On Thursday, June 6th, at 7:30 pm CT, the Dallas Mavericks will take on the Boston Celtics in game one of the 2024 NBA finals. This highly anticipated match up is loaded with talent on both the offensive and the defensive end of the floor. Boston being the one seed in the East, has cruised through most of the regular season and the postseason. Dallas on the other hand who is the 5th seed struggled for part of the regular season until making two key trades for PJ Washington and Daniel Gafford. They all clicked together towards the end of the regular season and now have made a very impressive postseason run.
Both the Celtics and the Maverick's are loaded with talented players like Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, Luka Dončić, Kyrie Irving and many more. Luka and Tatum who are both two young stars will match up for the first time in their carrier in the postseason. The Celtics will face their real first test in the finals as most of their other matchups have been fairly easy. Lots of the Eastern conference teams have struggled with injuries making it nearly impossible to take down the Celtics. Now the Celtics will face a red hot Mavs team with loads of talent so it will be interesting to see how they will matchup. Dallas has had to go through many talent loaded teams this postseason, including their most recent victory against the Minnesota TimberWolves. This win over the TimberWolves solidified the Mavericks as a real powerhouse team as the Wolves were the number one defense in the whole NBA and had knocked out the previous champs the Denver Nuggets.
The first game of the series will be played in Boston, but for the Mavericks, playing away has be no problem at all for them so far in the playoffs. Them being the fifth seed has put them at a disadvantage in every series so far yet they have battled that adversity and have ridden that underdog narrative. They will continue to ride this narrative all the way into the finals as the play the team with the most wins in the NBA with 64.
Winning 64 games is no easy task at all and the Celtics dominance on both sides of the ball have made all those wins possible. Their starting line up one through five can all score the ball and defend at a high level. They all also possess the ability to shoot the 3 point shot at a high percentage. This makes for both a lethal offense and defense which is something that not many teams have. It will be a struggle for the Mavs to matchup against their starting five as Dallas is not as defensive dominant.
The one key for the Celtics that is present in this series is if Celtics center Kristaps Porzingis will be available through out the finals. Kristaps has been out most of the playoffs and hasn't played a game since April 29th. Kristaps's ability to stretch the floor at the center position is something that will be so key for the Celtics in trying to open up driving lanes for both Brown and Tatum. Not having Porzingis puts the Celtics at a huge disadvantage and makes the series favour Dallas. If he does play many people take Boston in the series as they believe they have to much fire power for Dallas to handle.
The series is incredibly unpredictable and can really either go any way. Nonetheless, both teams will play their hardest and will give us NBA fans a finals match up to remember, and this may even be the start of a new dynasty or rivalry. We will also see either Luka Dončić win his first NBA championship and Kyrie Irving win his second, or we will see both Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown win their first ring. Either way it goes us fans will see a new era of champions and young talent that is now so present in our beloved NBA. The new era is now officially here and this is just the start of what they are going to do in the NBA.
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