2024 NBA FINALS: #1 Boston Celtics vs #5 Dallas Mavericks (BOS leads 3-0)

[HMFFL]

If KP is out or plays and isn't the same, I expect Dallas to put up a better fight offensively...I think it will come down to whether or not the Celtics offense wakes up. If we get the Celtics offense from 1 and 2, Dallas will win.

No fight will happen if the Mavs continue to not defend the Celtics ball movement and their struggles at the 3 point line continue.

[Jaqua92]

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I will eat my hat if he plays game 3

Super rare injury. Apparently a woman completed a triathlon with this injury and didn't receive a diagnosis and treatment for months.

[lambchop]

I love how people flip flop.. First it was around 50-50 with most people voting Celtics obviously being Celtics fans.. Now, even though it's game 3 and it's likely the Mavs win, it's 67-30 Celtics..

Oh and Luka is a magician on offense, that's true, but dang, how's nobody calling him out on his god dang awful defense(and physical shape he's in). The amount that Luka gets away with in neutral fans' eyes is hilarious:

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But advanced stats still suggest he's athletic prime MJ on defense. Absolutely comical.

[Yinwest]

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[rapstarter]

medial retinaculum allowing dislocation of the posterior tibialis tendon in his left leg

It was very clear and simple sentence, until the last word, WTF is "leg"?

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[zimpy27]

KP is a big factor in why Kyrie has struggled to attack the basket. I think him being out could turn the series around.

[zimpy27]

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I will eat my hat if he plays game 3

Super rare injury. Apparently a woman completed a triathlon with this injury and didn't receive a diagnosis and treatment for months.

Was this woman 7'3?

[rapstarter]

I will eat my hat if he plays game 3

Super rare injury. Apparently a woman completed a triathlon with this injury and didn't receive a diagnosis and treatment for months.

Was this woman 7'3?

I'd imagine a triathlon is very taxing on your legs regardless of your height.

[zimpy27]

Super rare injury. Apparently a woman completed a triathlon with this injury and didn't receive a diagnosis and treatment for months.

Was this woman 7'3?

I'd imagine a triathlon is very taxing on your legs regardless of your height.

Running in a straight line is not an issue with this injury though, it's sideways movement or leg twisting where this thing actually matters. Without that tendon he could do an extremely serious knee injury and he is 7'3 with a known proclivity to bend his knees inwards when he runs or jumps (the tendon is on the inwards side of the knee so this matters a lot).

He surely won't be allowed to play by the team medics, Celtics could not only lose these finals but they could lose KP for next 2 seasons and his $30m a year just sitting their hogging up moves. Not a smart move for him or the team.

[The Corey's]

KP is a big factor in why Kyrie has struggled to attack the basket. I think him being out could turn the series around.

Full stop no.

Dallas has ZERO chance of outscoring the Celtics to win.

If their defense doesn't change, and it won't, they can't and won't win.

KP has been playing back up minutes. Not sure why anyone would consider this a game changing event.

[SerialChiller]

I love how people flip flop.. First it was around 50-50 with most people voting Celtics obviously being Celtics fans.. Now, even though it's game 3 and it's likely the Mavs win, it's 67-30 Celtics..

Oh and Luka is a magician on offense, that's true, but dang, how's nobody calling him out on his god dang awful defense(and physical shape he's in). The amount that Luka gets away with in neutral fans' eyes is hilarious:

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That's legit Harden level bad defense

[zimpy27]

KP is a big factor in why Kyrie has struggled to attack the basket. I think him being out could turn the series around.

Full stop no.

Dallas has ZERO chance of outscoring the Celtics to win.

If their defense doesn't change, and it won't, they can't and won't win.

KP has been playing back up minutes. Not sure why anyone would consider this a game changing event.

In game 1, Mavs were up 13-12 before KP checked in and Celtics went on a 25-7 run in 7 minutes. Game was over from there.

In game 2, Celtics were +12 with KP on court for 23 mins, they were -5 with KP off court in the other 25 mins. They won by 7.

[The Corey's]

KP is a big factor in why Kyrie has struggled to attack the basket. I think him being out could turn the series around.

Full stop no.

Dallas has ZERO chance of outscoring the Celtics to win.

If their defense doesn't change, and it won't, they can't and won't win.

KP has been playing back up minutes. Not sure why anyone would consider this a game changing event.

In game 1, Mavs were up 13-12 before KP checked in and they went on a 25-7 run in 7 minutes. Game was over from there.

In game 2, Celtics were +12 with KP on court for 23 mins, they were -5 with KP off court in the other 25 mins. They won by 7.

Celtics already beat Dallas without KP this very year. They're not good enough.

They don't play defense against the Celtics. If KP didn't get those points, someone else is.

[BigDan245]

I have this single bullet theory that if you have a guy who is compromised, but can possibly play, you don't play him until you have to.

For example, what the Knicks did with OG was laughable. They had to have known he wasn't going to give them much and yet they started him. They should have brought him off the bench in case of emergency. You don't shoot your one bullet for 4 minutes to start a game.

If Boston is unsure if KP can really play a full game, they shouldn't play him unless they need him. Risking losing him for the rest of the series in a game 3 up 2-0 is dumb. I'd rather have the ability to play him in the 4th quarter of a series tied 2-2 to stave off a Dallas victory than to use him in the hopes I go up 3-0.

Boston has won without KP and they can win 2 out of 5 without him. But if they are on the ropes and need SOMETHING, wouldn't it be nice to pull the trigger and maybe get a few clutch minutes in a must win game?

[Chanel Bomber]

Luka was a liability on defense in game 2.

The Celtics targeted him over and over and the Mavs defense collapsed because he couldn't keep anyone in front of him.

This could have easily been a blowout if Boston had made their open 3s.

Luka's obviously a great player but a lot of his work on offense gets undone by his defense when he plays like this. This was easily one of the worst defensive performances I've seen on this stage by a superstar.

He can get by on defense against a 4-out offense with the 5 roaming behind him. He has no one to bail him out against Boston's 5-out. He has to step up.

[warriorschamps]

The Celtics are unlikely to put Porzingis out there if he can't play play close to 100%. And I don't see how he can with this injury.

It won't help anybody, not Porzingis and certainly not the team. Obviously the Celtics are a better team with a healthy Porzingis and would rather have him out there. But even without Porzingis they still have enough talent to win the series as they showed in the Eastern Conference playoffs.

That's why the Celtics built such a deep team. They weren't going to put their championship hopes in the hands of a guy with his injury history. I still have Boston winning the series especially now that they are already up 2-0. That's one of the benefits of having a deep team, you can overcome an injury like this.

[SFour]

This video is a really good explanation of Porzingis' injury.....looks like he'll still be able to play but it'll effect his game for sure. Impaired function with pain. Mavs will definitely be going at him, he'll struggle to guard a shifty player like Kyrie.

Watch on YouTube

[ImSlower]

I know there's not a damn thing fans can do about it, as suits have determined that these absurdly long delays between games and series generate more profit for everyone. But damn does all this downtime kill any kind of ongoing playoff storylines.

Apologies, this old man is just yelling at clouds over having games every 3 nights instead of 2; I realize this is the new normal.

[Curmudgeon]

The Celtics were 12-2 in the previous three playoff series without Porzingis-- including 6-0 on the road. Luke Kornet will take Porzingis' minutes and do just fine.

Having said that, the Celtics can't afford to shoot 25% as a team, as they did in game 2, and expect to win in Dallas. During the regular season they shot 48.7% as a team, so I expect them to revert to the mean in game 3.

[165bows]

This video is a really good explanation of Porzingis' injury.....looks like he'll still be able to play but it'll effect his game for sure. Impaired function with pain. Mavs will definitely be going at him, he'll struggle to guard a shifty player like Kyrie.

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Lively with another Mavs lane violation to this time injure Porzingis.

These guys are out of control refs someone do something.