NBA Finals Thread - Celtics vs Mavericks

[temery]

I was following it rather closely at the time and not once did he ever make clear that he believed getting vaccinated would be detrimental to his health. His objection was that it was mandatory. People on the Yankees didn't like Steinbrenner telling them to cut their moustaches but they did it.

He said plenty of good things in Boston too.

Vaccines weren't mandatory for his health. He was literally saying screw everyone else, I'm not getting the vaccine.

 

[HuskyBoi]

Mavs in 6

 

[UofCT]

I am struggling to see how the Celtics sweeping the Pacers reflects poorly on the Celtics. These are NBA players and the Pacers don't suck. They are going to score. Were you expecting a shutout?

As a Pacers fan yeah I was expecting the Celtics to flex and sweep in convincing fashion. Instead, 3/4 games came down to wire. Total coin flip that happened to go the Celtics way. Wasn’t impressed with them at all.

 

[willie99]

Mavs in 6. If Celtics play like they did vs. Indiana with bench warmers Nembhard and McConnell getting whatever they want I change my pick to Mavs in 4.

C's in 5, I'm assuming they take a game off

 

[willie99]

Vaccines weren't mandatory for his health. He was literally saying screw everyone else, I'm not getting the vaccine.

Kryie was run out of three locker rooms. I was ecstatic when they signed up, 18 months later I wanted him gone. He ruined the chemistry they had.

Then we were told he would change for his hometown team. We'll flat earth thought he was going to be the GM, and the Nets ran him out of town too

A few weeks of decent basketball doesn't erase his history

Maybe he'll mature like Kobe did and become well liked and respected. But it's more likely he continues to be like a Stephon Marberry.

Can't wait

 

[Matrim55]

Vaccines weren't mandatory for his health. He was literally saying screw everyone else, I'm not getting the vaccine.

Yup. He simply did not care about the hospitals being overrun, or immunocompromised people.

But hey, winning changed everything. I’m sure people will be singing Aaron Rodgers’ praises if he leads the Jets to the Super Bowl, too.

 

[bendm]

Jokic is not an all-time great

What??? In the past 4 years he has 3 MVPs and a Finals MVP. As good of a four year run as there’s ever been. He’s already a top 20 player all time.

 

[Scoe]

What??? In the past 4 years he has 3 MVPs and a Finals MVP. As good of a four year run as there’s ever been. He’s already a top 20 player all time.

He likes Serbian horses though so he’s not an all time great.

 

[Matrim55]

4) 2023 Denver Nuggets - A good team with the best player in the NBA that season, but Jokic is not an all-time great and the Nuggets drop off quite a bit after their top 4 players and the depth was weak. A good, not great, team.

Jokic's career playoff numbers are 28/12/7.5 on 53/39/84 shooting splits. He's got the highest playoff PER all-time -- ahead of Jordan -- and the second-highest box +/- just behind Jordan and ahead of LeBron.

He's also, I believe, the only finals MVP to win a title without having a single teammate who'd made either the All-Star game or All-NBA within the previous half-decade.

If Jokic retires tomorrow he goes down as, at worst, one of the 25 greatest ever. Probably closer to 15.

 

[Mr. French]

Yup. He simply did not care about the hospitals being overrun, or immunocompromised people.

But hey, winning changed everything. I’m sure people will be singing Aaron Rodgers’ praises if he leads the Jets to the Super Bowl, too.

For a segment of the population, he's already praised. Me? I hope he keeps choking into his old age.

 

[HooperScooper]

Because players aren’t as attached to their team as fans on social media are. There’s the Twitter world then the real world. Not a fan of Kyrie but he is probably not the worse person on earth is just my guess.

I'm sure he's not either. But I'm talking in the realm of basketball. Ask all of his coaches in Boston how they felt about him.

 

[HooperScooper]

Mavs in 6. If Celtics play like they did vs. Indiana with bench warmers Nembhard and McConnell getting whatever they want I change my pick to Mavs in 4.

Cool. You should put money on that.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

Jokic's career playoff numbers are 28/12/7.5 on 53/39/84 shooting splits. He's got the highest playoff PER all-time -- ahead of Jordan -- and the second-highest box +/- just behind Jordan and ahead of LeBron.

He's also, I believe, the only finals MVP to win a title without having a single teammate who'd made either the All-Star game or All-NBA within the previous half-decade.

If Jokic retires tomorrow he goes down as, at worst, one of the 25 greatest ever. Probably closer to 15.

I am not laying down on the tracks arguing against Jokic. I think he is a great player. I don't think he is Top 10 all time at his position yet, but that could change.

 

[Kemba'sYogurt]

Just moved to Boston at the end of February. As a UConn and Celtics fan, I've been spoiled in my few months here. Got to see our boys romp through TD Garden and now will be at Game 1 of the NBA Finals.

 

[Matrim55]

I am not laying down on the tracks arguing against Jokic. I think he is a great player. I don't think he is Top 10 all time at his position yet, but that could change.

I will grant you these seven:

1. Kareem
2. Russell
3. Wilt
4. Shaq
5. Hakeem
6. Moses
7. Mikan

The only other guys I could plausibly see ahead of Joker are Walton & Robinson, but that feels like we're stretching it. And he's definitely passed Willis, Unseld, Ewing, McAdoo & Cowens.

 

[Scoe]

I will grant you these seven:

1. Kareem
2. Russell
3. Wilt
4. Shaq
5. Hakeem
6. Moses
7. Mikan

The only other guys I could plausibly see ahead of Joker are Walton & Robinson, but that feels like we're stretching it. And he's definitely passed Willis, Unseld, Ewing, McAdoo & Cowens.

We can prove this Whatifsports: Free Online Simulation Games and SIM Matchup

 

[UofCT]

Cool. You should put money on that.

Of course

 

[Yardigan]

He's been the best interview during the playoffs. I agree he acted annoying in the past and showed he had the God complex we've seen from Kanye and some other young entertainers but I've really enjoyed the things he's said during this playoffs run.

Agree. Remarkable player, but never been a fan of the dude. During this playoff run, he's actually seemed much less hate-able lately

 

[Mr. French]

Agree. Remarkable player, but never been a fan of the dude. During this playoff run, he's actually seemed much less hate-able lately

That’s how I am. Used to hate him because he went out of his way to say dumb things and act like everyone else was the dope.

Now he seems like a genuinely good teammate and seems happy, etc. so it’s interesting.

I don’t forget the other stuff, but I hope he’s grown and matured and realized some things. For that, he can be applauded.

 

[HooperScooper]

Celtics center Kristaps Porzingis was a full participant at practice Saturday, according to coach Joe Mazzulla.

Mazzulla said Porzingis looked good going through drills with the team, but noted that the intensity level at practice wasn’t as high as it will be in the coming days.

“He did everything the team did. We’ll go significantly harder [Sunday],” Mazzulla said. “Today was moderate but he went through everything that the team did today.”

All systems go for Kristaps Porzingis at Celtics practice

Kristaps Porzingis "went through everything that the team did" at Celtics practice Saturday. Read more on Boston.com.

www.boston.com

 

[JohnFSilver]

Mavs in 4. Celtics are overrated.

Are they? No one picking them except the sharps

 

[HuskyWarrior611]

 

[nelsonmuntz]

I will grant you these seven:

1. Kareem
2. Russell
3. Wilt
4. Shaq
5. Hakeem
6. Moses
7. Mikan

The only other guys I could plausibly see ahead of Joker are Walton & Robinson, but that feels like we're stretching it. And he's definitely passed Willis, Unseld, Ewing, McAdoo & Cowens.

I would list them:

1) Russell - best player on most dominant team in NBA history
2) Wilt - Would have won a lot of titles if not for Russell (and booze and women).
3) Kareem - I like Kareem, but he would occasionally underperform against other top centers of his era, like Moses and the Chief.
4) Hakeem - great player on both ends, and he tuned up some of the best players in NBA history (Shaq, Admiral, Ewing) head-to-head.
5) Shaq - great player, but didn't have range and showed up every fall completely out of shape.
6) Moses Malone - He was a great player on both ends of the court and the best rebounder I can remember.
7) Ewing - People remember the goofy stuff and the Knicks playoff collapses, but Ewing had a great career.
8) Robinson - People forget his greatness because of how humble he was and his aversion to self-promotion. Great defender that adjusted his game late in his career to enable Duncan's first title.
9) Jokic - Incredible offensive player, probably Top 3 on this list offensively. Not nearly the defender that some of these other players were in their prime, though. That said, I expect Jokic to make it to #7 or #6 on this list by the time he is done.

My "what could have been" list for centers:

1) Arvydas Sabonis - May have been the best center of all time, and Portland would have won 4 or 5 titles if he had arrived in 1988 when he was supposed to. By the time he got to the NBA his knees were shot and the hard living was catching up to him. He was still fun to watch.
2) Alonzo Mourning - As good as Robinson defensively, and a very efficient offensive player too. His body betrayed him, he went to a minutes restriction and was a shadow of the player he could have been.
3) Bill Walton - Not caring about his body caught up to him early in his career.

 

[champs99and04]

Boston has the best record since February 9, at 25-6. Dallas had the third-best record in that time span, at 21-9 (OKC was 22-9).

As for defensive rating, Dallas and Boston are exactly tied for sixth with a 110.5 defensive rating. However, Boston's offensive rating was much better during that period (125.4 to 115.9), putting Boston 1st and Dallas 7th.

So the net rating during that time puts Boston first, with Dallas sixth (behind Denver(2), Minnesota (3), OKC (4), and Indiana (5)).

So while Dallas has definitely improved since the trade deadline, Boston has been just as good defensively and better in every other metric. And that's with resting most of their starters for multple games near the end of the regular season while Dallas played their starters for playoff position.

Not taking anything away from the threat posed by Dallas, but Boston is the better team, and that includes since the trade deadline.

View attachment 101144

The Celtics have really been in their own class all year, as evidenced by the absurd net rating in the given time frame.

But those numbers are also skewed a bit by Boston's depth. The attrition of an 82-game season likely didn't effect them nearly as much as a team like Dallas that relies so heavily on two star players. Luka and Kyrie missed a combined 36 games. From the time Kyrie returned from injury in early February through the day they clinched a top six spot in game 80, the Mavs were 23-6 with a 7.8 net when both guys played.

(For further proof of this, consider that the Mavs were outscored by a total of 67 points in games 81 and 82 when Luka and Kyrie sat, while the Celtics were a +43 over the same two game period despite resting all their guys.)

 

[IndyLives]

Most are underestimating Porzingas" impact will have on both ends of the floor. It gives the.Cs so many more options and takes the pressure off of Tatum and Brown, which allows them to thrive.