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

[BeiBeau]

Are the Pacers and Mavs similar? I'm kind of expecting the Mavs are similar to the Pacers with better closers.

Is that too simplistic?

What happens if Boston replayed that series and had Luka closing the last 5 minutes instead of Andrew Nembhard.

[BeiBeau]

Are the Pacers and Mavs similar? I'm kind of expecting the Mavs are similar to the Pacers with better closers.

Is that too simplistic?

The mavs are much better defensively, don't play fast like the Pacers, and have elite rim protection and lob threats. Luka and Kyrie are much better in the half court than anyone on the Pacers. They are way better and play very differently than Indiana.

Dallas is not as fast as the pacers but we aren’t slow anymore.

[BeiBeau]

Gafford might get played off some. Although he moves his feet rather well so I don’t truly see it happening. I really don’t see a world where Gafford gets dropped to below 12 minutes per game. The Gafford/lively combo is honestly Dallas’s identity at this point. They combine for 18 points 13 rebounds and 3 blocks, but more importantly 48 unyielding minutes of elite rim protection. And Kidd loves to keep them fresh and active. He switches them out every 4-6 minutes or so.

Offensively their rim pressure is just no something maxi can replicate, and he is no where in the stratosphere in terms of rim protection.

If Dallas ends up having to go heavy maxi over Gafford then I think Boston is dictating the series and Dallas is likely to lose.

Also Hardy has pretty much taken all of THJs minutes. Besides game 2 against OKC Hardy has been the best shooter, passer, defender, plus Hardy is really just a walking bucket. When the play breaks down Hardy’s played pretty well.

Ultimately,

Luka (40) | Kyrie (8)
Kyrie (32) | Hardy (12) | Exum/Green/THJ (4)
DJJ (32) | Green (16)
PJ (38) | Maxi (10)
Gafford(18) | Lively (26) | Maxi (4)

Yeah I don't any chance Dallas stops the Gafford/Lively always fresh center rotation. They've been the best rim protectors in the playoffs, and their presence as lob treats are key to Dallas' offense as well. That's a weird take.

Boston have stretch Cs and like to switch off their bigs for pick and pop action or to open lane for drives. I think Kleber is going to see more court than Gafford because of this. Lively should be present as much if not more than other series this playoffs.

Rim protection is important but not everything and Lively/Kleber bring enough there.

Is this where lively catapults himself even farther? Is 32 minutes a night out of the question for him?

[zimpy27]

Yeah I don't any chance Dallas stops the Gafford/Lively always fresh center rotation. They've been the best rim protectors in the playoffs, and their presence as lob treats are key to Dallas' offense as well. That's a weird take.

Boston have stretch Cs and like to switch off their bigs for pick and pop action or to open lane for drives. I think Kleber is going to see more court than Gafford because of this. Lively should be present as much if not more than other series this playoffs.

Rim protection is important but not everything and Lively/Kleber bring enough there.

Is this where lively catapults himself even farther? Is 32 minutes a night out of the question for him?

I could see 28mpg for this series, he played a 6 game stretch at about 26.5mpg so far this playoffs. I think 28mpg is realistic with the 3 days break between games. 30mpg is possible, it's certainly easier to move on perimeter than bang with bigs like he did in other series this playoffs.

[ajones9219]

Are the Pacers and Mavs similar? I'm kind of expecting the Mavs are similar to the Pacers with better closers.

Is that too simplistic?

Pacers are by far the better offensive team, while the Mavs are by far the better defensive team. Having said that, the Pacers got Boston out of their comfort zone more than I think the Mavs will. That's not a shot at the Mavs (they are better than the Pacers), it's just that the Pacers play by far the fastest pace in the league while Boston plays the slowest. Boston would much rather a slower, half court based game vs sprinting in transition.

[BeiBeau]

Boston have stretch Cs and like to switch off their bigs for pick and pop action or to open lane for drives. I think Kleber is going to see more court than Gafford because of this. Lively should be present as much if not more than other series this playoffs.

Rim protection is important but not everything and Lively/Kleber bring enough there.

Is this where lively catapults himself even farther? Is 32 minutes a night out of the question for him?

I could see 28mpg for this series, he played a 6 game stretch at about 26.5mpg so far this playoffs. I think 28mpg is realistic with the 3 days break between games. 30mpg is possible, it's certainly easier to move on perimeter than bang with bigs like he did in other series this playoffs.

100%. People were calling lively just a rim runner last week. I think this is his time to disprove all that.

[ajones9219]

Are the Pacers and Mavs similar? I'm kind of expecting the Mavs are similar to the Pacers with better closers.

Is that too simplistic?

What happens if Boston replayed that series and had Luka closing the last 5 minutes instead of Andrew Nembhard.

Assuming adding Luka slows down the pace of the game, I'd bet the Celtics would welcome the swap. Fundamentally changes how the team plays more towards how Boston likes to play.

Nembhard shot 66% TS in the conference finals. Luka is currently shooting 56.4%. IDK how much more Luka could have done. Nembhard literally went superhuman for most of that series.

[chrisab123]

Nembhard played like Michael Jordan in games 3-4. I wouldn't sleep on that guy. Pacers also shot 60% in one of those games.

[durden_tyler]

Are the Pacers and Mavs similar? I'm kind of expecting the Mavs are similar to the Pacers with better closers.

Is that too simplistic?

i don't see any similarities at all. Mavs' defense is on another tier, it's just that individually it looks like they don't have a "stopper" (DJJ is the only 3 and D type) per se but collectively and their rim protection is better than the teams they have faced.

Offensively, i don't see it too. The Mavs can play the Pacers' pace (this is the Luka/Kyrie nuclear option, when they are on) but can also slow it down if they want/need to.

[jigga_man]

Are the Pacers and Mavs similar? I'm kind of expecting the Mavs are similar to the Pacers with better closers.

Is that too simplistic?

What happens if Boston replayed that series and had Luka closing the last 5 minutes instead of Andrew Nembhard.

Assuming adding Luka slows down the pace of the game, I'd bet the Celtics would welcome the swap. Fundamentally changes how the team plays more towards how Boston likes to play.

Nembhard shot 66% TS in the conference finals. Luka is currently shooting 56.4%. IDK how much more Luka could have done. Nembhard literally went superhuman for most of that series.

The homerism is at peak levels in this thread and we're still a week away from gm1

[BeiBeau]

What happens if Boston replayed that series and had Luka closing the last 5 minutes instead of Andrew Nembhard.

Assuming adding Luka slows down the pace of the game, I'd bet the Celtics would welcome the swap. Fundamentally changes how the team plays more towards how Boston likes to play.

Nembhard shot 66% TS in the conference finals. Luka is currently shooting 56.4%. IDK how much more Luka could have done. Nembhard literally went superhuman for most of that series.

The homerism is at peak levels in this thread and we're still a week away from gm1

I’ve railed against Cs fans a lot today so I mean this as a joke. Okay it’s not serious.

But Cs fans aren’t even debating Luka vs Tatum anymore. Now they’re debating Luka vs Nembhard.

[ITYSL]

Not to interject in this love affair, but I just want to say that I've had a lot of both Whataburger and In N Out, and think they are equally good. In N Out eeks out the win in my book because of the animal fries.

I live in Michigan and we have Five Guys and Culver's here. I prefer Five Guys but it's too expensive for what you get. Cheese curds and concrete mixers at Culver's are awesome.

Yeah we have 5 Guys here and it's really good but expensive as you said. Honestly fast food everywhere is crazy expensive nowadays imo.

I don't know how you can feed yourself in those fast food chains, I hope you don't do it too often, for your health, I'm a nutritionist and I can assure you that that **** will shorten and lower the quality of your lives...take care and forgive me...but I have a crusade against junk food and sugar and I can't help it.

Debbie Downer over here...

Seriously, though, you're right. It should be every-once-in-a-while food. I try to stick as closely as possible to a Mediterranean diet. Can't go wrong with that.

[Tyakack]

What happens if Boston replayed that series and had Luka closing the last 5 minutes instead of Andrew Nembhard.

Assuming adding Luka slows down the pace of the game, I'd bet the Celtics would welcome the swap. Fundamentally changes how the team plays more towards how Boston likes to play.

Nembhard shot 66% TS in the conference finals. Luka is currently shooting 56.4%. IDK how much more Luka could have done. Nembhard literally went superhuman for most of that series.

The homerism is at peak levels in this thread and we're still a week away from gm1

Please don't overexaggerate the time left until game 1. The truth of a few days is depressing enough.

[durden_tyler]

RealGM pulse update (6/3)

Celtics to win series - 227
Mavs to win series - 213

Very, very interesting that's a nice little split yet. Have the "other teams" fans (or the Celtics/Mavs "haters") have not voted yet? LOL

[Celts17Pride]

Are the Pacers and Mavs similar? I'm kind of expecting the Mavs are similar to the Pacers with better closers.

Is that too simplistic?

What happens if Boston replayed that series and had Luka closing the last 5 minutes instead of Andrew Nembhard.

Celtics would have won in 4 games

[Mr B]

You can write whatever you want, but it's difficult to have normal discussion, if Mavs fans can't make a case for their team to win. Listening to majority of Celtics fans this series is already over and they become upset, if we say that isn't the case.

The only ones whining about posts are you all.

The Mavs winning this series would literally be unprecedented. That's how big the difference is in the numbers.

Sorry I buy into the evidence.

This is also unprecedented, until this year.

Read on Twitter

?s=46&t=3KaI_3QT7XTTm5N8gt4yQg

[zimpy27]

Are the Pacers and Mavs similar? I'm kind of expecting the Mavs are similar to the Pacers with better closers.

Is that too simplistic?

Pacers are by far the better offensive team, while the Mavs are by far the better defensive team. Having said that, the Pacers got Boston out of their comfort zone more than I think the Mavs will. That's not a shot at the Mavs (they are better than the Pacers), it's just that the Pacers play by far the fastest pace in the league while Boston plays the slowest. Boston would much rather a slower, half court based game vs sprinting in transition.

Pacers were 99.71 pace after ASB
Mavs were 98.75 pace after ASB
Cavs were 94.46 pace after ASB
Celtics were 94.27 pace after ASB
Heat were 94 pace after ASB

I think Celtics were in a comfort zone with Heat and Cavs pace, it's their pace. Mavs are actually far closer to Pacers pace and Kidd has just seen the Pace was effective. I can certainly see the Mavs pace being equal to Pacers for this series.

[AussieCeltic]

Are the Pacers and Mavs similar? I'm kind of expecting the Mavs are similar to the Pacers with better closers.

Is that too simplistic?

Pacers are by far the better offensive team, while the Mavs are by far the better defensive team. Having said that, the Pacers got Boston out of their comfort zone more than I think the Mavs will. That's not a shot at the Mavs (they are better than the Pacers), it's just that the Pacers play by far the fastest pace in the league while Boston plays the slowest. Boston would much rather a slower, half court based game vs sprinting in transition.

Pacers were 99.71 pace after ASB
Mavs were 98.75 pace after ASB
Cavs were 94.46 pace after ASB
Celtics were 94.27 pace after ASB
Heat were 94 pace after ASB

I think Celtics were in a comfort zone with Heat and Cavs pace, it's their pace. Mavs are actually far closer to Pacers pace and Kidd has just seen the Pace was effective. I can certainly see the Mavs pace being equal to Pacers for this series.

I think people are thinking the pace is what got the Celtics struggling with Pacers, but it’s actually the ball movement.

They have by far the best assists percentage and assist ratio in the league. There’s no ball stoppers. It’s constant movement which is why their offensive efficiency was #2 in the league.

They were 2nd least in iso possessions while both Celtics and Mavs were 1 and 2.

Same with shots at the rim, with Pacers, it’s either a 3 or a layup, while Celtics and Mavs are more mid range to 3. Both Mavs and Celtics were near the bottom of attempts within 5 feet with 24 per game. Celtics at 70%, Mavs at 64%.. while Pacers took 28 per game at 67%.

So while the pace may be similar, the style of play is completely different.

[blueberrysticky]

I feel like June 6th will never arrive.

[G R E Y]

Aaaaaaand there it is.

https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/40271355/kyrie-reflects-celts-tenure-great-reflection-am

This is actually a very measured, thoughtful, and mature answer by Irving. Acknowledgement, regret, moved forward. Better focus elsewhere.

I still see the Cs crowd sizzling though it may help Mavs to have a guy bear the burnt of the angst while others cook.

CS have to make every home court moment count.

This is going to be a great series.