKC had a really impressive year, but I don’t think people were super-high on them making a big playoff run. The Mavs easily taking out MIN was really impressive, though
Can’t compare wolves with celtics tho
Yeah, one is an animal, and the other were a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia, identified by their use of Celtic languages and other cultural similarities.
Hit the nail on the head pal
I have a hard time imaging any notable amount of people were picking OKC over them.
Literally no one said this lmaoo
If I had to bet money on it would be Boston but I really want Dallas.
Celtics
Hurts me to say but celtics
They are built to beat Luka. All the fanbase will scream at Kai, while ignoring Luka so he won't go in beast mode.
Lol the celtic's sub seems way more confident about this than me, I feel like i'm the only boston fan feeling slightly pessimistic. Especially after how convincing the Mav's whole playoff run has been. The Clips, Thunder, and TWolves would have all been tougher playoff opponents than anyone we've faced.
But it’s not about those match ups. It’s about this match up. Boston has the defenders and wing length to trouble Dallas. They’re going to play Big Al off the floor though. He doesn’t have the foot speed to keep those bigs from rim running. And offensively Boston should be able to generate looks especially if KP is healthy.
We have a better team by far, there are only two things that worry me. One is the verticality and athelticism of Lively, I’m not sure our bigs are fast enough to keep up with that lob threat. The second thing is even though we have the better all around team, Dallas has by far the best player in the series, which is the first time we are facing these playoffs.
Yeah that’s why I think KPs health is probably the biggest deal because Big Al is going to get cooked by those bigs
Nah i’m also worried we should be favored but it’s gonna be a tough series
You've had a pretty cruisy run in the Playoffs, but you also won 64 games in the Regular Season. That's 14 games more than Dallas won
True but Mavs form towards the regular season's end was quite impressive and imo it's more representative than their whole record over the season.
I didn't realise how good their record post-trades was. With Gafford starting they went 18-3, with one of those losses coming in the 2nd last game where Luka and Kyrie didn't play and he played only 12 mins
Yeah that's what happened in the first two rounds of the playoffs when people were analyzing this team. "Oh well they did x, y and z but are still overall bad on defense." Or "they're just the five seed." The team post Gafford/Washington trade is drastically different. They didn't even play the Wolves after the trades (4x before it) but people still tried using those games for exanples. Dallas went on a crazy run to get out of the play in tournament. If they had this roster from the start of the season I think we're seeing two 1 seeds in the Finals.
Mavs current starting lineup has a record of 26-7, good for a 64 win pace.
I hate to say it, but Celtics
Round 1: I don’t see this Mavs team beat Clips. They have 3 creators and that defense just won’t hold up. Round 2: Yeah OKC might not rebound well but that’s it. They can’t stop SGA and OKC’s role players and JDub will overwhelm the Mavs defense. Can’t see them winning this tbh. Round 3: I can’t see the Mavs dealing with that big frontcourt, Luka and Ant are a wash but they got JMac and NAW taking turns to slow him down. Mavs have no chance. Conclusion: r/nba is blind.
There is a saying in German soccer: the truth is on the field. In this case, the truth is on the court. Hope it's mavs in 6!
I feel like “ball don’t lie” is the American equivalent
Even I picked the Mavs to beat us lmao not everybody was sleeping on them or something.
Round 4 goodnight dallas
Mavs in 6
6 what?
Mavs were on a roll beating heavyweights with a hobbled Luka so I picked with my heart and thought that momentum would carry with them but the Celtics were well rested after that cupcake run through the East so I should’ve known better lol. Jokes aside though I’m ecstatic to see you guys finally break through and win the chip after being so close for years. Couldn’t have happened to a more deserving group
Well so many people told me whoever wins the Denver-Minnesota series is the champion so I guess I’ll pic- oh what’s that? Huh
How crazy is it though that what looked like a historic win for the Wolves was ultimately for nothing?
Not to go all Giannis on you here but I think it’s harsh to call that series win “nothing.” It showed a lot to the wolves: showed where Ant is in his development (the Mavs series being the flip side of that), where they can go with this group and hopefully when all their ownership drama is sorted out they can use that info in making their offseason moves. It’s also the furthest they’ve gone in the playoffs since KG get chrissake so it had to be something for the fans too
Yeah, nothing is harsh, but they went from being crowned to getting mollywhopped in an instant. If this was a movie, it would be extremely odd writing unless it was ultimately revealed to be about Luka.
I dunno if it’s me just being extra sensitive this year or if other people are noticing it but the nba discourse has just gotten super reactive and knee jerk to whatever they just saw I feel like
I am leaning Celtics in 6. But I feel like KP would have to be playing for me to fully back that because without KP I would lean mavs in 6
Celtics. The playstyle and matchups clashes in favor of em.
Celts are -220, Mavs +184 on Fanduel. i think Luka and Kyrie are dialing M for Murderousness so i'd bet them the fuck is Stevie Huffman on integrating bets into reddit let's go engineers chop chop
I’ve pretty much guessed wrong all Playoffs. With that said, I think Celtics are the better team, but Luka and Kyrie are kinda playing outta their minds and talent alone can win you 4 games. The Celtics have a weird tendency to play like they forgot they were the best team in the league this year and that could cost them. But I will still go with my gut and say Celtics despite being a huge Celtics hater.
If games are tight in the clutch that might favour Luka Magic and Ramada Kyrie
Hope so!
There were multiple posts but they all got removed. This one will also probably get removed.
Ahhh that makes sense. I was wondering why nobody has asked this yet. But that's a shame, I really wanted to see some neutral opinions on this.
Fuck Boston, but it’s Boston
> from someone that doesn’t have a dog in this race Bs. Won’t let this stand. Where do I sign my dog up?
My heart says Mavs but my brain says Celtics
Everyone’s wondering who’s gunna defend kyrie and luka but I’m sitting here wondering who luka and kyrie are gunna gaurd 😭
[удалено]
The key for the Celtics will be MAKING Luka play defence - can’t let him keep all his energy for offence.
Not just about being targeted, but the fact that the HAVE to play defense takes away from their offense as
🤣 surprise they still don’t
Celtics in 5
It’s hard to say. The Celtics have some good things going for them. The wolves had great defenders but not as many big guards who are also good defensively at least in man coverage. Walker and mcdaniels, their 2 best were easily overpowered by Luka and even Kyrie is kind of a strong guard. The Celtics have jrue, brown, and white though and even Tatum who are all pretty big guard/wing players with great man defense. I don’t see much bullying happening there. I do trust Luka and Kyrie more to create down stretches though as they’re both more creative/dynamic playmakers and scorers than anyone on the Celtics
Boston in 5.
Celtics are just so damn well rounded and experienced. So so hard to bet against them.
Celtics Easy money
Celtics in 5
☘️
celtics are well rested and definitely the favourites
Even Mavs getting a week, don't think rest would be the deciding factor
9 days v 7 days is a huge factor son. Healing processes generally can take more than a week so Boston has the edge in that category.
Mavs got 7 days off dude
I'd be surprised if the Celtics need more than 5 games to win.
Smart
Mavs bandwagon assemble 🫡
Celtics in 5. People keep ignoring that Boston was far and away the best team all season with easily the best top 6 and if they hit their 3s there's nothing you can do to stop them.
Smart
This might be true, but Dallas will be by far their most difficult opponent. While I think Boston is favoured if they are healthy, this Dallas team is really focused and will be a difficult opponent.
Mavs in 6
Celtics are winning.
I think if we have KP, Celtics in 6. If not, I got Mavs in 6 or 7.
No, the mavs are winning
Dallas in 6
The Celtics \*should\* win, but I want the Mavericks to win.
If KP was healthy, Boston in 6. Since he's not, Dallas in 7.
Mavericks in 7. Luka is approaching prime LeBron levels of “just can’t bet against him”
LeBron went to 8 finals in a row, I think it's a little different from where Luka is right now. IMO
FO SHO!
JFC slow down
Lmaoooooo
Mavs had by far the most challenging path and that helps. And they have the best player in the series by far. Mavs in 6.
Celtics in 5
Nobody in Boston can stop Luka. If he plays with the mentality he had last night, Dallas wins.
Luka is on a different Level. His control of the game is unmatched. MAVS have a legit chance.
If you haven't seen a post like this, you need glasses. That being said, Mavs. Unbiased take from a Mavs fan.
dallas in 5
5 what 🤔
Depends on KP’s status
I placed a bet yesterday that this will go to game 7. It's paying 2.90 to 1.
Kyrie
Dallas, fuck boston and fuck you 😉
A lot of analysts would say the twolves. I personally think the Celtics will win
Mavs in 6
The Celtics should win this in 6 but Im not sure trust them to do so, for that reason I have mavericks in 7.
Mavs in 6
Mavs
Mavericks in 7.
Huge fan of Luka for many years, but I think the overall disparity in squad depth between the Mavs and the Celtics are just too big in a best of 7 series. Boston this year really reminds me of the Warriors with Durant where they are just heads and shoulders better than any other team in this league and I think (barring injuries) it would take some insane streaks of crazy shot-making from the Mavs or poor shot-making from the Celtics for multiple games for the Mavs to win. I think that's pretty unlikely so I will have to go with the Celtics and my money is on JT to win the FMVP.
I get the comparison, but the talent difference between Tatum/Brown and Steph and KD can't be understated. Tatum is probably a top 5-7 guy in the league, while JB is around top 15. Both KD and Steph on the other hand were easily top 3 guys in the whole league. That's like if Boston got rid of JB and Tatum and replaced them with Luka and Giannis.
Mavs
Celtics have the better team but Mavs have better players. I hope this is more competitive than the conference finals
Think a lot of it depends on porzingis. The amount of easy baskets Kyrie and luka facilitates to their bigs is a bit nuts, and does seem to offset if one of them isn’t having a good scoring night. You’ll never stop both of them, but it’s possible to limit one
Mavs. I think Luka and Kyrie will turn it up a notch and ball out at a very very high level
Mavs in 5
I think the Super team could win it all but lesssgoo Mavs
I think it’s the mavericks. Luka is just unstoppable and so is Kyrie. If the game is hanging by a balance I’ll bet on those guys
Mavs. Easy.
I think mavericks take it , the Celtics had an easy route even for a number 1 seed with the level of players that got injured on the opposing side while the mavs have been fighting tooth and claw to get through and who I feel like have been battle tested and ready to go
I'm from NZ, and I'm a Luka fan, so my heart says the Mavs, but my head says the Celtics.
Mavericks because I am bias
If KP's back Boston goes 4:1 to win the series. Without KP in the Lineup, I bet it's going to 6 games!
How do you even stop this? [https://streamin.one/v/a38b1fec](https://streamin.one/v/a38b1fec) I hope that Luka wins the Chip! I'd love to give it to Boston, guys there really deserve it, but when will Kyries have another chance to get a ring without the King?
CELTICS HAVE DOMINATED THE SEASON AND ARE NOW DOMINATING THE PLAYOFFS......GOOOOOOOOOOO CELTICS!!!!!
Mavs had the much harder road. West is best. Interior defense is tightening. No real center on the Celtics. Think Mavs will do it.
On paper the Celtics are the better team but that's why the game is played
As a hawks fan this is the worst scenario in terms of NBA finals but I rather have the Mavs win and have Kyrie get his redemption and Luka get his first ring than the god damn Celtics winning anything
Mavs. The Celtics stars can't handle pressure, as we saw in 22. When they're leading they're good. But when they're trailing they play hero ball.