NBA Finals Thread - Celtics vs Mavericks

[Dove]

Up 20 with a quarter to go. Crazy game.

 

[tzznandrew]

Kyrie getting absolutely killed tonight. 12 pts, 2 assists, 3 TO, 0-5 from 3, 33% from the field.

(classic jinx, I'm sure...)

 

[nomar]

Ok this one’s over

 

[tzznandrew]

Mavs in 4. Celtics are overrated.

Can always fade this guy's takes...

 

[aceboon]

Mazzulla gotta get these guys out the game

 

[tzznandrew]

Mazzulla gotta get these guys out the game

Seriously. Seems like he's trying to get them a few more reps and maybe get Tatum going, but it's not worth it. Took way too long.

 

[HooperScooper]

Stabilized as I've seen them do most of the time.

Kyrie better get Boston out of his head or else the Mavs have no chance.

 

[HuskyWarrior611]

Maybe he should throw the rest of the Finals lol

 

[HuskyWarrior611]

Kyrie getting absolutely killed tonight. 12 pts, 2 assists, 3 TO, 0-5 from 3, 33% from the field.

(classic jinx, I'm sure...)

It was guaranteed after my takes + the Drake bet

 

[tzznandrew]

Maybe he should throw the rest of the Finals lol

what a stat...

 

[WeAreUCONN]

Can always fade this guy's takes...

I forgot the game was on but I’ll just assume the Mavs won. If they didn’t, they’ll win the next 4.

 

[uconnbill]

Mavs in 6. If Celtics had issues with Andrew Nembhard and TJ McConnell just wait for Kyrie and Luka.

must be a Knick fan

 

[champs99and04]

What happened to Dallas tonight was what I thought would happen to them against Minnesota. As good as Luka and Kyrie are (obviously Kyrie sucked tonight), it's tough to make hay against an elite defense when you really only have two guys who can create. Luka seemed worn down from the relentless ball pressure by the time they got to the fourth quarter.

Kyrie will be better and the defense should start to look more like itself as it adjusts to how explosive Boston is. What does worry me if I'm a Mavs fan, though, is the supporting cast. Guys 3-8 did not look like they belonged on a finals' floor, and worse yet, Kidd doesn't appear to be any closer to settling on a rotation now than he was before the playoffs. Gafford's been a rock for them but he basically got played off the floor by the end of the first quarter. Lively looked like a 19-year-old. Kleber and Jones are in theory capable 3 and D guys, but as the Celtics have shown us, there's a big difference between being a 3 and D vs. being able to spread the court with five guys who can shoot and put it on the floor.

 

[HuskyHawk]

What happened to Dallas tonight was what I thought would happen to them against Minnesota. As good as Luka and Kyrie are (obviously Kyrie sucked tonight), it's tough to make hay against an elite defense when you really only have two guys who can create. Luka seemed worn down from the relentless ball pressure by the time they got to the fourth quarter.

Kyrie will be better and the defense should start to look more like itself as it adjusts to how explosive Boston is. What does worry me if I'm a Mavs fan, though, is the supporting cast. Guys 3-8 did not look like they belonged on a finals' floor, and worse yet, Kidd doesn't appear to be any closer to settling on a rotation now than he was before the playoffs. Gafford's been a rock for them but he basically got played off the floor by the end of the first quarter. Lively looked like a 19-year-old. Kleber and Jones are in theory capable 3 and D guys, but as the Celtics have shown us, there's a big difference between being a 3 and D vs. being able to spread the court with five guys who can shoot and put it on the floor.

The reality is that of the ten best players on these teams Boston probably has 7 of them.

 

[HooperScooper]

What happened to Dallas tonight was what I thought would happen to them against Minnesota. As good as Luka and Kyrie are (obviously Kyrie sucked tonight), it's tough to make hay against an elite defense when you really only have two guys who can create. Luka seemed worn down from the relentless ball pressure by the time they got to the fourth quarter.

Kyrie will be better and the defense should start to look more like itself as it adjusts to how explosive Boston is. What does worry me if I'm a Mavs fan, though, is the supporting cast. Guys 3-8 did not look like they belonged on a finals' floor, and worse yet, Kidd doesn't appear to be any closer to settling on a rotation now than he was before the playoffs. Gafford's been a rock for them but he basically got played off the floor by the end of the first quarter. Lively looked like a 19-year-old. Kleber and Jones are in theory capable 3 and D guys, but as the Celtics have shown us, there's a big difference between being a 3 and D vs. being able to spread the court with five guys who can shoot and put it on the floor.

Doncic only had 1 assist tonight and the entire team only had 9. Sounds like what UConn did to teams this past season. Mavs are not winning this series playing like that.

 

[champs99and04]

The reality is that of the ten best players on these teams Boston probably has 7 of them.

Yup, and it may simply be about Boston's 3-7 being that good as opposed to Dallas' being limited. Gafford, Lively, Jones, and Washington were all playing their roles at a high level coming into tonight, but the Celtics are forcing them out of their comfort zone. The only things I questioned about the Celts coming into the season were whether Porzingis could stay healthy and whether Jrue would continue to play at a high level at 34. Given that the answer to both appears to be yes, the Jrue-White-Jaylen-Tatum-Porzingis lineup has to be on a very short list of best five man units in the last couple decades. Very, very rare to put five guys out there at once who are all plus players on both sides of the floor.

Doncic only had 1 assist tonight and the entire team only had 9. Sounds like what UConn did to teams this past season. Mavs are not winning this series playing like that.

A lot of one on one. That can work in spurts when you have Luka and Kyrie, but very hard to sustain over 48 minutes. It's only one game but Kidd and co. really need to spend the next two days working more off-ball movement into the offense. Boston's perimeter defenders are so good that they'll turn you over if you can't alleviate that ball pressure with screens.

 

[IndyLives]

LoL. I told you all C's in 5. Porzingis changes so much on both ends of the floor. C's have too many weapons for that overrated Dallas defense. Tatum played lousy and Luka shot well, and yet we still have a blowout.

 

[Matrim55]

Really pleased with how well everyone in the Celtics rotation held up defensively. If you can play both Hauser & Pritchard 10 minutes each, makes it so much easier to have the best lineup fresh for the 4th.

3 more to go.

 

[UofCT]

must be a Knick fan

Pacers actually. You?

 

[HuskyHawk]

Really pleased with how well everyone in the Celtics rotation held up defensively. If you can play both Hauser & Pritchard 10 minutes each, makes it so much easier to have the best lineup fresh for the 4th.

3 more to go.

Hauser actually making a couple of shots is a very welcome development. Lost in all the talk about the close wins vs Indiana is the fact that the best shooter on the team was ice cold. If he's close to normal all those games are more comfortable.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

With Porzingis on the floor, the Celtics are just a much better team than the Mavericks on both ends. I thought a sweep was possible with Porzingis healthy, and nothing has changed my opinion. The Celtics have 3 or 4 (depending on whether you think Holiday is still in this group) of the best 50 players in the NBA right now, and the Mavericks have 1. Porzingis played 21 minutes, all when the game was still competitive, and the Celtics looked unstoppable with him on the court.

The Celtics became the prohibitive favorite to win it all when they got Porzingis and Holiday, and nothing has changed. There are maybe 5 teams (Bucks, 76ers, Clippers, Nuggets and Timberwolves) that would have a reasonable chance of beating the Celtics if both teams were healthy, and the Celtics didn't have to play any of them this postseason, in a large part because key players on those teams couldn't stay healthy. The Mavericks are a decent team that had a decent season, and are outmatched unless someone gets hurt or the Celtics epically choke.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

Because of Porzingis' injury issues and load management, he will never have monster stats, and he has played on mostly bad teams until now so he doesn't have the playoff heroics, but he is one of the best centers of the last 10 years. Jokic and Embiid are definitely better than Porzingis. I would probably take Adebayo or Sabonis before Porzingis for a season because of durability, but if I had to pick one player for a 7 game series, I am taking Porzingis over either of them.

Brad Stevens deserves all the credit for stealing this guy from Washington.

 

[mcs333]

The roll players for the Mav’s must step up. However their big two must play much better. 18-45, 4-17 from three and 3 assist. Can ‘t win with those numbers.

 

[HuskyHawk]

Don't blame the messenger.

 

[EZPass]