NBA Finals - Dallas Mavericks v Boston Celtics

[SamH]

Long delay from the conference finals, but it all gets underway on Thursday night. Here's the place to discuss the series! Game 1 is on the BBC for those who might be interested.

I'm going to predict the Celtics winning in 7 - hope so anyway! We don't often get 7 games in the finals, be nice to see it this year.

[spacejammer]

Should be an exciting final.
My head says Boston to win as they have been the most dominant all season but I would probably want the Mavericks to win out of the 2 teams.

If Boston win with Portzingas though then the Eagles will be able to boast they had an NBA champion play on their court from when GB played Lativia.
That and I'd be able to say I watched an NBA champion play from close distance as well since I went to that game too.

I'm going to say 4-2 or 4-1 Celtics on this one.

[hayesboy]

If this series is close my money is on the Mavs. They have the killers.
Celtics are flat track bullies. Good front runners but if it gets tense then the Mavs have two closers with balls tbr size of water melons!!

[massiveridersfan]

Jun 4, 2024 13:23:16 GMT SamH said:

Long delay from the conference finals, but it all gets underway on Thursday night. Here's the place to discuss the series! Game 1 is on the BBC for those who might be interested.

I'm going to predict the Celtics winning in 7 - hope so anyway! We don't often get 7 games in the finals, be nice to see it this year.

Thanks - hadn't realised BBC were also broadcasting games.  

[keithkr]

I will be cheering for the Celtics, with the only reason o like Irish music, can't think of another one

[SamH]

Watched the first half of game 1 so far, but think it's safe to say Celtics lead 1-0, barring a meltdown of Biblical proportions. Bit of a shame that it was on BBC1 but has been so uncompetitive as that won't help attract a new audience. I guess being on in the night maybe that doesn't matter though, its just good to have any basketball on BBC1.

Porzingis, what a return from injury! I can see why the experts said they need him. What a scintillating first half he had, be keen to see if he keeps it going in the 2nd.

[spacejammer]

Jun 7, 2024 11:35:14 GMT SamH said:

Watched the first half of game 1 so far, but think it's safe to say Celtics lead 1-0, barring a meltdown of Biblical proportions. Bit of a shame that it was on BBC1 but has been so uncompetitive as that won't help attract a new audience. I guess being on in the night maybe that doesn't matter though, its just good to have any basketball on BBC1.

Porzingis, what a return from injury! I can see why the experts said they need him. What a scintillating first half he had, be keen to see if he keeps it going in the 2nd.

Just watched it up until the mid 4th Quarter now and I agree it was pretty one sided.
It reminded me of watching Eagles vs Lions this past season in the BBL.

Both teams were good but Boston just look too stacked to be stopped.
If Portzingas can knock down shots and play like that after missing 38 days then it doesn't look good for the Mavericks.

The fact the Knicks fans booed this guy when he was drafted and he is now on the brink of winning an NBA championship.
Those fans who did that must be feeling pretty stupid right about now.

Overall it looked like Boston were a team that had more control and composure whereas the Mavericks looked like they had no idea what to do and were way to slow and static at times on the offensive end.

After this match I would atleast expect some sort of response in Game 2 otherwise this is going to be a short NBA Finals this year.

As for the coverage I tried to watch it on BBC but the scorebar was a little off to begin with and fast forward on Iplayer was a little awkward.
So I watched it on TNT instead and thought it was better.

[SamH]

2-0, but much closer. I thought it was a poor game overall, only Doncic and Holiday played especially well. The Celtics missed all those 3s and still won fairly comfortably. Doesn't bode well for Dallas. Kyrie hasn't really got going yet, without him playing at a high level they no chance.

[hayesboy]

Boston are getting an easy ride.
Outside of Luka most of the Mavs seem to be suffering from stage fright!

If the Mavs win the next 2 games it’s got potential as a series but disappointingly it feels like if the Celtics nick one it’s all over bar the shouting

[robh92]

Jun 10, 2024 11:49:30 GMT SamH said:

2-0, but much closer. I thought it was a poor game overall, only Doncic and Holiday played especially well. The Celtics missed all those 3s and still won fairly comfortably. Doesn't bode well for Dallas. Kyrie hasn't really got going yet, without him playing at a high level they no chance.

My thoughts exactly. That felt like a game that Dallas had to find a way to win.

I think ultimately Boston have been by far the best team in the NBA throughout the season and it's showing in the post season as well. I hope the Mavs can take game three to make a series out of it, but it feels inevitable now really.

[SamH]

Well this is turning into a rather uneventful series. Dallas just don't seem able to hold on to a lead do they? Doncic fouling out didn't help them in game 3. I think this is a sweep now! And that was with KP out again remember.

Only question now is, who gets finals MVP?

[hayesboy]

All over bar the shouting sadly.
I hope Dallas get G4. It would be good to see how Bostons nerves hold up.

Doesn’t look likely though. Most of the Mavs have gone AWOL. Big surprise that the refs fouled out one of the biggest stars in the NBA. He’s punched them too much with his moaning though….you have to wonder if they were sending him a message?

I felt that close games favoured the Mavs but they just cannot get close enough at the pivotal moments. The Celts have timed their big runs to perfection.

Mavs look out ideas. Real shame but they will be back.

Based on games so far MVP would be Brown.

[SamH]

Yes I'd probably go with Brown, although it was KP in game 1, but overall so far it's just Brown by a smidge. Holiday and Tatum in the running too. Doncic definitely does too much moaning, even Doris Burke picked up on it at one point, noting that while he was busy yapping at the refs, the Celtics came down and got an easy score in a 5 on 4 situation. I suppose the Mavs can be happy with their season overall - no one really picked them to get to the finals, and to do so from the 5th seed is impressive. Everyone was talking about Denver, OKC and Minnesota. I don't think the latter 2 would have fared much better against Boston TBH, but I'd be interested to see a series with Denver, I feel they would have been more competitive than Dallas has been. Funny that Mile High hasn't been heard from since they waved goodbye!

[hayesboy]

I think of the other 3 teams in the west you mentioned Denver would have have posed the biggest challenge defensively to the Celtics. The size and guile of Jokic.
OKC would have been better suited to guarding the Celtics. I think Minny would have struggled as the Mavs are.

Doncic is getting hammered by the NBA talking heads. Favourite quote is by Stephen A where he basically says that you know you are in the wrong when you are making Kyrie Irving look like the reasonable one :-)

[SamH]

So, Dallas staves off elimination with an absolute rout. I don't know how a team can win 3 games in a row then get blown out so badly. I still expect them to close out in Boston on Monday though.

[tallerman]

Because they'd rather run in Boston, look at the minutes split. Calculated loss

[hayesboy]

This is why I was thinking the Mavs had a chance (prior to series starting). These Celtics seem to have a dud in them most rounds.
They compile brilliant runs…..but are prone to conceding them.
The Mavs played with that devil may care, nothing to lose attitude.
Doncic was definitely more focused, less moany and more engaged defensively. I personally thought he got away with some blocking fouls but good that he was trying.

I agree this is most likely to get closed out in Boston but I would really enjoy seeing the nerves set in and the series getting extended.

Even before the game was blown open the Mavs were getting contributions from all over the team.

The Celtics with exception of Holiday seemed a bit complacent. They’ve had it too easy these playoffs and I really hope they are made to work for this now

[SamH]

Yeah maybe the Cs were also thinking they'd rather win at home, even if it was subconscious and affected their play. But if they lose game 5 they'll be concerned. It's not like the old days with the 2-3-2 format so if you lose game 5 all of a sudden its back on the road for game 6. I remember the Sonics going 3-0 down to the Bulls in 1996 before winning the next 2. Problem was, you then have to win 2 in Chicago which was never going to happen. But here, if the Cs lose game 5 at home who's to say it doesn't go 7, then there's no guarantee of anything.

I think it's unlikely but would love to see it go to 6 now, will make things interesting at least!

[tugger]

Jun 14, 2024 6:58:47 GMT hayesboy said:

Favourite quote is by Stephen A where he basically says that you know you are in the wrong when you are making Kyrie Irving look like the reasonable one :-)

Stephen A Smith - A man who is both anti Doncic and Jokic. At various times this season he has claimed Edwards, SGA and Brunson are better guards than Doncic!

His opinion is not worth listening to!

[hayesboy]

Thanks for clarifying that.
Thank god you told me!