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

[JMAC3]

Sigh.. instead of actually talking about the game my twitter feed is mostly just trolls trying to **** talk Tatum lol. Dudes team just won by 20 pts and people would rather talk about that then Kyrie scoring 12 on 19 shots in a blowout. Or that Luka even though had 30 had to take 26 shots and had 1 assist due to Celtics defensive strategy....

Yes Tatum wasn't some star but the way Mavs played defense tonight everyone on the Celtics ate and it was super balanced shot diet among their main 6 guys. If you are going to send people at Tatum and he is going to swing swing for open threes all night 42 3 pt shots. Then yeah Tatum is probably not scoring 30+

[meh]

Great game 1. Hoping for the Celtics not to s**t the bed in game 2 as has been their way this postseason. This series is definitely not over.

[TheNewEra]

Motivated and healthy KP showing no rust is truly a game changer. Without him I think this would of been more of a grind out series but he allows Tatum to have his indifferent games scoring and work on everything else.

[Sweet Serenity]

Sigh.. instead of actually talking about the game my twitter feed is mostly just trolls trying to **** talk Tatum lol. Dudes team just won by 20 pts and people would rather talk about that then Kyrie scoring 12 on 19 shots in a blowout. Or that Luka even though had 30 had to take 26 shots and had 1 assist due to Celtics defensive strategy....

Yes Tatum wasn't some star but the way Mavs played defense tonight everyone on the Celtics ate and it was super balanced shot diet among their main 6 guys. If you are going to send people at Tatum and he is going to swing swing for open threes all night 42 3 pt shots. Then yeah Tatum is probably not scoring 30+

& then they’ll all go quiet when he drops 40 next game lol

[bigboi]

When Celtics sweeps. Shambles

[PierceFan4ever]

Boston didn’t double Luka at all was ballsy by Mazzulla but it worked. Doncic only had 1 assists and took 26 shots to get 30. Incredible defense by the Celtics as a team

[Riverwalk2021]

Boston didn’t double Luka at all was ballsy by Mazzulla but it worked. Doncic only had 1 assists and took 26 shots to get 30. Incredible defense by the Celtics as a team

Fat Luka is gonna need Ant's oxygen mask by game 4 lol. Keep making him work on both ends.

[shi-woo]

My take on the game

Celtics blew the game open when KP came out flamethrowing. You can't expect that going forward, that was some serious production in limited minutes. What was sustainable though was his rim protection and size, which clearly altered a lot of what the Mavs were doing. Just having him out there made things tough for the Mavs bigs, and we all saw the blocks. As the series goes on and he gets in shape with the days off, getting him to 30 mins would be huge.

Off of that another thing that stood out to me was that KP and Al didn't get roasted like a lot of us predicted. Celtics only had a few defensive mistakes this game, but for the most part these guys either stayed in front of their man, disrupted shots, or closed out without fouling. Very impressed with the Celtic defense in general tonight, Mavs only had a few open court plays, and had to do everything in the half court essentially.

Brown was just amazing on both ends of the ball. His handle is still super weak but Mavs didn't have the defender to get all up in his space because DJJ was guarding JT. That is a matchup I would switch if i'm kidd and the Mavs. DJJ on Brown and Washington on Tatum. Luka can guard Horford of KP and switch onto Tatum when they run that action. Tatum didn't show me he could take Luka 1v1 surprisingly, and he's always struggled against girthier defenders.

Celtics bench with KP/Al is back to business. I don't expect them to be world beaters but they were poised not having to do too much, and brought energy in that first half which helped blow the lead wide open. Most importantly both Pritchard and Hauser played good defense, Hauser 1v1 locked up Luka and Kyrie a few times (I know i was shocked too) and Pritchard played fantastic POA defense all night. Celtics strategy to harrasse the ball handler all game is something Kidd is going to have to work on, it's what made their bigs so useless tonight, actions were to late and Bostons defense too good.

DAL has a formula to win. They need to muck the game up, get Boston out of the rhythm they are in, and try to make up the difference in 3pnters with FT's. They have the personel to do it, and it's their best chance. When you do that the game slows down, both teams fight against set defenses, and that's when Kyrie and Luka can separate themselves from Brown and Tatum.

Also shout out to 2nd Row Joe, that dude coached a fantastic game tonight, made every right read, rotations were flawless, and didn't hold his timeout. Good start to the series

[durden_tyler]

Key for Boston: what happened in the 3rd? Why did they allow the Mavs to get it back down to 8 pts? They did respond nicely obviously but they must realize that when the Mavs tried to slow it down they got dragged into it and they got thrown off their rhythm. This was the point when Boston shot 3s and basically make or bust mode. They replied by getting maybe 4 straight attack to the baskets and where they got fouls and got to the line to got control back for the blowout win.

Key for Dallas: Luka Doncic has 1 ASSIST this game. Something something Boston defense funneling him to these spot? And as one poster noted (forgot who), no lob dunk/oop this game for the Mavs?

[Joshyjess]

One down, three to go. Let's go Boston, keep your eye on the prize, ignore all background noise, and get the job done!!!!

[SerialChiller]

Are people really that worked up about a player stomping on a picture?

I'm cheering for the Mavs lol....I just find dumb stuff like that funny when it backfires like don't you think about how it will look after. Like the vid of him saying it was the T'Wolves superbowl but just another game for them and then sucking and losing. I just don't get the cockiness showmanship BS these guys do. They're almost all guilty of it though. Tatum blowing kisses to the Boston crowd then getting beat by 8th seeded Miami without Butler, Curry's dumb sleep thing I hate it all. But I'm a hockey guy that's used to seeing respect because if you disrespect an opponent in that sport you better be ready to fight.

It's a sport played by humans, not robots so you let them do that showmanship part. We're watching for the entertainment and that adds to it. If we don't want these guys saying anything then stop interviewing them and just play a generic clip from before.

NHL playoff hockey is basically a bunch of guys running around trying to hurt each other. Marchand even came out and said as much. That's not respect lol. The fights are basically a couple of guys holding each other and dancing for 2 minutes and then punching helmets for 15 seconds.

Human's didn't used to be so flamboyant...I get it people these days are just different. Don't get me started on the face licker Marchand lol. I played 15 years of hockey and never did more then lift my arms after a goal and touch gloves with my bench. It doesn't take a robot to be respectful but the definition of the word is lost of the youth now. No consequences act the fool that's what we're getting but it's "entertaining" i guess...

[Curmudgeon]

Kidd saying the Mavs won the 4th.

Hardy out there playing life and death while everyone else knows it over.

Hang your hat on that one JKidd

Nah, the Mavs have a chance but only if Luka plays out of his mind.

[docholliday99]

SVP just had a awkward conversation with JJ on Sports Center.

Asked him about coaching adjustments and JJ paused in disgust as if he was being taunted lmao

JJ Hurley

Could be stuff happening behind the scenes we don't know about where he is being mocked.

But the fact that he's even thinking of becoming a head coach with zero work as an assistant is wild.

Meh, worked out for Kerr. JJ's pretty intelligent and knows his stuff; definitely type A and hyper focused; as that "Clipped" series says, "not a hair out of place". He's never really been liked, and that goes all the way back to his Duke days but he doesn't seem to care or let it faze him - a cold blooded 3pt shooter like Kerr was. One thing for sure, he won't hold back, regardless of player status, just has to find his balance. Personally, I'm all for new blood, I'm tired of recycled coaches like SVG.

[Hello Brooklyn]

Well through 1 game this series is going how I expected.

Boston has way too many great perimeter defenders for Dallas. Kyrie has been shut down and Luka has to work for every shot he gets. Its simply hard for them to score.

Nor does Dallas have the size to punish Boston like Denver or Minnesota could have.

Things could change in Game 2. But outside of Luka going bonkers I don't see how Dallas wins.

[Hello Brooklyn]

Impossible for me to root for Boston. But I do enjoy watching Kyrie lose.

**** that guy.

[JJtheBricklayer]

Kidd saying the Mavs won the 4th.

Hardy out there playing life and death while everyone else knows it over.

Hang your hat on that one JKidd

Nah, the Mavs have a chance but only if Luka plays out of his mind.

disagree actually, I dont think they can win if only Luka plays out of his mind.

I think the Cs can weather a few 38/9/9 nights from Luka. Someone else needs to step up big for the Mavs and I dont think they have anyone able to do it for 4 games. Kyrie is absolutely SHOOK

[GrandTheftRondo]

Boston didn’t double Luka at all was ballsy by Mazzulla but it worked. Doncic only had 1 assists and took 26 shots to get 30. Incredible defense by the Celtics as a team

OKC did the same thing and it worked well, they just were too inexperienced to capitalise against a struggling Luka and Kyrie.

I’ve never understood teams who willingly give an elite passer easy targets for open 3s.

LeBron, Luka, KD etc are all amazing isolation scorers but their teams have always been better when their teammates are knocking down 3s.

[SerialChiller]

Impossible for me to root for Boston. But I do enjoy watching Kyrie lose.

**** that guy.

6/19 yikes. I think he forgot to account for the curvature of the earth tonight!

[HotRocks34]

Unicorn = FMVP?

[RB34]

Kidd saying the Mavs won the 4th.

Hardy out there playing life and death while everyone else knows it over.

Hang your hat on that one JKidd

Nah, the Mavs have a chance but only if Luka plays out of his mind.

Absolutely the Mavs have a chance, it’s far from over. I just think it’s funny he chose that to talk about when garbage time starting at about 5:00.