2024 NBA FINALS: #1 Boston Celtics vs #5 Dallas Mavericks (Game 1: Thursday June 6th)

[meh]

No NBA team has won a championship as the 5th seed

A 6 seed has though.

[Swish1906]

So Tatum is their 3rd biggest player in their rotation? Otherwise it’s just old Horford and KP. I can see the Celtics getting in the same problems the Thunder had if KP isn’t ready for 30+ mins

Boston lead the league in rebounds (OKC 27th) and have amazing defenders 1-5. This isn’t remotely similar to OKC at all.

I really don’t care which stats the Celtics collected against every team in the league, i am looking at the upcoming matchups and personal on the court

[boogiezen]

Dallas underdog again.

[AussieCeltic]

Too easy for DAL. BOS has no BBIQ on offense. When the pressure is on, they will settle for jacking up 3s while Ky and Luka are scoring at all 3 levels

Yeh the team with the highest offensive rating in NBA history has no BBIQ.

Celtics in 5, maybe 6.

I like the matchup for the Celtics. Luka is a menace and will have monster stat lines but I like our matchups a lot more.

Our offense is worlds apart over what Mavs saw with the Wolves. There’s no Rudy Gobert, Kyle Anderson, Jaden McDaniels to sag off and control the paint.

Luka won’t be able to hide on defense on the weak side.

Should be a great series either way. Looking forward to it. Hopefully everyone stays healthy and we get tight games.

They really don't. Their offensive rating is boosted because of their reliance on jacking up 3s. We have seen their 3 point weapon fail them in the playoffs before. No reason to believe that this time is different

I mean, they literally do. It’s actually a stat that is measured, it doesn’t go by your feelings.

The Celtics have the best record in the league this season when shooting under league average from 3.

Do you know what that means? Even if they’re not hitting 3’s, they’re a better chance at winning than any other team.

This team isn’t the same as previous iterations.

[azcatz11]

Did you watched any of their games ?

They gonna fold faster than umbrella

You mean during the regular season where they had the best record by 7 games?

Best record in East by 14 games

Best record vs the West

Best record vs over .500 teams

Or the playoffs where they had the best record

Best Net rating

Highest average margin of victory

Those games???

Yes all of those when they barely hang around heavily injured Miami , Cavs and Indy

They do have best record vs the west tho….to me that proves they’re big boys and not paper tigers. I do see this as an 04 pistons situation

[GoCeltics123]

So Tatum is their 3rd biggest player in their rotation? Otherwise it’s just old Horford and KP. I can see the Celtics getting in the same problems the Thunder had if KP isn’t ready for 30+ mins

Thought that going in to the season but Celtics ended as the best defensive rebounding team in the NBA. They are very very good at mob rebounding and Tatum has been a beast

Yeah but Lively and Gafford should be way too big/springy for Horford. KP is always a disappointing rebounder for his size. Mavs have additional Luka, Kleber, DJJ…I think there lays an advantage for the Mavs

KP absolutely smoked your frontcourt this year so you guys gotta hope to hell he's not himself (assuming he plays obviously)

[AussieCeltic]

So Tatum is their 3rd biggest player in their rotation? Otherwise it’s just old Horford and KP. I can see the Celtics getting in the same problems the Thunder had if KP isn’t ready for 30+ mins

Boston lead the league in rebounds (OKC 27th) and have amazing defenders 1-5. This isn’t remotely similar to OKC at all.

I really don’t care which stats the Celtics collected against every team in the league, i am looking at the upcoming matchups and personal on the court

How'd they look vs the Mavs?

[SweetTouch]

The young blood lively is going to send horford old as into retirement

Brad Steven’s needs to make the right decision and sit him

[KamikazeK]

Yeh the team with the highest offensive rating in NBA history has no BBIQ.

Celtics in 5, maybe 6.

I like the matchup for the Celtics. Luka is a menace and will have monster stat lines but I like our matchups a lot more.

Our offense is worlds apart over what Mavs saw with the Wolves. There’s no Rudy Gobert, Kyle Anderson, Jaden McDaniels to sag off and control the paint.

Luka won’t be able to hide on defense on the weak side.

Should be a great series either way. Looking forward to it. Hopefully everyone stays healthy and we get tight games.

They really don't. Their offensive rating is boosted because of their reliance on jacking up 3s. We have seen their 3 point weapon fail them in the playoffs before. No reason to believe that this time is different

It can fail once or twice, but not 4 times in a 7 game series.

Even if you charitably begin every 7-game stretch with a loss, C's have not lost 4 games in any 7-game stretch this entire year. Can't say the same for the Mavs.

[ArksNetsSince99]

You mean during the regular season where they had the best record by 7 games?

Best record in East by 14 games

Best record vs the West

Best record vs over .500 teams

Or the playoffs where they had the best record

Best Net rating

Highest average margin of victory

Those games???

Yes all of those when they barely hang around heavily injured Miami , Cavs and Indy

They do have best record vs the west tho….to me that proves they’re big boys and not paper tigers. I do see this as an 04 pistons situation

Boston doesn’t do well under pressure , reg season is different animal, in the playoffs that’s the first time they gonna face. Tough team , previous 3 rounds was a joke anyways

[Swish1906]

You don’t think they’re going to win? Celtics are more than 2-1 favorites

Did you watched any of their games ?

They gonna fold faster than umbrella

I watched em all. They’re going to be a matchup nightmare. Who is guarding Brown? He’s going to get free looks all series.

DJJ will while PJ is guarding Tatum.

Celtics have a bigger issue because white is going to be undersized and you can’t put him on Luka

[blueberrysticky]

Dallas will always be an underdog no matter their record since the trade deadline

Beat the 1,3,4 seeds in the tough western conf. Luka has been a killer with or without a bum knee

[Patches Perry]

I'm surprised Mavericks are +6 in game 1. I'm kind of torn on this series but the last 4 weeks of basketball tells me Dallas is the hottest team in the league and Boston, who admittedly has been the best team in the league all year, has basically had 3 rounds of byes. I'd think it would be closer to a pick 'em. I guess I'll open the wallet.

[AussieCeltic]

Did you watched any of their games ?

They gonna fold faster than umbrella

You mean during the regular season where they had the best record by 7 games?

Best record in East by 14 games

Best record vs the West

Best record vs over .500 teams

Or the playoffs where they had the best record

Best Net rating

Highest average margin of victory

Those games???

Yes all of those when they barely hang around heavily injured Miami , Cavs and Indy

They had the 2nd highest average winning margin in the first 2 rounds in NBA history. After Pacers series it’s now the 11th highest margin of victory in NBA history.

Indy was a good team as well. 5th best net rating post Siakam trade and 2nd best offense in the league behind the Celtics.

[ForeverTFC]

We are all Mavs fans for a month.

Mavs have the best player in the series and 2 of the best 3. I have hope!

lol No they don't

You disagree that Luka is the best player in the series or that Kyrie is better than Brown?

We can debate the latter, the former is a fact.

[XTC]

Does ESPN upgrade the Kyrie trade to a C+ now?

[ArksNetsSince99]

I'm surprised Mavericks are +6 in game 1. I'm kind of torn on this series but the last 4 weeks of basketball tells me Dallas is the hottest team in the league and Boston, who admittedly has been the best team in the league all year, has basically had 3 rounds of byes. I'd think it would be closer to a pick 'em. I guess I'll open the wallet.

Now , that’s smart move

[XTC]

We are all Mavs fans for a month.

Mavs have the best player in the series and 2 of the best 3. I have hope!

lol No they don't

You disagree that Luka is the best player in the series or that Kyrie is better than Brown?

We can debate the latter, the former is a fact.

Luka


Tatum
Kyrie


Brown

[azcatz11]

Did you watched any of their games ?

They gonna fold faster than umbrella

I watched em all. They’re going to be a matchup nightmare. Who is guarding Brown? He’s going to get free looks all series.

DJJ will while PJ is guarding Tatum.

Celtics have a bigger issue because white is going to be undersized and you can’t put him on Luka

Brown is guarding Luka. He got cooked last time they played but they already said that was happening

[Mk0]

Boston can't afford to sleep walk in this series. I don't like it for them.

I could see Dallas stealing game 1 just like they closed out the Wolves. Luka could come out and punch them in the mouth in the first quarter and it wouldn't surprise anyone.

Tatum will still get his numbers but the only guy on the Celtics I trust to be ready for game 1 is Jaylen Brown and maybe Derrick White.

Going with Dallas in 6. They have been ramping up for this series going through a gauntlet in the West and I think they hit the ground running.