2024 NBA Playoffs: Western Conference Finals: #3 Minnesota Timberwolves vs #5 Dallas Mavericks (DAL leads 3-0)

[K N U C K L E S]

The league office can't be too happy that both conference finals could be sweeps. Especially because there would be a week and a half with no basketball before the finals start.

[AussieCeltic]

Celts will pick on Luka defensively. He may score 35 but will prob give up 35.

Yes, the Celtics have the tools to slow down Luka. Brown as the primary defender, Tatum can guard him too and of course a splash of Holiday and even White.

On the other end though, Tatum might choke end game too as he does not have the Kyrie/Luka Kobe DNA so it's really going to be an interesting close series considering the talent of these squads and more importantly the verstatility of both of these teams to just switch everything as everyone can play respectable defense (no Conley type of weakness in the Celtics lineup)

Not sure where these Tatum narratives come from. He’s one of the best clutch players since he’s been in the league. He also has his biggest games when facing elimination.

Read on Twitter

?s=46

[dygaction]

The best thing a Max player like KAT has done for his team was hurt Lively, very reckless.

Sad but true.

Come on man that was completely inadvertent on a routine crash to the rim.

Sad Lively got hurt, true that KAT has not helped his team. Did not say he intentionally hurt Lively.

[Archx]

Lol, Draymond giving great advice to Gaff what to do if they trap Luka. He really hates Gobert

[Rainwater]

The league office can't be too happy that both conference finals could be sweeps. Especially because there would be a week and a half with no basketball before the finals start.

It’s not like these games haven’t been competitive, people need to stop this narrative.

[BliscoSantos]

Minny need some roster changes. Edwards is the only one out there capable of making plays.

Boston vs Dallas will be fun!

These playoffs have lowkey been trash outside of like 1-2 series. Bunch of sweeps and blowouts.

Hopefully ,but Boston has some really good Luka and Kai stoppers... it's all about matchups and I'm afraid Dallas doesn't Match Up well with Boston

That's what they said about OKC and Timberwolves, look how that turned out.

I know ,it's just my gut feeling ..I was confident against Both OKC and Minnesota, but Boston is a different beast.... they'll need to stay focused on Both ends the entire time,they can't lose focus and fall too far behind and chase them

[tsherkin]

Gafford is a real well-spoken dude!

Yeah, that was a solid interview/show appearance.

Shoutout to Draymond coachin Gafford a little about them damn PNR turnovers. If he improves on that it’s game changing. Keeps us as a major threat offensively.

That was kind of cool, actually. I wonder if it'll pay dividends going forward? That'd be neat to see.

[Sweet Serenity]

Celtics vs Mavs will be a great series to watch. Two very skilled teams. WIll be a ton of hype. Can't wait.

Won’t be as good as this one , Mavs will sweep Celtics and won’t be close games

Don’t you dare disappear if the Celtics win the chip

[Wammy Giveaway]

By virtue of a 3-0 lead, the Mavericks have automatically won the series. Congratulations to Dallas! First Finals since 2011, when they last won vs. Heat. They will be going up against the very legacy team who helped brought relevancy to the National Basketball Association.

Some final thoughts:

1. The last time Conley was in the conference finals with the Grizzlies in 2013 (thanks, Clippers), they got swept by the Spurs. He has yet to win a game in the conference finals.
2. Reid's Sixth Man award is an automatic loss. Only four teams in NBA history have won a title with a Sixth Man award winner on their roster, going back to 1996 with Toni Kukoc of the Bulls. 4 out of 42 is 9%.
3. The last time the Wolves made the conference finals in 2004, they lost in six games (Lakers won 4-2). This was a 20-year conference finals return. It's possible we may not see them back in the conference finals for another 20 years, if the history of the Wolves seasons is to be believed.

With the Wolves automatically being out of the running, the only question left to ask is when will it finish. Do Mavericks give them a free game in Game 4 despite it being at home, or do they go for the sweep? Do they now manage Doncic's minutes while allowing Irving and the role players to seal the deal?

[tsherkin]

Not sure where these Tatum narratives come from. He’s one of the best clutch players since he’s been in the league. He also has his biggest games when facing elimination.

Yeah, I don't think that'll be the issue for him. His problems will come more from overall consistency game to game because he's a high-variance shooter. But he's come through a fair bit in high-leverage moments.

[Yuri36]

Clippers and OKC put up a better show against Mavs, in retrospect they were tough competition

It’s all about matchups. Mavs were a bad matchup for the Timberwolves. Timberwolves were the perfect counter to Denver.

As would have been Dallas if you actually think about it.

[Oscar9992]

I hope Lively will come back. He is the 3'd best player in Mavs & may be the most impactful in the squad overall.

[Oscar9992]

I hope Lively will come back. He is the 3'd best player in Mavs & may be the most impactful in the squad overall.

[GeorgeSears]

This time the TWolves dominated the paint, the problem is they needed to hit a few more 3s to keep up with the pace of the Mavs.

If KAT hits some of those 3s, it's a different game. He went 0-8. He hasn't shown up all series.

[durden_tyler]

Celts will pick on Luka defensively. He may score 35 but will prob give up 35.

Yes, the Celtics have the tools to slow down Luka. Brown as the primary defender, Tatum can guard him too and of course a splash of Holiday and even White.

On the other end though, Tatum might choke end game too as he does not have the Kyrie/Luka Kobe DNA so it's really going to be an interesting close series considering the talent of these squads and more importantly the verstatility of both of these teams to just switch everything as everyone can play respectable defense (no Conley type of weakness in the Celtics lineup)

Not sure where these Tatum narratives come from. He’s one of the best clutch players since he’s been in the league. He also has his biggest games when facing elimination.

Read on Twitter

?s=46

Yeah, i did not say he's totally useless since he has experienced failing and choking already (Heat series, Warriors series etc). He has some clutch genes i guess but not as good as Luka/Kyrie is my point. If it's a close game, i am giving the edge to the Mavs. However, the Celtics have the tools to make it a blowout too (they are that good) so maybe it does not even need to be close (this is assuming the good Boston appears every game and not the Play With Food Boston we came to know in some games/stretches these playoffs).

[SupaManu]

Celtics vs Mavs will be a great series to watch. Two very skilled teams. WIll be a ton of hype. Can't wait.

Won’t be as good as this one , Mavs will sweep Celtics and won’t be close games

Terrible take

[durden_tyler]

I hope Lively will come back. He is the 3'd best player in Mavs & may be the most impactful in the squad overall.

The NBA Finals is June 6th i believe. He can miss Game 4 and we're guaranteed already to have the Celtics-Mavericks NBA Finals.

[Patches Perry]

Clippers and OKC put up a better show against Mavs, in retrospect they were tough competition

Luka seems healthier now than those series'.

To be fair, people tend to determine Luka's health by how well he plays, so it's a bit self-fulfilling. He's "healthier" in his good games and clearly very obviously injured in his bad ones. Too convenient imo.

I know people hate Dort but the truth is he was a big part of why Luka struggled against OKC in a way he didn't struggle against LAC or MIN. You'd otherwise have to see his injury as a very weirdly timed injury that was healing, then flared up against OKC somehow, but is now is healing again against Minnesota. It's just a built-in excuse. Luka is on his way to a championship, finals MVP and rightly holding the title as best player in the league, so he doesn't need us to give him security blankets for his potential failures.

I do think he is playing in pain, which he deserves a lot of credit for, but I don't think it's impacting his play. He can do everything he normally does, it just hurts him to do it.

[Yuri36]

This time the TWolves dominated the paint, the problem is they needed to hit a few more 3s to keep up with the pace of the Mavs.

If KAT hits some of those 3s, it's a different game. He went 0-8. He hasn't shown up all series.

They dominated the paint once Lively went out.
If he didn't get concussed, probably that this game would have been a blowout for Mavs.

[durden_tyler]

Also, i wonder how Vegas earned tonight. Everyone and their grandmother were on the Wolves moneyline/spread believing there is no way the Wolves will go down 0-3 in the West Finals. Thank goodness i did not follow that thinking. LOL