2024 NBA FINALS: #1 Boston Celtics vs #5 Dallas Mavericks (BOS leads 2-0)

[Green89]

The thing that always puzzles me is when fans of the team that lost use adjustments as a reason why they’ll win the next game but pretend like the winning team won’t make adjustments as well lol

You will have to let results tell and of course fans will or should not get defeated after one loss, particularly for Mavs. Mavs have a 5l - 1w record for game 1 under Kidd for the previous 6 series but they won 5 of them. Kidd and Luka are great at in series adjustment. It is a must win for Celtics for game 2. Otherwise not only they will lose momentum but also home court advantage that accumulated via 82 games.

A must win? Please. They haven't lost on the road yet in these playoffs. And they "lost" home court in the first two rounds and it didn't matter.

[GreenBloodedC]

The thing that always puzzles me is when fans of the team that lost use adjustments as a reason why they’ll win the next game but pretend like the winning team won’t make adjustments as well lol

You will have to let results tell and of course fans will or should not get defeated after one loss, particularly for Mavs. Mavs have a 5l - 1w record for game 1 under Kidd for the previous 6 series but they won 5 of them. Kidd and Luka are great at in series adjustment. It is a must win for Celtics for game 2. Otherwise not only they will lose momentum but also home court advantage that accumulated via 82 games.

A must win? Please. They haven't lost on the road yet in these playoffs. And they "lost" home court in the first two rounds and it didn't matter.

If anything, game 2's a must win for Dallas otherwise, this may end in 4 or 5. Doubt they could win both games at home against this Celtics.

[dygaction]

You will have to let results tell and of course fans will or should not get defeated after one loss, particularly for Mavs. Mavs have a 5l - 1w record for game 1 under Kidd for the previous 6 series but they won 5 of them. Kidd and Luka are great at in series adjustment. It is a must win for Celtics for game 2. Otherwise not only they will lose momentum but also home court advantage that accumulated via 82 games.

A must win? Please. They haven't lost on the road yet in these playoffs. And they "lost" home court in the first two rounds and it didn't matter.

If anything, game 2's a must win for Dallas otherwise, this may end in 4 or 5. Doubt they could win both games at home against this Celtics.

I feel the 22 Mavs vs Suns vibe. Suns won two and all their fans and media chanted sweep. Game 7 Irving dagger buzzer beater winning 3 at TD Garden don't say I did not warn you

[Slax]

Didn’t watch much of the game, but I do know Luka had a subpar game to say the least, and Kyrie was downright awful. Neither are very likely to happen in game 2 so we’ll see.

How can you be a basketball fan hanging out on an NBA forum and not watch game one of the finals?? And commenting about the game?? These are the posts where I start to wonder how many people actually do watch the games in general. Not trying to be nassty, just curious.

Yeah "I didn't watch but I assume the thing that happened was just luck and didn't have any sort of reason that could cause it to happen again when playing the same opponent I didn't bother to pay attention to" is sort of a wild one.

[durden_tyler]

Mavericks +7.0
O/U 215.0

Smart thing to do is bet Celtics moneyline (-200ish odds) and bet Mavs spread and call it a day and sit pretty and just wait for the final score. LOL

[prejt]

How is that the move? If Boston wins game2, it won't be a close game. They can't hang with the mavs in a close one.

[LaLover11]

Mavericks should bring Kyrie off the bench
Let Luka start aggressive and Bring Kyrie in when the Mavs are rolling to help Luka rest and close the game with both

[Fencer reregistered]

Mavericks should bring Kyrie off the bench
Let Luka start aggressive and Bring Kyrie in when the Mavs are rolling to help Luka rest and close the game with both

He still wouldn't be playing against traffic cones:

Horford or Porzingis
Tatum (more likely) or Brown
Hauser
White or Holiday
Pritchard

[No-more-rings]

Didn’t watch much of the game, but I do know Luka had a subpar game to say the least, and Kyrie was downright awful. Neither are very likely to happen in game 2 so we’ll see.

How can you be a basketball fan hanging out on an NBA forum and not watch game one of the finals?? And commenting about the game?? These are the posts where I start to wonder how many people actually do watch the games in general. Not trying to be nassty, just curious.

Because I have a life beyond just sitting in the house every evening.

[No-more-rings]

Didn’t watch much of the game, but I do know Luka had a subpar game to say the least, and Kyrie was downright awful. Neither are very likely to happen in game 2 so we’ll see.

And Pritchard won't be 0/7 in Game 2 (expecting double digits from him) and Tatum won't be scoring less than 17 points again.

We can point to whatever, the fact still remains that the Celtics outside of Tatum performed pretty well. No one on the Mavs did. It’s just one game, people should seriously not overreact.

[HotelVitale]

Didn’t watch much of the game, but I do know Luka had a subpar game to say the least, and Kyrie was downright awful. Neither are very likely to happen in game 2 so we’ll see.

And Pritchard won't be 0/7 in Game 2 (expecting double digits from him) and Tatum won't be scoring less than 17 points again.

We can point to whatever, the fact still remains that the Celtics outside of Tatum performed pretty well. No one on the Mavs did. It’s just one game, people should seriously not overreact.

Yeah I'm not a fan of either team but the Mavs looked like they were tripping on their own feet for the whole first half and the Celtics looked like they were basically in ideal flow. I think some of that obviously doesn't bode well for the Mavs but I would be shocked if the Mavs had a half that shaky/crappy again in the next couple games. Seemed like about as bad as things could possibly get for them.

[Fencer reregistered]

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5547976/2024/06/07/mavericks-celtics-1-on-1-hollinger/

[mfletcher4177]

I think we are all overacting here. Celtics played better basketball last night. Nobody expected KP to play the way he did. What I saw was a strong Boston defense and they hit their shots. Celtics killed the Mavericks from deep and that's the game.

If we expect only 1 and 2 assists from Luka and Kyrie, you are in for a treat. Mavericks couldn't buy a bucket. Even with the huge lead, the Mavericks cut it back to 8.

I do feel it is a must win for Dallas for game 2 but I think they will do it. Luka and Kyrie didn't show up and the rest of the team followed their lead.

Hell, even THJ got minutes in this game.

Game 2 will be telling. If you anticipate Luka and Kyrie playing like that again, you are wrong.

[The Corey's]

How is that the move? If Boston wins game2, it won't be a close game. They can't hang with the mavs in a close one.

This is the worst take of all time.

[Dubnation]

Heat fans still so salty. Yes, let the hate flow through you and unleash your anger

[Fencer reregistered]

How is that the move? If Boston wins game2, it won't be a close game. They can't hang with the mavs in a close one.

This is the worst take of all time.

Tough competition.

[Fencer reregistered]

This article suggests that Dallas should try harder to use Washington against White.

OK ...

https://www.cbssports.com/nba/news/2024-nba-finals-how-mavericks-can-use-p-j-washington-to-generate-more-assists-force-celtics-to-adjust/

[Optms]

How is that the move? If Boston wins game2, it won't be a close game. They can't hang with the mavs in a close one.

This is the worst take of all time.

He's not totally wrong.

If it's close heading with less than 3 minutes, it means the Mavs have figured out the Celtics and have gotten it going. Meaning it's probable to assume both Luka and Kyrie have it going. It's most likely a wrap for Boston if true.

[The Corey's]

How is that the move? If Boston wins game2, it won't be a close game. They can't hang with the mavs in a close one.

This is the worst take of all time.

He's not totally wrong.

If it's close heading with less than 3 minutes, it means the Mavs have figured out the Celtics and have gotten it going. Meaning it's probable to assume both Luka and Kyrie have it going. It's most likely a wrap for Boston if true.

I decline the narrative. Who says Boston can't beat Dallas in a close game?

You won't have that answer until Dallas figures out how to stop Boston from scoring. Which they haven't and they can't. They don't have the guns.

It's Mavs fans own fault for thinking they can stop Boston from scoring over a couple of additions at the trade deadline even in the face of evidence that said they had not.

The only team stopping Boston is Boston.

[Jaqua92]

Keep the Dallas role players in check. Irving and Doncic can’t be stopped, best Boston can do make them work on both ends (did great in game 1). Pound for pound, the Celtics have better players, as long as they don’t implode mentally, they’ll be fine going forward.

Doncic may make some good defensive plays, but attacking him on dribble drives can wear him down especially with his injured knee….very similar to Curry’s MCL sprain in the 2016 finals

I think we need to nip the "Doncic and Irving can't be stopped" thing in the bud.

Because they can, and were. Even if it was once, it shows they can be stopped.

Make no mistake, Luka was sropped. He scored in isolation, over 50% from the field, and that's great. But his playmaking and pick and roll offense was neutralized. He was targeted on the other end of the ball, 1 assist, turnovers. Doncic was effectively gameplanned out of the game. That's what happened. Him being able to score 30 points in isolation while being a hard negative impact in every other facet is stopping him.

Kyrie was relegated to an ineffecient shooting guard kind of game.

They were both stopped. The whole team was stopped.