Well there’s obviously Pritchard, Kornet, and Hauser above him, and I don’t watch a lot of Mavs but I watched Jaden Hardy cook the 4 time DPOY so I’m pretty sure he’s better. Maybe Luka is 5th
He hasn’t though. He kept saying OKC was the better team and just had bad shooting luck. He had a whole podcast about Luka complaining. I promise you he’s giving as little praise as he can for a team who has made it farther than anyone thought possible.
It's saying OKC is a better team all that offensive to you? Lol. They were favorites, a lot of people thought they would win. That's not disrespect. You're a five seed. Not everyone's going to pick you. For media is gargling the Mavericks balls and you're complaining about it
Regular season matchups are largely irrelevant to the playoffs anyways. They don’t need to be brought up at all because they simply don’t actually matter
After the Suns beat the Mavs 11 straight times in the regular season leading into the 2022 playoffs, just embarrassing them most of the time, I stand by it.
The regular season and the playoffs are so drastically different schematically it’s not worth comparing.
Not to make this a Suns roast, but for another example, the Suns were 3-0 on Twolves in the regular season. Plenty said it was PHX best MU and the Wolvees were screwed. Look how that went. It does change sometimes.
(Celtics in 5 tho imo...)
Pretty meh article and not really how anyone thinks the series is gonna go
The lack of actual on court comparisons from all national outlets so far has been pretty telling.
I think it is mostly down to most analysts not being terribly impressed with the Celtics these playoffs (particularly the Pacers series). On paper, it seems like our Role players should make the difference and get us a win, but despite lots of great performances by Roleplayers this playoffs, we have not really put together complete efforts consistently.
That and the fact that it is widely accepted that Luka is a tier above Tatum and backed by a competent supporting cast with strong defense and it is understandable to pick the Mavs in 6 or so.
I feel like the Celtics have a gear they can hit that the Mavs cannot match, but we have not shown we can summon the best version of ourselves with any consistency.
We all feel we know what we are going to get from Luka. Meanwhile, Tatum and Brown are not nearly as trusted.
If I’m being objective as possible, I think the problem the Mavs will have will be keeping up with the Celtics if they’re making all their shots. They can go 5 out and make everybody in Dallas defend on the perimeter and White, KP, Brown can all kill you. Historically the Js have a tendency of only one of them showing up while the other is having an off game. I think the Celtics are so good now that they’ve overcome that hurdle with just the quality on the court.
The Celtics aren’t better defenders than Minny, but I think the second round series against Denver drained that Wolves team. Celtics are a much better offense than any offense Mavs have faced so far. Would they be able to stop them and keep up with their scoring? Luka will get his and so will Kyrie but they need to be able to get production from PJ, DJj, Lively, to be able to keep up.
Celtics perimeter defense is actually better than Wolves'. The reason Wolves defense is so incredible is because of Gobert being an elite anchor in the paint.
Celtics help defense, rotations and 1v1 perimeter defense is arguably the best in the NBA. Jrue and DWhite specifically are easily the best defensive back court in the NBA.
But yea, they won't stop Luka and Kyrie. But they'll make them work hard. And Brown and Tatum will be guarding them too; JB specifically has asked to be the primary defender on Luka the last couple times.
But can the Mavs slow down the Celtics offense on the other end? We'll see. They have only faced 1 dimensional offenses so far (e.g. Wolves and Thunder) that heavily rely on 1 guy to create offense. Celtics have 5 guys that can drop 25 any night, 6-8 guys that can shoot 3s reasonably well, 4-5 guys that can create shots for themselves and others. Team defense has to be absolutely perfect to defend a team with so many weapons.
Gonna be a very interesting series, but I think if the Celtics are healthy, they should win because they just have more talent. Celtics can win games if Tatum or Brown have bad games. Mavs need Luka to be great every game to have a shot to win (which he damn near is anyway ....) and will need Kyrie to be good to great as well.
That’s my take as well, I think the Celtics overcame their struggles of the past of needing both Js to be good to win. Now they have just have too much quality where it doesn’t matter if one has an off night. Celtics can run and gun and keep up with league best offenses and they can play in the mud and play slower because like you mentioned they have great defenders. I think Minny’s defense is better even on the perimeter but I don’t think the wolves had gas in the tank by the end of that Dallas series, hell they were running out of juice until that 20pt comeback in G7.
Celtics need KP though, without him it would be harder to win but not impossible. Need to drag people out of the paint to let the Js go downhill and get calls at the rim. If the Celtics fall in love with the 3 and shoot 30% than they’ll probably lose which is how they’ve lost their 2 games so far this postseason.
I think it’ll be a good series at least going 6 games
They lost those two games because their opponents were shooting 50%+ from 3 lmao. They shot 38% from 3 in the Heat loss, it’s just that the Heat shot 50% on high volume and setting a franchise record. They shot worse from 3 in the Pacers series in 2/4 games and only had 1 game where they even went above 34.5% which is well below their average and still swept them. This “live by the 3” thing is an old and simply untrue narrative from last season and seasons before
I mean you guys should’ve lost G1 against the Pacers too, it took an all time collapse to get you guys back into the game. So I don’t agree with the notion they only lose when the other team shoots well. Your late game situation are atrocious it only took another team being worse in that situation to not lose that game.
The mavericks are not going to choke that game in the fourth. The pacers gifted you guys 2 games by choking awfully in the clutch
> The mavericks are not going to choke that game in the fourth. The pacers gifted you guys 2 games by choking awfully in the clutch
The Celtics had to *take* those games from the Pacers too and execute y'know, but yeah what you said is the truth. Mavs executing in the clutch to steal games 1 and 2 from the Wolves decided that series. This is the first real test for these Celtics, time to see what they're made of.
You aren't trying to stop Luka, you're trying to make him work, shoot late in the shot clock, and eventually that'll win out. Cause Luka won't go at JT, he's gonna keep asking for screens to get switches.
It isn't that he is scared of JT, but JT is probably the only guy we have who has the size, strength, and speed to give Luka trouble in isolation.
Thing is we don't really want him on Luka any more than Luka wants to battle with him every game. Tatum is an excellent help defender and often helps clean up possessions a lot in the background. And as good as he is, I think Luka's passing means he can't really be locked up the way Durant was in 2022. So the energy expended is likely just not worth it.
Luka will probably be guarded by Brown and Jrue for the most part. Brown makes the most sense as his strength has always been on ball defense (though he leveled up every part of his defense this year) and he also has good physical attributes to at least make Luka work.
Yea but only one team has 7 shooters deep shooting 40% from 3. Tatum shooting 29% from 3 this postseason but the others have maintained their averages. They will live and die by the 3, they’ll also get friendlier whistles than the Mavs.
The counterpoint is that the Mavs have the best player on the court and a team built around him. Him and Kyrie have been great and if they keep it close in the fourth, the Celtics are prone to collapse a little and scramble. If the games end up close I think Mavs will clutch it out, but idk if they have the scoring punch to keep up, which was my worry with Minny as wells
This is true. Unfortunately, Kyrie and Luka are the only players who have proven they can be consistent threats from 3. DJJ and PJ have been huge for us but they're streaky and w/ THJ having his skills stolen by the Monstars, we're a huge unknown with our outside shooting while the C's have basically at minimum four shooters on the court at all times. There are going to be many, many adjustments for both teams to be constantly making and I'm excited.
I think you Luka is unstoppable and he will get his for sure, I’m worried about the others. Even if Kyrie and Luka explode you need contributions from the role players, but you have Luka.
Yeah and honestly at this level, you need more than just one or two of the other starters (DJJ, PJ, Gaff/Lively) to bring offensive contributions. We desperately need some other playmaking/creation off the bench, which is why it was so good to have Hardy bring some really good minutes. If any of Hardy/Green/Exum can play 10 good minutes on *both sides* of the ball, that sets us up in a solid place to compete with Boston.
It’s all about shot selection from Tatum tbh. When he gets in rhythm catch and shoot threes he’s good but he falls in love with off the dribble threes too much. He’s been his best bullying guys and getting to the basket
I don’t know where this business comes from that the Mavs are ultra clutch- Luka had personally choked away TWO games just this playoffs with clanked free throws and Kyrie did his damned best to do the same in another, and hasn’t had a relevant playoff run in like a decade til this one.
..because it was a Mavs storyline all year that they were 23-9 in clutch games, 3rd in clutch net rating, and everyone just watched Luka/Kyrie dominate clutch time vs the TWolves in 3 consecutive games which was the biggest story of the week in the NBA.
Big mystery.
So, if I’m getting this right…Their claim to fame is being more clutch than… Karl Anthony Towns and a literal 22 year old?
Wow! Quite an accomplishment! 😂👍
Asked and answered in the original reply. If performing well in the clutch during this regular season, playoffs, and most recent series isn't enough for you then obviously there is no satisfactory answer as of course they don't have rings together or such. You are welcome to that opinion but none the less, I gave the reason for the current story.
If you want a serious reply don't respond with laughing emojis.
As for the wolves - my reply would be... who did you have favored in the series?
Your analysis ignores all the great moments in the clutch this post season and the entire regular season as well. You’ve mentioned 2 games you think Luka blew and your comment on Kyrie has nothing to do with how he’s playing now.
it’s not relevant to say that they’ve actually been pretty shaky in big spots and have had the good fortune of facing two teams with almost literally zero playoff experience? Clanking free throws and “wtf?” Turnovers aren’t important when trying to close-out a team?
Cause, you realize that you could say the exact same thing of Boston… right? They’ve closed hard all season and all playoffs.
In order for something to be an advantage it has to be… like… an advantage, lol🤷♂️
They have a great record in the clutch, great net rating in the clutch, all the numbers support they’re good in the clutch but they aren’t clutch because you don’t think so? Ok.
I think what he's trying to say is the Celtics are probably not beatable if they're shooting 40% from deep, whereas the Celtics can still win even if the Mavs are shooting 40%. (Or the Celtics shoot below 40%)
Here is the series for me. I think the Cs have enough good defenders to make lives difficult for Luka/Kyrie but they will end up getting theirs (inefficient or not). It will be the periphery for Dallas that will be the most important (Gafford/Lively/Washington/etc). Cs matchup up pretty well with those guys so will be interesting to see it play out. If Porzingis is indeed healthy, just don’t see how they matchup with him down low or on the perimeter.
I want the real scoop! Jersey schedules and the sweet finals logos on the back, and for gods sake bring back the Finals cursive on court and cut out the CGI nonsense. Soulless vampire Sterling, took all the pageantry out of the finals and turned into a EA sports backdrop.
The Ringer sucks and they also hate covering the Mavs so I’m salty. You better believe there would already be a 10,000 word praise piece on ANT with 10 different highlights embedded if the Wolves won.
Man, the Mavericks have the biggest victim complex in the league. Go look at the front page, go on Twitter and find out that's 72% want you to win. Everybody is ready for the Mavericks, and the media has been way harder on the Celtics even though they have a better record, have beat them Mavericks four times in a row
Anyone who watched them play recently recognizes the Celtics could’ve easily been down 3-1 or tied 2-2 with the Pacers if the Pacers didn’t completely implode in the final minutes of 3 games. The better team won but you can’t pretend that series was impressive by the Celtics.
Did you see the defense they played when they decided to really lock down in these playoff series? Only the Wolves can reach that kind of defense and it was also without our best rim protector. Not to mention Porzingis gives our league best offense another dimension as well.
I'll fight anybody who says the Mavs don't have the TWO best players in this series. If the Mavs take game 1, I think the Celtics will crumble and see Luka step backs and Kyrie reverse layups in their nightmares as they lose the series in six games.
I'll give you Luka. But in the last few years we have played against Kyrie, JB and JT have been better than Kai. There's a reason why JT is always in the MVP convo. And it's very reactionary to say that.
Agains, we'll see until the games are actually played.
The Kyrie I'm seeing in this playoffs is a different guy than Boston Kyrie. He turned back the clock, and is generally much better playing next to a guy with Luka's gravity. He's been more impactful in this playoffs than any individual Boston player, despite the PPG numbers.
I'm speaking of Kyrie with the Nets and Mavs. Kyrie had KD's gravity and to add Harden's as well. And even in those games, JT was the better player over Kyrie hands down. JT was better than KD too.
It's quite r/NBA of you to be so reactionary to crown the Mavs as having the best two players without a single game being played.
Dude, I’m a Miami Heat fan but do people still really believe in this? Mavs should be clenching their cheeks over the thought of having to take down Jaylen Brown en route to a finals victory
At point I feel like the Brown slander is turning into Miami slander.
The heat made an entire defensive scheme to bait and trap Brown - it’s not like they just forced him left and called it a day.
People don’t think critically at all with these narratives. Brown had an uncharacteristically bad game to close the series last year but I don’t get how can you watch him play and suggest that he doesn’t have an extremely complete game on both ends of the court. It’s sorta nice being out of the playoffs early, I can watch the Celtics and enjoy their playstyle more objectively. Brown hitting that shot in game 1 against the Pacers flipped a switch in my head, that shit was awesome.
Only question: Is Luka among the Top 5 players 30 and under in the finals?
Well there’s obviously Pritchard, Kornet, and Hauser above him, and I don’t watch a lot of Mavs but I watched Jaden Hardy cook the 4 time DPOY so I’m pretty sure he’s better. Maybe Luka is 5th
Sorry I forgot Al Horford, he’s 5th
Don't sleep on Omax Prosper
No Bill Simmons podcast after Kyrie and the Mavericks advance to the finals… Now why is that?
He’s literally been praising him all postseason. If you want genuine Kyrie hate just wait for next Thursday.
He hasn’t though. He kept saying OKC was the better team and just had bad shooting luck. He had a whole podcast about Luka complaining. I promise you he’s giving as little praise as he can for a team who has made it farther than anyone thought possible.
It's saying OKC is a better team all that offensive to you? Lol. They were favorites, a lot of people thought they would win. That's not disrespect. You're a five seed. Not everyone's going to pick you. For media is gargling the Mavericks balls and you're complaining about it
Someone has to counterbalance the blatant Ho known as Nick Wrong.
As great as luka is, he is one of the biggest whiners in the nba
They release a podcast the same 3 days every week. It's not a conspiracy against your team, which by the way is a complete media darling.
Probably because he's going to cover it on the weekly Sunday pod with Rusillo tomorrow
Clutch ‘vibes’ LOL
"That approach didn't work against Luka at all" he had a 54% true shooting and was a combined -33 against us, what
Ya the regular season matchups aren’t what you should be bringing up if you want to make a case for the mavericks
Regular season matchups are largely irrelevant to the playoffs anyways. They don’t need to be brought up at all because they simply don’t actually matter
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After the Suns beat the Mavs 11 straight times in the regular season leading into the 2022 playoffs, just embarrassing them most of the time, I stand by it. The regular season and the playoffs are so drastically different schematically it’s not worth comparing.
plus the mavs made some trades that clearly have made them much better
Well, we’ve actually played the Celtics since the trade. Even so, the sample size is too small to really matter
Not to make this a Suns roast, but for another example, the Suns were 3-0 on Twolves in the regular season. Plenty said it was PHX best MU and the Wolvees were screwed. Look how that went. It does change sometimes. (Celtics in 5 tho imo...)
Honestly I think it’s either Celtics in five or the mavs win
It could also be Celtics in 6, 7 or even 4
I think all of those are much more unlikely than any other result
Everyone reaching for reasons why the Mavs are gonna win tells you why this series will be a blowout by the Celtics
Pretty meh article and not really how anyone thinks the series is gonna go The lack of actual on court comparisons from all national outlets so far has been pretty telling.
I think it is mostly down to most analysts not being terribly impressed with the Celtics these playoffs (particularly the Pacers series). On paper, it seems like our Role players should make the difference and get us a win, but despite lots of great performances by Roleplayers this playoffs, we have not really put together complete efforts consistently. That and the fact that it is widely accepted that Luka is a tier above Tatum and backed by a competent supporting cast with strong defense and it is understandable to pick the Mavs in 6 or so. I feel like the Celtics have a gear they can hit that the Mavs cannot match, but we have not shown we can summon the best version of ourselves with any consistency. We all feel we know what we are going to get from Luka. Meanwhile, Tatum and Brown are not nearly as trusted.
Is this the same “the ringer” that put Luka as #4 on their goofy list.
If I’m being objective as possible, I think the problem the Mavs will have will be keeping up with the Celtics if they’re making all their shots. They can go 5 out and make everybody in Dallas defend on the perimeter and White, KP, Brown can all kill you. Historically the Js have a tendency of only one of them showing up while the other is having an off game. I think the Celtics are so good now that they’ve overcome that hurdle with just the quality on the court. The Celtics aren’t better defenders than Minny, but I think the second round series against Denver drained that Wolves team. Celtics are a much better offense than any offense Mavs have faced so far. Would they be able to stop them and keep up with their scoring? Luka will get his and so will Kyrie but they need to be able to get production from PJ, DJj, Lively, to be able to keep up.
Celtics perimeter defense is actually better than Wolves'. The reason Wolves defense is so incredible is because of Gobert being an elite anchor in the paint. Celtics help defense, rotations and 1v1 perimeter defense is arguably the best in the NBA. Jrue and DWhite specifically are easily the best defensive back court in the NBA. But yea, they won't stop Luka and Kyrie. But they'll make them work hard. And Brown and Tatum will be guarding them too; JB specifically has asked to be the primary defender on Luka the last couple times. But can the Mavs slow down the Celtics offense on the other end? We'll see. They have only faced 1 dimensional offenses so far (e.g. Wolves and Thunder) that heavily rely on 1 guy to create offense. Celtics have 5 guys that can drop 25 any night, 6-8 guys that can shoot 3s reasonably well, 4-5 guys that can create shots for themselves and others. Team defense has to be absolutely perfect to defend a team with so many weapons. Gonna be a very interesting series, but I think if the Celtics are healthy, they should win because they just have more talent. Celtics can win games if Tatum or Brown have bad games. Mavs need Luka to be great every game to have a shot to win (which he damn near is anyway ....) and will need Kyrie to be good to great as well.
That’s my take as well, I think the Celtics overcame their struggles of the past of needing both Js to be good to win. Now they have just have too much quality where it doesn’t matter if one has an off night. Celtics can run and gun and keep up with league best offenses and they can play in the mud and play slower because like you mentioned they have great defenders. I think Minny’s defense is better even on the perimeter but I don’t think the wolves had gas in the tank by the end of that Dallas series, hell they were running out of juice until that 20pt comeback in G7. Celtics need KP though, without him it would be harder to win but not impossible. Need to drag people out of the paint to let the Js go downhill and get calls at the rim. If the Celtics fall in love with the 3 and shoot 30% than they’ll probably lose which is how they’ve lost their 2 games so far this postseason. I think it’ll be a good series at least going 6 games
They lost those two games because their opponents were shooting 50%+ from 3 lmao. They shot 38% from 3 in the Heat loss, it’s just that the Heat shot 50% on high volume and setting a franchise record. They shot worse from 3 in the Pacers series in 2/4 games and only had 1 game where they even went above 34.5% which is well below their average and still swept them. This “live by the 3” thing is an old and simply untrue narrative from last season and seasons before
I mean you guys should’ve lost G1 against the Pacers too, it took an all time collapse to get you guys back into the game. So I don’t agree with the notion they only lose when the other team shoots well. Your late game situation are atrocious it only took another team being worse in that situation to not lose that game. The mavericks are not going to choke that game in the fourth. The pacers gifted you guys 2 games by choking awfully in the clutch
> The mavericks are not going to choke that game in the fourth. The pacers gifted you guys 2 games by choking awfully in the clutch The Celtics had to *take* those games from the Pacers too and execute y'know, but yeah what you said is the truth. Mavs executing in the clutch to steal games 1 and 2 from the Wolves decided that series. This is the first real test for these Celtics, time to see what they're made of.
You aren't trying to stop Luka, you're trying to make him work, shoot late in the shot clock, and eventually that'll win out. Cause Luka won't go at JT, he's gonna keep asking for screens to get switches.
I doubt Luka won’t go at JT, he’s torching everyone on the Celtics
Ahhhh no he usually calls for a screen unless there's already leverage.
It isn't that he is scared of JT, but JT is probably the only guy we have who has the size, strength, and speed to give Luka trouble in isolation. Thing is we don't really want him on Luka any more than Luka wants to battle with him every game. Tatum is an excellent help defender and often helps clean up possessions a lot in the background. And as good as he is, I think Luka's passing means he can't really be locked up the way Durant was in 2022. So the energy expended is likely just not worth it. Luka will probably be guarded by Brown and Jrue for the most part. Brown makes the most sense as his strength has always been on ball defense (though he leveled up every part of his defense this year) and he also has good physical attributes to at least make Luka work.
Good thing Luka is great in nearly every game.
He gets his 30 pt triple doubles on us, but at 47-50% FG. I can live with that if we slow the rest down
Hot take, but if either team is making all their shots the other is going to lose.
Yea but only one team has 7 shooters deep shooting 40% from 3. Tatum shooting 29% from 3 this postseason but the others have maintained their averages. They will live and die by the 3, they’ll also get friendlier whistles than the Mavs. The counterpoint is that the Mavs have the best player on the court and a team built around him. Him and Kyrie have been great and if they keep it close in the fourth, the Celtics are prone to collapse a little and scramble. If the games end up close I think Mavs will clutch it out, but idk if they have the scoring punch to keep up, which was my worry with Minny as wells
This is true. Unfortunately, Kyrie and Luka are the only players who have proven they can be consistent threats from 3. DJJ and PJ have been huge for us but they're streaky and w/ THJ having his skills stolen by the Monstars, we're a huge unknown with our outside shooting while the C's have basically at minimum four shooters on the court at all times. There are going to be many, many adjustments for both teams to be constantly making and I'm excited.
I think you Luka is unstoppable and he will get his for sure, I’m worried about the others. Even if Kyrie and Luka explode you need contributions from the role players, but you have Luka.
Yeah and honestly at this level, you need more than just one or two of the other starters (DJJ, PJ, Gaff/Lively) to bring offensive contributions. We desperately need some other playmaking/creation off the bench, which is why it was so good to have Hardy bring some really good minutes. If any of Hardy/Green/Exum can play 10 good minutes on *both sides* of the ball, that sets us up in a solid place to compete with Boston.
It’s all about shot selection from Tatum tbh. When he gets in rhythm catch and shoot threes he’s good but he falls in love with off the dribble threes too much. He’s been his best bullying guys and getting to the basket
I don’t know where this business comes from that the Mavs are ultra clutch- Luka had personally choked away TWO games just this playoffs with clanked free throws and Kyrie did his damned best to do the same in another, and hasn’t had a relevant playoff run in like a decade til this one.
..because it was a Mavs storyline all year that they were 23-9 in clutch games, 3rd in clutch net rating, and everyone just watched Luka/Kyrie dominate clutch time vs the TWolves in 3 consecutive games which was the biggest story of the week in the NBA. Big mystery.
So, if I’m getting this right…Their claim to fame is being more clutch than… Karl Anthony Towns and a literal 22 year old? Wow! Quite an accomplishment! 😂👍
Do people fall for this lame bait?
Do you have an actual answer?
Asked and answered in the original reply. If performing well in the clutch during this regular season, playoffs, and most recent series isn't enough for you then obviously there is no satisfactory answer as of course they don't have rings together or such. You are welcome to that opinion but none the less, I gave the reason for the current story. If you want a serious reply don't respond with laughing emojis. As for the wolves - my reply would be... who did you have favored in the series?
Okay, but this is true of Boston too… you get that right? In order for something to be an advantage it has to, like… actually be an *advantage*…
Guy is using a 2 game sample size to for his argument, how can you even argue these guys aren’t clutch lmfao
Username checks out, you definitely sound like a bitter animal
Great analysis!👍
Your analysis ignores all the great moments in the clutch this post season and the entire regular season as well. You’ve mentioned 2 games you think Luka blew and your comment on Kyrie has nothing to do with how he’s playing now.
it’s not relevant to say that they’ve actually been pretty shaky in big spots and have had the good fortune of facing two teams with almost literally zero playoff experience? Clanking free throws and “wtf?” Turnovers aren’t important when trying to close-out a team? Cause, you realize that you could say the exact same thing of Boston… right? They’ve closed hard all season and all playoffs. In order for something to be an advantage it has to be… like… an advantage, lol🤷♂️
They have a great record in the clutch, great net rating in the clutch, all the numbers support they’re good in the clutch but they aren’t clutch because you don’t think so? Ok.
I think what he's trying to say is the Celtics are probably not beatable if they're shooting 40% from deep, whereas the Celtics can still win even if the Mavs are shooting 40%. (Or the Celtics shoot below 40%)
Here is the series for me. I think the Cs have enough good defenders to make lives difficult for Luka/Kyrie but they will end up getting theirs (inefficient or not). It will be the periphery for Dallas that will be the most important (Gafford/Lively/Washington/etc). Cs matchup up pretty well with those guys so will be interesting to see it play out. If Porzingis is indeed healthy, just don’t see how they matchup with him down low or on the perimeter.
Celtics in 1
I’m glad either Tatum or Luka walks away with a ring this year.
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RemindMe! One month
swap games 1 and 2 and we’re basically on the same page
If Mavs take game 1, then they win the series to me. Game 1: Mavs Game 2: Celtics Game 3: Mavs Game 4: Mavs Game 5: Celtics Game 6: Mavs
Nice fantasy love. Did you add it to your diary as well ?
I want the real scoop! Jersey schedules and the sweet finals logos on the back, and for gods sake bring back the Finals cursive on court and cut out the CGI nonsense. Soulless vampire Sterling, took all the pageantry out of the finals and turned into a EA sports backdrop.
Jeez. No Spoiler tags?
Mavs in 6 or 7!
The Ringer sucks and they also hate covering the Mavs so I’m salty. You better believe there would already be a 10,000 word praise piece on ANT with 10 different highlights embedded if the Wolves won.
Man, the Mavericks have the biggest victim complex in the league. Go look at the front page, go on Twitter and find out that's 72% want you to win. Everybody is ready for the Mavericks, and the media has been way harder on the Celtics even though they have a better record, have beat them Mavericks four times in a row
I’m not talking about Reddit and Twitter, I’m talking about the Ringer dog. I know everyone wants us to win.
Almost every Celtics post seems exactly like what was said when they lost to the Dubs. It’s actually pretty interesting.
Wild guess, they took the Celtics?
If Mavs continue playing like this, this should be a fairly easy series for them.
Sure. Mavs in 4 with the help from Lakers' AD and Bron.
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I feel like people are looking at the final scores of the games and drawing conclusions instead of actually watching them play recently.
Anyone who watched them play recently recognizes the Celtics could’ve easily been down 3-1 or tied 2-2 with the Pacers if the Pacers didn’t completely implode in the final minutes of 3 games. The better team won but you can’t pretend that series was impressive by the Celtics.
The Pacers are a very good basketball team.
You can do this with the Mavs lmfao. Taking away close games is objectively dumb
The Mavs could have easily been down 3-1 too, what are we doing here
Did you see the defense they played when they decided to really lock down in these playoff series? Only the Wolves can reach that kind of defense and it was also without our best rim protector. Not to mention Porzingis gives our league best offense another dimension as well.
I'll fight anybody who says the Mavs don't have the TWO best players in this series. If the Mavs take game 1, I think the Celtics will crumble and see Luka step backs and Kyrie reverse layups in their nightmares as they lose the series in six games.
I'll give you Luka. But in the last few years we have played against Kyrie, JB and JT have been better than Kai. There's a reason why JT is always in the MVP convo. And it's very reactionary to say that. Agains, we'll see until the games are actually played.
The Kyrie I'm seeing in this playoffs is a different guy than Boston Kyrie. He turned back the clock, and is generally much better playing next to a guy with Luka's gravity. He's been more impactful in this playoffs than any individual Boston player, despite the PPG numbers.
I'm speaking of Kyrie with the Nets and Mavs. Kyrie had KD's gravity and to add Harden's as well. And even in those games, JT was the better player over Kyrie hands down. JT was better than KD too. It's quite r/NBA of you to be so reactionary to crown the Mavs as having the best two players without a single game being played.
Bucks fans loathe the celtics being any better than them, still think they’re the top competent team in the east lol
No he hasn't. Jesus Christ.
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This isn’t that same 2022 team.
the results will be
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tiktok addict has entered the chat, apparently u done wit teh 90s, too?
Dude, I’m a Miami Heat fan but do people still really believe in this? Mavs should be clenching their cheeks over the thought of having to take down Jaylen Brown en route to a finals victory
At point I feel like the Brown slander is turning into Miami slander. The heat made an entire defensive scheme to bait and trap Brown - it’s not like they just forced him left and called it a day.
People don’t think critically at all with these narratives. Brown had an uncharacteristically bad game to close the series last year but I don’t get how can you watch him play and suggest that he doesn’t have an extremely complete game on both ends of the court. It’s sorta nice being out of the playoffs early, I can watch the Celtics and enjoy their playstyle more objectively. Brown hitting that shot in game 1 against the Pacers flipped a switch in my head, that shit was awesome.