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

[K For Three]

Kyrie for Three

Just K now after Kemba failed too. I had to pick a new name after I started the CA board years ago that people could remember me by.

Anyway I just browsed the thread a bit and doesn't sound like here that Boston has much of a chance.

edit: I can also be Kristaps for Three now I guess.

I thought you might still have a little Kyrie love in your heart.

Celtics are favored because of the really impressive RS, Mavs have been slightly more impressive in the playoffs. With how they've handled great teams.

Not at all. Not since he left Boston. I also don't think I have posted on this general board here for a long long time. Was just checking out the polls and general comments. Going to be a good finals.

[The Corey's]

I'd love to see the Mavericks trot out a twin towers lineup with 2 weak defenders in the backcourt against the Celtics 5-out offense.

They're acting like going big is going to be a problem as if the Celtics don't shoot 50 3s a game.

That's hilarious.

Wolves were + 36 in 3s in game 1 and it still wasn't enough to win the game. Mavs will let Celtics shoot 3s, if they shoot near 50% it will be blowout, if not Mavs will have a chance. Nice thing in best of 7 series is that you can be blown out 3 times and still win the series.

Okc fans were 100% sure they will win. Wolves fans were 100% sure they will win, saying that Zombie apocalypse is more likely than Mavs winning. Now Celtics fans saying Mavs having 0 chances. I see a trend here.

Nobody is afraid of Celtics. Mavs have lost only 2 away games in playoffs and Luka is playing far better on road than at home, so home court advantage means 0.

Celtics lost 4 times at home ALL year. 0 loses on the road in the playoffs.

Mavs arent even in the same universe as the Celtics. I think they and their fans are in for some serious price shock baby.

Celtics in 5. Maybe next year guys.

[bigfoot_cryptozoology]

Interestingly enough, this is the First Time in the History of the Four Major Professional Sports that Boston and Dallas have met for a Championship Finale. We know of course that the Dallas teams have been ducking Boston, the Center of the Sporting Universe, all these years, in fear of embarrassing themselves, but in life there is a time and place for everything. And that moment of Dallas' destruction is now!

The Death Star is fully operational and there will be no Luka Skywalker Donicic to save them...

[Oscar9992]

They're acting like going big is going to be a problem as if the Celtics don't shoot 50 3s a game.

That's hilarious.

Wolves were + 36 in 3s in game 1 and it still wasn't enough to win the game. Mavs will let Celtics shoot 3s, if they shoot near 50% it will be blowout, if not Mavs will have a chance. Nice thing in best of 7 series is that you can be blown out 3 times and still win the series.

Okc fans were 100% sure they will win. Wolves fans were 100% sure they will win, saying that Zombie apocalypse is more likely than Mavs winning. Now Celtics fans saying Mavs having 0 chances. I see a trend here.

Nobody is afraid of Celtics. Mavs have lost only 2 away games in playoffs and Luka is playing far better on road than at home, so home court advantage means 0.

Celtics lost 4 times at home ALL year. 0 loses on the road in the playoffs.

Mavs arent even in the same universe as the Celtics. I think they and their fans are in for some serious price shock baby.

Celtics in 5. Maybe next year guys.

Cavs won 2 games, but Mavs gonna win just 1? OK

[The Corey's]

Wolves were + 36 in 3s in game 1 and it still wasn't enough to win the game. Mavs will let Celtics shoot 3s, if they shoot near 50% it will be blowout, if not Mavs will have a chance. Nice thing in best of 7 series is that you can be blown out 3 times and still win the series.

Okc fans were 100% sure they will win. Wolves fans were 100% sure they will win, saying that Zombie apocalypse is more likely than Mavs winning. Now Celtics fans saying Mavs having 0 chances. I see a trend here.

Nobody is afraid of Celtics. Mavs have lost only 2 away games in playoffs and Luka is playing far better on road than at home, so home court advantage means 0.

Celtics lost 4 times at home ALL year. 0 loses on the road in the playoffs.

Mavs arent even in the same universe as the Celtics. I think they and their fans are in for some serious price shock baby.

Celtics in 5. Maybe next year guys.

Cavs won 2 games, but Mavs gonna win just 1? OK

Cavs won 2 games? No wonder y'all cocky. You ain't even paying attention.

[Sweet Serenity]

The numbers say he is well below Zinger and Horford with defensive impact.

Sounds like the numbers you’re looking up are **** then. Lively is a better defender then Horford.

He's a better defender than anyone on the Celtics. You'll see the evidence after the finals are over.

[Pumpkin17]

Don’t know why anyone has to tell the other team doesn’t stand a chance, seems like a pretty stupid way of approaching what looks like a potentially great series.

-Luka and Kyrie are fantastic and Dallas is playing great, any team with Doncic on it has a chance against everyone

-Celtics are a monster team, 5 starters which are great defenders and scorers, lot of shooters, two all-d guys to play against Dallas backcourt

-both teams demonstrated how strong they are both in the RS (Dallas after the trade deadline) and in the POs (Dallas beat better opposition but not Boston fault they had easier one and took care of the business pretty easily)

I can see both win and personally these are my two fav teams. Being euro I will be happy to see a great series and could care less about who won a reg season matchup.

I do have a Dallas Doncic green jersey and will rock that to be impartial

[UglyBugBall]

Sounds like the numbers you’re looking up are **** then. Lively is a better defender then Horford.

He's a better defender than anyone on the Celtics. You'll see the evidence after the finals are over.

In fact let me go further. PJ, DJJ and lively are the three best defenders in the series. Kleber number 5, because I have a lot of respect for Jrue.

[Bob8]

They're acting like going big is going to be a problem as if the Celtics don't shoot 50 3s a game.

That's hilarious.

Wolves were + 36 in 3s in game 1 and it still wasn't enough to win the game. Mavs will let Celtics shoot 3s, if they shoot near 50% it will be blowout, if not Mavs will have a chance. Nice thing in best of 7 series is that you can be blown out 3 times and still win the series.

Okc fans were 100% sure they will win. Wolves fans were 100% sure they will win, saying that Zombie apocalypse is more likely than Mavs winning. Now Celtics fans saying Mavs having 0 chances. I see a trend here.

Nobody is afraid of Celtics. Mavs have lost only 2 away games in playoffs and Luka is playing far better on road than at home, so home court advantage means 0.

Celtics lost 4 times at home ALL year. 0 loses on the road in the playoffs.

Mavs arent even in the same universe as the Celtics. I think they and their fans are in for some serious price shock baby.

Celtics in 5. Maybe next year guys.

Like I said, we had exactly the same conversation with OKC and Wolves fans. Wolves fans disappeared from the thread after game # 2. The first were gone fans like you.

It's ok to be confident in your team, what Celtics fans are doing is not being confident, it's being disrespectful to Mavs. Mavs are in the Finals beating 1st, 3rd and 4th seed, which all had much better record that anyone Celtics played against. And somehow Celtics fans act like Mavs don't belong in the Finals. I hope Celtics players think similarly, Wolves players did and didn't end well for them.

[The Corey's]

He's a better defender than anyone on the Celtics. You'll see the evidence after the finals are over.

In fact let me go further. PJ, DJJ and lively are the three best defenders in the series. Kleber number 5, because I have a lot of respect for Jrue.

Categorically false. The Mavs have no one who's going to stop the Celtics from scoring.

Mavs are one bull foul from playing game 7 in OKC. The Celtics are light-years better than OKC.

[MoreyWins]

In fact let me go further. PJ, DJJ and lively are the three best defenders in the series. Kleber number 5, because I have a lot of respect for Jrue.

Categorically false. The Mavs have no one who's going to stop the Celtics from scoring.

Mavs are one bull foul from playing game 7 in OKC. The Celtics are light-years better than OKC.

That logic doesn't always apply. Just speaking from Boston's experience, look at 2008. The way they struggled against the East would lead you to believe Kobe's Lakers would dominate. Light-years, idk. I'd expect OKC to run through Boston's postseason competition in similar fashion.

[The Corey's]

In fact let me go further. PJ, DJJ and lively are the three best defenders in the series. Kleber number 5, because I have a lot of respect for Jrue.

Categorically false. The Mavs have no one who's going to stop the Celtics from scoring.

Mavs are one bull foul from playing game 7 in OKC. The Celtics are light-years better than OKC.

That logic doesn't always apply. Just speaking from Boston's experience, look at 2008. The way they struggled against the East would lead you to believe Kobe's Lakers would dominate. Light-years, idk. I'd expect OKC to run through Boston's postseason competition in similar fashion.

For sure.

Id also expect for the Celtics to run through the West too.

Everyone is dissing on them and their path but don't really acknowledge that the Celtics pace against the West had them on course for the same record they ended up with anyway.

I don't think it's a hot take to say the Celtics would of beat the suns, OKC and wolves or that because the Mavs did it and the Celtics didn't that the Celtics are unequipped and unprepared for the finals like others have suggested.

Luka is gonna get his. Irving will maybe sometimes get his. Tatum and Brown will cancel that out. Expecting for them to fall off from their pace and not Luka and Irving screams a bias to me that doesn't ring true with the facts.

I'll take Jrue, White and KP over the Mavs next 3.

[Sweet Serenity]

He's a better defender than anyone on the Celtics. You'll see the evidence after the finals are over.

In fact let me go further. PJ, DJJ and lively are the three best defenders in the series. Kleber number 5, because I have a lot of respect for Jrue.

You’re not going to be taken very seriously with comments like this mate.

[chrisab123]

Based on what I've seen on ESPN this week, I wouldn't know that the Celtics made the finals. They seem to be the clear number 3 behind, Luka/Kyrie = Destiny and LeBron's Free Agency/Brony James. Just really odd that there is not a ton of coverage on the Celtics, given the fact they did win 64 games.

[chrisab123]

He's a better defender than anyone on the Celtics. You'll see the evidence after the finals are over.

In fact let me go further. PJ, DJJ and lively are the three best defenders in the series. Kleber number 5, because I have a lot of respect for Jrue.

Damn. I've got to read these NBA All Defensive teams again. Must have missed those guys on Dallas.

[chrisab123]

In fact let me go further. PJ, DJJ and lively are the three best defenders in the series. Kleber number 5, because I have a lot of respect for Jrue.

Categorically false. The Mavs have no one who's going to stop the Celtics from scoring.

Mavs are one bull foul from playing game 7 in OKC. The Celtics are light-years better than OKC.

That logic doesn't always apply. Just speaking from Boston's experience, look at 2008. The way they struggled against the East would lead you to believe Kobe's Lakers would dominate. Light-years, idk. I'd expect OKC to run through Boston's postseason competition in similar fashion.

FWIW guys like Sheed and Big Baby blame Doc for that issue. They always went to 6-7 Games with that core essentially because in Sheed's mind, Doc didn't know how to coach. So how much of that is talent vs coaching? Because I agree with you that the logic would say that on paper they'd steamroll everyone in 08.

[The Corey's]

Categorically false. The Mavs have no one who's going to stop the Celtics from scoring.

Mavs are one bull foul from playing game 7 in OKC. The Celtics are light-years better than OKC.

That logic doesn't always apply. Just speaking from Boston's experience, look at 2008. The way they struggled against the East would lead you to believe Kobe's Lakers would dominate. Light-years, idk. I'd expect OKC to run through Boston's postseason competition in similar fashion.

FWIW guys like Sheed and Big Baby blame Doc for that issue. They always went to 6-7 Games with that core essentially because in Sheed's mind, Doc didn't know how to coach. So how much of that is talent vs coaching? Because I agree with you that the logic would say that on paper they'd steamroll everyone in 08.

Knock on 08 team was you can't build a championship team in a single summer and you need time to gel.

Now everyone does it. Two of the Celtics major pieces this year are new so you'd think that they would of needed time to figure it out and Dallas is rocking quite a few pieces that's only been there for just over 2 months.

I wouldn't look at 2008 at any indication on how 2024 works.

[chrisab123]

That logic doesn't always apply. Just speaking from Boston's experience, look at 2008. The way they struggled against the East would lead you to believe Kobe's Lakers would dominate. Light-years, idk. I'd expect OKC to run through Boston's postseason competition in similar fashion.

FWIW guys like Sheed and Big Baby blame Doc for that issue. They always went to 6-7 Games with that core essentially because in Sheed's mind, Doc didn't know how to coach. So how much of that is talent vs coaching? Because I agree with you that the logic would say that on paper they'd steamroll everyone in 08.

Knock on 08 team was you can't build a championship team in a single summer and you need time to gel.

Now everyone does it. Two of the Celtics major pieces this year are new so you'd think that they would of needed time to figure it out and Dallas is rocking quite a few pieces that's only been there for just over 2 months.

I wouldn't look at 2008 at any indication on how 2024 works.

That's fair. However they were still pulling that **** in 2010 when Sheed came on board, so it honestly does give the criticism some merit.

[The Corey's]

FWIW guys like Sheed and Big Baby blame Doc for that issue. They always went to 6-7 Games with that core essentially because in Sheed's mind, Doc didn't know how to coach. So how much of that is talent vs coaching? Because I agree with you that the logic would say that on paper they'd steamroll everyone in 08.

Knock on 08 team was you can't build a championship team in a single summer and you need time to gel.

Now everyone does it. Two of the Celtics major pieces this year are new so you'd think that they would of needed time to figure it out and Dallas is rocking quite a few pieces that's only been there for just over 2 months.

I wouldn't look at 2008 at any indication on how 2024 works.

That's fair. However they were still pulling that **** in 2010 when Sheed came on board, so it honestly does give the criticism some merit.

Oh. Don't get me wrong. Doc was a horrendous coach and left two titles out there.

[Mr_Mojo_Risin]

I totally respect that, he's your guy and that's fine. I don't think he is on the Luka or Shai level of scoring but I'll be watching intently for him to prove me wrong and take over this series.

You aren’t watching enough games. Tatum was a 30 ppg scorer a year ago, is an elite scorer who had to sacrifice e shots for Porzingis and Jrue.

He is a terrific scorer and plays high level defense and is one of the best two way players in the nba, as is Brown.

I am a fan of Tatum, and agree with everything you say. I just don't think he's a guy teams will send hard double teams to at halfcourt to get the ball out of his hands due to being such a scoring threat. Both Luka and Shai see that routinely. He is certainly elite though, and I'd take him as one of the 5-7 best players in the league.

I’ve seen enough of your posts to respect that you know what you’re watching. However Tatum has been doubled for years, one of the main reasons he’s had to become a better playmaker.

Iggy mentioned on a podcast Spo created “The Tatum Rules” about how to defend Tatum that included doubles because of how much they viewed him as a threat. In the recent series there were even triple coverage halfcourt plays.

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