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

[Johnny Firpo]

I love how prior to the series it was "Dallas has an amazing defense!! it's just not shown in the stats because of muh trade, and kidd tinkering with the lineups!" and now it's "Dallas was never a good team and Celtics are lucky it's not Denver."

Dallas' D is fine even in the finals, it's the Celtics' D that's the biggest problem from the Mavs' perspective and the vast difference regarding the role players' quality and play. And yeah, some fans were obviously just waiting to say dumb things about the final and the teams regardless of how it was panning out.

[AussieCeltic]

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[Slax]

I love how prior to the series it was "Dallas has an amazing defense!! it's just not shown in the stats because of muh trade, and kidd tinkering with the lineups!" and now it's "Dallas was never a good team and Celtics are lucky it's not Denver."

Dallas' D is fine even in the finals, it's the Celtics' D that's the biggest problem from the Mavs' perspective and the vast difference regarding the role players' quality and play. And yeah, some fans were obviously just waiting to say dumb things about the final and the teams regardless of how it was panning out.

Their defense is giving up high quality shots that the Celtics aren't hitting at a high rate, but probably will if nothing changes for the rest of the series, because shooting luck tends to even out. I don't think that means the Mavs' defense is bad though. Rather, the particular defensive scheme they are using and the personnel they have to execute it has worked better against different teams. They're just now running up against a team where they can't hide their weaknesses as easily. They probably need to figure out a way to stop giving up so many of those matchups where Luka is defending Brown or Tatum. Ben Taylor suggested less switching, which seems worth a shot trying at this point.

[brackdan70]

They aren't playing a caliber of team to MAKE them die by the 3.

The celtics sure did try to give it to them on a silver platter though giving up that 9-0 run late. A better team gives the celtics a devastating loss under those circumstances.



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Maybe whatever better team you're thinking of should have tried a little harder to defeat their clearly inferior competition and make it out of the Western Conference so they could hand a devastating loss to this wilting Celtics team.

A better team like a healthy team out east maybe. Or another one of the western conference teams that got beat by a team that dallas matched up better against.

Denver comes to mind.

Maybe a healthy luka could have made em die by the 3 tonight.

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Well there is always next year… Maybe one of these “higher caliber teams” will materialize and give the Celtics trouble.

[jg77]

I just can't see the Mavs losing a must win game 3.

[Fencer reregistered]

I put this in the previous thread but then rudely locked it haha. Interesting and effective schemes from Mazzulla and the C's.

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Some day there will be a statue of Luka in Dallas.

He's just posing for it prematurely.

[Crunch 99]

Nice piece about Jrue Holiday:

Jrue Holiday does a little bit of everything as Boston grabs 2-0 series lead
https://sports.yahoo.com/2024-nba-finals-jrue-holiday-does-a-little-bit-of-everything-as-boston-grabs-2-0-series-lead-131031988.html

[Froob]

Is THJ that unplayable? Surprised Kidd doesn't give him a shot - literally. Bad defender, right?

[brackdan70]

I just can't see the Mavs losing a must win game 3.

Yeah you would think they come out with uncommon urgency and they dig deep. Going to be a really good game I think. Cs will need to be able to match that to stay in the game I think.
The one interesting aspect is what if the Celtics have a normal instead of atrocious shooting night from three. The first two games they have missed a ton of good looks.

[Curmudgeon]

I just can't see the Mavs losing a must win game 3.

LOL, I can't imagine the Celtics playing as badly on offense as they did in games 1 and 2.

[Texas Chuck]

Is THJ that unplayable? Surprised Kidd doesn't give him a shot - literally. Bad defender, right?

yes, bad defender, but I think they'd live with some of that if his shot hadn't disappeared. He hasn't been right since his injury and a THJ not shooting in the high 30's on volume with a bit of his own shot creation just isn't playable. He's never been a great player, but he's definitely a missing piece that hurts Dallas. They need shooting badly.

[Slax]

Is THJ that unplayable? Surprised Kidd doesn't give him a shot - literally. Bad defender, right?

yes, bad defender, but I think they'd live with some of that if his shot hadn't disappeared. He hasn't been right since his injury and a THJ not shooting in the high 30's on volume with a bit of his own shot creation just isn't playable. He's never been a great player, but he's definitely a missing piece that hurts Dallas. They need shooting badly.

Any chance they could try playing Hardy more? I assume giving up some size would exacerbate the issues the Mavs are having on defense, but I'm kind of struggling to think of what sort of other personnel adjustments the Mavs can make to fix their offense right now. It feels like they could use more volume three point shooting to punish the Celtics.

[Texas Chuck]

yeah should probably play Hardy and not Exum. Hardy at least comes in aggressively on offense.

[sikma42]

This is one of the most boring NBA Finals in some time. At least the WNBA is interesting and the Olympics are around the corner.


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[HMFFL]

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Dallas has no chance as long as Boston is moving the ball like they've done all season. Mavs don't have it in them to do it yet with this team that's still trying to figure things out.

[Froob]

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Dallas has no chance as long as Boston is moving the ball like they've done all season. Mavs don't have it in them to do it yet with this team that's still trying to figure things out.

The funny thing is real analyst, Chuck to name one, said Boston was the team that didn’t move the ball

[Fencer reregistered]

I don't recall a player as experienced as Luka ever getting shoved by a teammate the way Kyrie did to him in this clip. (I do sometimes see it with young players, or maybe very recent vet acqusitions right after a trade.)

And what it led to was Kyrie leaving the best corner shooter in the NBA wide open for a corner 3.

Is this a common kind of interaction for them?

https://www.celticsblog.com/2024/6/11/24175132/boston-celtics-dallas-mavericks-nba-finals-game-2-three-things-jayson-tatum-kristaps-porzingis

[50yrceltsfan]

The Mavs will play with desperation, and also some home court confidence. The refs will be favoring them. I doubt Porzingis plays. Kyrie is due to do something, and a role player as well. It all adds up to a Mavs win.

[Celts17Pride]

I just can't see the Mavs losing a must win game 3.

Stay tuned.

[Celts17Pride]

yeah should probably play Hardy and not Exum. Hardy at least comes in aggressively on offense.

Hardy has looked pretty good every time I see him in the playoffs.