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The Celtics’ rivals handed them a championship one bad trade at a time the,celtics,rivals,handed,them,a,championship,one,bad,trade,at,a,time,sbnation,com,front-page,nba,nba-playoffs,nba-playoffs-powerhouse-2024

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The West is a pecked-over, apron-strewn, parity-fest. The East has more superstar divas on first and second-round losers than it does 50-win teams. If 2023-24 turns indicative, it will be the Rest of the NBA vs. Boston for the next few years.

Not only did the 2023-24 Boston Celtics conclude a run for the ages — 80 victories in 101 tries, seven wins more than any other club, +11.4 regular season point differential, +8 postseason point differential — but it appears fit and settled to rule the NBA for as long as it takes Victor Wembanyama to find four palatable teammates to perform with.

Every Achilles has its heels: Boston owns merely traditional medicine’s answers for Unicorn Legs, 38-year old Al Horford is irreplaceable, at some future date opposing centers and forwards may learn not to attempt dunks upon the 6’4 Derrick White. Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum might turn on one another, some argument over selling shares of the publishing rights to their inspirational story of friendship, playmaking. Boston is otherwise set.

Who do we blame for putting the NBA in this mess? Sensible authors credit the executives, former C’s boss Danny Ainge and current C’s chief Brad Stevens. I’d rather yell at the teams who traded Boston all these great players.

Milwaukee, for one. Picked to upend the East, never threatened. Boston knew it had the Bucks licked by the time Terry Stotts stormed out of his brand-new office. Not because Milwaukee was a mess, but because Boston was finishing its second week of practice with former Buck Jrue Holiday, a walking championship ring, the ultimate five-tool mensch.

Did Milwaukee know Holiday would end up in Boston when it triggered the trade with the Trail Blazers for Damian Lillard? Did Milwaukee care, or were the Bucks too besotted with Lillard’s 32.2-point potential?

Can we punish Portland for lending the C’s their shine? If the Blazer rebuilding plans falter, in spite of earning Golden State’s 2024 lottery pick (and Boston’s unprotected first-rounder in 2029) in October’s Holiday exchange, will we scoff in the future at Portland’s lost opportunity to field Jrue until he’s through?

No, blame Brooklyn.

All the shenanigans which indirectly helped Boston build its Larry Bird-backed champs in the 1980s — swapping entire teams with the Buffalo Braves, drafting Bird while he still plays college basketball, lopsided deals with Detroit and Golden State, seriously, what are the Buffalo Braves — barely compare to what the Brooklyn Nets handed the Boston Celtics in 2013.

Boston won 41 games and exited after the first round in 2012-13. Brooklyn called Boston on draft night to say Hey, that rebuilding you didn’t want anything to do with? We’ll take over from here.

Danny Ainge steered an uncomfortable, seemingly inevitable slog toward oblivion into the C’s you sees today: Boston traded Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Jason Terry for the first-round picks (from Brooklyn and Atlanta) which became Jaylen Brown, Jayson Tatum, and Collin Sexton. And James Young.

The deal earned Boston a trade exception which it used to deal for the first-round pick it later packaged to acquire Isaiah Thomas. Thomas plus Sexton’s draft rights were dealt for Kyrie Irving.

Amongst the salary fodder gleaned from the Brooklyn deal was Keith Bogans’ ongoing contract, which Boston eventually dealt for Dwight Powell, an asset in the 2014 Rajon Rondo deal with Dallas. The $12.9 million trade exception earned from the Rondo transaction was dealt with Jeff Green to Memphis for the first-round pick which became Aaron Nesmith. Nesmith became Malcolm Brogdon, whose charms lured Portland into dealing Jrue Holiday to Boston.

Brooklyn did not flourish in the wake of its acquisitions. The ex-Celt Nets lost in the second round in 2014 and finished two games behind a 40-win Boston playoff team in 2015 before fading in the opening round to Atlanta, the Hawks thriving in 2014-15 despite the loss of James Young.

The 76ers own a percentage in our green future. Philly fans should be angry, the suits in the front office keep pulling crap like this:

Jaylen Brown, taken No. 3 overall in the 2016 draft by Boston (with Brooklyn’s pick) won Eastern finals MVP and NBA Finals MVP in 2024. Ben Simmons was Philly’s pick as the NBA’s top overall selection in 2016, the ostensible payoff after seasons of Processing, and hasn’t played important basketball in three years. Jaylen Brown won the 2024 Dunk Contest slamming with his off hand, we still don’t know if Ben Simmons uses the correct hand while shooting.

Brown made All-Rookie team as Boston cruised to the 2017 Eastern finals, while Simmons missed his entire rookie campaign with a broken foot, earning Philly the No. 3 pick in the 2017 draft. Boston owned the top pick, from Brooklyn, and Philly general manager Bryan Colangelo collared together a trade package for his division rival: Boston earns a future first-round pick and deals down to No. 3 to select Jayson Tatum. Newly slanted into the top selection, Philly selected Markelle Fultz, later dealt for Tyrese Maxey, who is not Jayson Tatum.

Boston used the pick Philly sent its way (2019’s No. 14 pick Romeo Langford) in the package for Derrick White.

That’s right, blame the Spurs.

Romeo Langford played two-and-a-half excruciating seasons in Boston. Langford lapped up 94 games of what-was-that-shot basketball before the Spurs took Romeo and Josh Richardson and a future first-rounder (from the Celtics, so, big whup) for Derrick White, who big whups opponents’ shots all over the place.

White blocked just as many shots with the Spurs, but whupping must be easier with bigs like Al Horford and Kristaps Porziņģis running astride Derrick. Back to blame.

In 2019 the Sixers signed Al Horford away from the Celtics, real underhanded stuff, tremendous work, the sort of thing to do (instead of trading lottery picks) to a divisional rival. Whether Al worked alongside Joel Embiid or backed him up, whatever, do what one can to hurt the Celtics.

Of course, the Celtics swept the Horford-stretched Sixers out of Al’s only postseason with Philadelphia. The 76ers lost nerve a month into the next season and dealt Horford and what will likely be Philly’s 2025 first-round pick to Oklahoma City for Danny Green.

Boston earned Horford back for the price of its own first-round pick in 2021 (Alperen Şengün), happily paid for the final $53.5 million on the back end of the deal Al signed with Philly, a tag which earned them the Bird rights to keep Horford through 2025 at under $10 million per season.

Horford could have been a Sixer the whole time, spelling Embiid, not being on the Celtics.

Also, why did Washington trade Kristaps Porziņģis to Boston as if Washington were the ones getting Marcus Smart or a first-round pick in the deal? The Wizards received neither, and let the Celtics tow their unicorn away. Boston ganked what turned into Golden State’s 2024 lottery pick out of that deal, used to sweeten the swap for Holiday.

Want to add more sugar? Blame the Lakers while they’re down and out in a Beverly Hills restaurant where they have an uncomfortably-large tab, lowballing another head coach candidate.

In the 2016 NBA draft the Lakers selected Brandon Ingram on the board with Jaylen Brown available, and in 2017 chose Lonzo Ball with Jayson Tatum in play. Each were understandable selections, each played the largest role in ensuring Anthony Davis’ move to El Lay, neither was any better than Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum, a duo to rule the world with.

The Celtics gave everyone a chance, left itself prone to accurate criticism through loss after postseason loss yet mostly kept course. Boston fell to the usual batch of rough injury and bad free agent luck, whiffed on some vets, blew some playoff games at home. Even this season’s “be careful, he’s always injured” trade risk — the regular season-saving Porziņģis — was injured for the important half the playoffs.

Credit the Celtics, a dominant turn in 2023-24 after a decade’s dismantling of the Big Three’s single championship.

But blame them for what comes next, the actualization of Daryl Morey’s threes-first philosophy, 29 other NBA teams showing up to 2024-25 ready to attempt 49 three-pointers per game.

This shouldn’t be the C’s legacy, this club is far too pleasant to watch. Eight or nine different NBA teams ensured as much.

Kelly Dwyer covers the NBA at The Second Arrangement and thinks the NBA should cap three-pointers at 33 attempts per team per game, Larry Bird’s number.

Kyrie Irving fell flat in NBA Finals when Mavericks needed him the most kyrie,irving,fell,flat,in,nba,finals,when,mavericks,needed,him,the,most,sbnation,com,front-page,nba,nba-playoffs,nba-finals,draftkings

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It’s going to be another trip around the sun before Kyrie Irving gets a chance at his second NBA championship, and he only has himself to blame. This was his opportunity, his moment to cement a legacy that exists outside of LeBron James. Now after a horrific NBA Finals series against the Celtics, it’s difficult to argue for much beyond Kyrie being in the “Hall of Very Good.”

There was only one game in these NBA Finals where Irving played like himself at all, and that was Game 4 — which the Celtics treated like a rest day so they could close out the series in Boston. In the games that mattered Irving was such a non-factor that he was rarely the 3rd, or even 4th best option on the Mavericks. His stats outside of that Game 4 speak for themselves.

  • 31-of-81 from the field (.382), 7-of-23 from three (.304), 4.75 assists per game, 8 turnovers.

Even if we include back in Game 4, the only contest where he was even a shadow of himself, Irving still finished the 2024 NBA Finals by scoring 99 points on 99 field goal attempts. A mediocre performance for a middling point guard, let alone someone who is often hailed as one of the best players in the NBA.

To be fair, Irving’s talent speaks for itself. He’s one of the best iso scorers not just in the modern NBA, but that the game’s ever seen. Kyrie’s blend of jaw-dropping handles paired with an ability to score anywhere on the floor is the reason that night-in-night-out he could go off for 50 at any given moment if a team doesn’t have a way to stop him. The problem is that while Irving might be one of the best improvisational ball handlers in basketball, if he’s met with so much as a stiff breeze he’s rendered unable to adjust and change his game to compensate for how opponents try to stop him.

Entering the NBA Finals here was no doubt this was going to be a tough series for Dallas on paper. They didn’t match up great against the Celtics’ defensive-focused backcourt of Jrue Holliday and Derrick White, while simultaneously not having great options to handle Jayson Tatum and Jalen Brown. Still, there was the ever-present hope that the Mavericks could actually do this, because we’d been conditioned to overlook the defensive deficiencies of Kyrie and Luka Doncic, instead focusing on their scoring prowess.

This season for the Mavericks was defined by Luka and Kyrie, and neither really rose to the occasion in the finals. There’s no question Doncic struggled at times against the Boston backcourt, but he wasn’t a liability on the court the same was Irving was.

Dallas is Irving’s fourth stop in his career, and the third where he was brought in as “the missing piece,” only to fall apart in the Finals. Only twice in his career has Irving managed to play with the same level of regular season success in the postseason, and both came with LeBron James in Cleveland when they won a ring in 2015-16, and returned to the finals in 2016-17.

It’s unclear what’s next for Kyrie Irving, because he remains one of the most mercurial players in the NBA. There is a path forward for Dallas, but it requires work. They have to find a reliable scoring option in the front court, and need to get tougher defensively — both of which are possible. However, these NBA Finals showed once more that a team can’t count on Irving to be the man to get them over the hump. There’s also a pattern of behavior here that when the work gets to be too much, Irving is just as likely to demand a trade than stick around for any retooling.

At this point that’s Kyrie Irving’s legacy: One of the best regular season players to ever step on the court.

How the Boston Celtics switched their way toward an NBA championship how,the,boston,celtics,switched,their,way,toward,an,nba,championship,sbnation,com,front-page,draftkings

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On the surface, it was a seemingly mundane baseline out-of-bounds (BLOB) play at the four minute and ten second mark of the second quarter that the Dallas Mavericks were priming to run. But as is true of high-stakes NBA basketball, there are multiple layers hidden beneath the supposed simplicity of an NBA possession.

When you think of how the Boston Celtics defended the Mavs throughout the course of the 2024 NBA Finals, the aforementioned possession makes a ton of sense. Against the most prolific corner shooting team in the league during the NBA season, the Celtics held the Mavericks to a total of 22 corner-three attempts (non-garbage time) in five games — an average of 4.4 attempts per game, well below the Mavs’ regular-season average of 11.3. While “pushing the right buttons” would still be an apt way to describe the Celtics’ defense when it came to limiting a typically potent offense, “flipping the correct switches” would be more apropos — both in the figurative sense and in the literal manner through which the Celtics threw a ton of switching the Mavs’ way.

The maneuver of switching assignments around a screen can be deceivingly effortless to the casual eye. It may look easy, but there are multiple factors to consider: the timing of the switch, the compatibility of the defenders involved, the possibility of counters (e.g., slipping the screen to gain separation from the switch before it can be established), and several other underlying factors at play. Ball-screen possessions are the most common switchable actions, but the difficulty is exponentially increased when switching off the ball — particularly, in a situation such as a baseline out-of-bounds set.

So when the Celtics were faced with a “pick-the-picker” (also known as a “screen-the-screener”) action during the aforementioned BLOB situation, a seemingly distant connection was made between a discussion LeBron James and JJ Redick had in an episode of the Mind the Game Podcast.

Before we delve into that discussion — and to set the stage for the connection — here’s the play in question:

Defense is often a mental-checklist exercise, which is easy in theory but difficult to pull off while mired in the fast-paced nature of an NBA possession. The best defenses in the league are neither detail insufficient nor speed vulnerable — that is, they make sure to cross every “t” and dot every “i” without the need for slowing things down. Quite obviously, their opponents won’t accommodate them in the latter regard.

If the possession above was to be made into a checklist, it would look something like this:

  • Stay true to the principle of taking away the corners (Al Horford was able to stay home against Derrick Jones Jr. on the weak-side corner, while Jaylen Brown successfully kept tabs on Kyrie Irving on the strong-side corner).
  • Make sure that neither Irving nor Luka Dončić spends considerable time handling the live ball and finishing the possession.

In those two regards, it was an astounding success. The Mavs had no choice but to feed the ball to PJ Washington, who attempted to create his own scoring opportunity but shuffled his feet due to a timely rotation by Sam Houser.

When shining a magnifying glass on the possession to deduce why (and how) every item on the list was checked off, peep at both Brown and Jrue Holiday — and attempt to understand their maneuvers while a James proposal about defending “pick-the-picker” BLOBs to Redick is overlaid:

Who would’ve thought that simply switching the inbounder’s defender would throw a wrench into the Mavs’ BLOB? But that’s exactly what Holiday and Brown do; instead of chasing Irving toward the corner, Holiday switches off of him and switches onto Dončić, whose initial defender (Brown) drifts toward the corner to switch onto Irving. Holiday’s maneuver, therefore, is to plug a gap created by an attempt to plug another gap.

With both Dončić and Irving in no position to get the ball back to create something out of nothing, Washington is forced into a role he’s not comfortable playing, resulting in a bumbling attempt to score at the rim.

If such a phrase exists that can capture the essence of what the Celtics’ defense was all about in these Finals, it’s most probably this: “Take away their best offensive options and live with the outcome produced by everything else.” Their corner three philosophy was born out of this approach: no one was allowed a corner look, especially Dončić and Irving; everyone else was allowed above-the-break looks, save for Dončić and Irving.

Much has been praised — and maligned — about the Celtics’ mathematical approach to the game. People aren’t keen on understanding the apparent difficulty of applying numbers to a game that has treated such figures as a supplementary and secondary aspect. But it’s not as hard to understand as many people think: three is greater than two, which doesn’t require an engineering degree to absorb.

But that’s a concept that applies to only one side of the ball. While the Celtics have embraced the 3 > 2 philosophy by spreading the floor and fully embracing a 5-out offense, they’ve also applied its reverse on defense — that is, two is less than three. In that regard, their philosophy is also quite simple: make opponents take tough twos in lieu of attempting efficient threes.

Again, that is where their anti-corner philosophy comes in. But it also applies to the nature of the twos they’re willing to give up, and which ones they’re not allowing.

Peep at the commonality between these shot profiles from the Mavs, per Cleaning The Glass:

  • Game 1: 33% rim frequency (55th percentile), 38% mid-range frequency (79th percentile), 29% three-point frequency (10th percentile)
  • Game 2: 30% rim frequency (42nd percentile), 39% mid-range frequency (83rd percentile), 30% three-point frequency (14th percentile)
  • Game 3: 32% rim frequency (48th percentile), 40% mid-range frequency (86th percentile), 28% three-point frequency (9th percentile)
  • Game 4: 37% rim frequency (80th percentile), 31% mid-range frequency (43rd percentile), 32% three-point frequency (21st percentile)
  • Game 5: 30% rim frequency (38th percentile), 24% mid-range frequency (21st percentile), 45% three-point frequency (90th percentile)

On the aggregate, the Celtics were able to put a lid on the rim while also taking away the three-point line — while also funneling the Mavs’ shot attempts toward the mid-range area. The corner three vs. above-the-break three battle was also a subplot of this overarching theme, but another notable stat that captured the Celtics’ approach: the Mavs only had a total of six alley-oop attempts in five Finals games, an average of 1.2 attempts per game. That is a far cry from the three attempts per game they averaged in their 17 playoff games prior to the Finals.

It was on the grandest stage, with the lights switched on at their brightest, that the Mavs hit the proverbial wall, courtesy of the Celtics walling off the rim and switching almost at will. If the Mavs wanted to score, they’d have to bleed for it — and no possession captures that situation with more accuracy than on a possession involving a Mavs staple half-court set.

We must once again look back to see what worked in the past:

In order to appreciate what the Celtics did to take away what victimized lesser teams:

Plenty of odes and tributes will be paid to the Celtics’ offense — how every member of their five-man lineup was every bit of a shot creator as a shot finisher, how it made defenses overexert and overstretch themselves to their utmost limits, and how it was the most efficient in NBA regular season history.

But more often than not, a top-10 defense is the deciding factor behind what constitutes a championship team. The Celtics — third in overall defensive rating during the regular season, first in half-court defensive rating — became the latest in a long line of elite championship defenses.

There was no “on” switch to be flipped, no gear to shift into. The switch was always there — in the form of, quite literally, switching their opponents into half-court oblivion.

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In the 186th playoff game of his NBA career, Al Horford won his first NBA championship. The Celtics capturing the 2024 title took Horford off an ignominious list, as Boston coming up short this year would have almost certainly (eventually) vaulted him past Karl Malone (193) for most career playoff games without a championship.

After the game, Horford was understandably excited to finally get his first ring, 17 years into his NBA career:

But with Horford winning a championship, James Harden ended up taking a crown no player wants: His 166 career playoff games without a ring is now not just fourth all-time in NBA history, but the most of any active NBA player.

Per StatMuse, the next closest is… his former Rockets teammate Chris Paul, with 149.

With the NBA Finals over, Harden is now eligible — under a new NBA rule going into place this year — to begin talking with the Clippers about a new contract to keep him in Los Angeles in free agency. Given that franchise’s historic playoff woes, it seems unlikely Harden will end his reign atop a leaderboard that no current NBA player wants to sit on, but there is a small silver lining: At least, at age 34, he’s unlikely to go on enough long playoff runs in Los Angeles to pass Malone or John Stockton (182) for a top-two slot on the all-time ranking.

That’s something, right?

While maybe Harden can do some title chasing to end his career to put this record to bed, at least as of right now, the self-described “winner” appears poised to hang onto that bit of infamy for a while.

But hey, at least maybe he appears poised to get a different type of ring soon!

Congrats James!

U.S. women’s coach Emma Hayes is saying all the right things. Here’s a few of the best so far u,s,women,s,coach,emma,hayes,is,saying,all,the,right,things,here,s,a,few,of,the,best,so,far,sbnation,com,front-page,soccer,united-states-womens-national-team,soccer-sg,all-womens-sports,womens-soccer,usmnt-coverage

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Many believe Emma Hayes has what it takes to return the U.S. women’s national team to the No. 1 status in the world it coveted for decades.

Over the last few years, the prominence of the U.S. women’s team has dropped considerably as key players have retired from the world stage and young newcomers are asked to hold the line.

Despite wins in a pair of recent matches, the U.S. dropped to No. 5 in the latest FIFA women’s world rankings. And while it may not appear as though being the fifth best team in the world is that big of a scare, anyone who knows the dominance of the States for the last 40 years as the preeminent team to beat knows that the latest designation certainly came as a surprise.

For the first time, fans got an insider’s look at the philosophy of Hayes through the latest version of Inside the Crest, U.S. Soccer’s mini-documentary series which chronicles the exploits of both the men’s and women’s programs.

Usually, these are not much more than fluff for the program, but the latest offered a direct look at Hayes and a player pool eager to make her roster in advance of the 2024 Summer Games in Paris.

Hayes had several poignant comments to the group but these were the Top 5 quotables from Hayes to the team ahead of their back-to-back tune-up games against Korea Republic.

After the Olympic squad is selected, the group will have two tune up games in July. The first against rival Mexico on July 13 (3:30 p.m. ET, TNT, NBC Universo) and Costa Rica on July 16 (7:30 p.m. ET, TNT, NBC Universo).

— Emma Hayes to the group ahead of their first game, a 4-0 win against Korea Republic. This is now a group that is 7-1-2 overall in 2024, scoring 26 goals and allowing just seven.

Hayes was adamant in a team meeting that she’s not looking to change much but elevate with the group she’s got. And, right now even with the loss of players like Megan Rapinoe, Julie Ertz and others due to retiring from international duty, Hayes feels she can work what she’s got into one of the world’s best.

This was great as it added a bit of her philosophy on coaching and style and what she expects out of every player. There’s also an acknowledgment off the bat that she and her staff know that it comes down to their preparation as much as the execution. No scapegoating here.

Took this to mean she doesn’t really care about the pressures from the federation. They hired her to do a job and gave her some pretty moldable tools to do it, so what is there to complain about? Results are all that matter and so far, she’s off to a good start.

This quote says it all. Pressure’s off when it comes to worrying about playing for your country. You’re already here. Do your job and enjoy the ride.

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We have passed the midway point in June and have just over a month to go until NFL training camps kick off in earnest. Thankfully House of the Dragon is back to help us bide a bit more time.

The offseason drought makes talking about the NFL a bit more challenging than usual but that only makes it more fun. Michael Peterson and RJ Ochoa are once again up for the latest edition of The Skinny Post to discuss all things Football League of National.

Some required reading so that all of the jokes and points hit you properly:

  • The Kansas City Chiefs are probably mad at their ring designer
  • Bryson DeChambeau won the U.S. Open on Sunday
  • There is a new fantasy football punishment everyone has thoughts on

Let’s begin.

The Kansas City Chiefs messed up their Super Bowl rings and that is hilarious

Michael:

If I didn’t make it abundantly clear in the first edition of The Skinny Post, I am a Chargers fan so this bit of news was a real juicy morsel when it dropped last week. Now let’s be frank, I’d trade my life savings and the deed to my house if it meant the Chargers could win a Super Bowl in my lifetime but that won’t stop me from dunking on the Chiefs when I can.

This is one of those moments.

Kansas City unveiled their latest Super Bowl rings and while they’re as gorgeous as you’d expect, there was a minor mistake that was missed. Inside the ring, the Chiefs listed all of their opponents they defeated en route to winning the championship along with their seed for the postseason. However, the Chiefs engraved a “7” next to the Dolphins, denoting them as the seventh seed. Here’s the thing: The Steelers were the seventh seed while the Dolphins were the sixth seed.

I cannot express just how embarrassing this must be for the back-to-back Super Bowl champs. It’s so embarrassing they may end up finishing last in the AFC West this season. The expected ridicule will simply be too much for Patrick Mahomes and Andy Reid.

It was a great dynasty while it lasted though!

RJ:

Objectively speaking, the ring thing is a disaster. Nobody can change my mind on this.

In our day and age where teams focus on the symbolism and meaning behind things like how many diamonds are in the ring and whatnot, messing up a crucial detail is a bad look and hilarious from the outside. What’s more is that it seems like the reason Kansas City put the seeds in the first place was to emphasize how tough their path to their latest title was given that they beat the Buffalo Bills (No. 2), Baltimore Ravens (No. 1) and San Francisco 49ers (No. 1). They literally beat both No 1 seeds and that is in fact ridiculously impressive.

So with this being the case… the mistake in question actually makes their playoff path look less impressive. The flub makes the Dolphins look worse than they were, which is once again hilarious given everything involved. Ultimately a detail on your third Super Bowl ring in five years is the pinnacle definition of rich people problems, but imagine being the person who signed off on this getting the phone call about it all once the internet saw the rings.

Under the radar players who could completely change perception with a title

RJ:

As noted up top, Bryson DeChambeau won the U.S. Open on Sunday, his second major championship. Incidentally both of them are U.S. Open victories.

I am a massive golf fan (shout out to our colleagues here at SB Nation over at Playing Through for being a daily read of mine) and in case you aren’t then what you need to know is that Bryson was a bit, um, unpopular over the last few years.

It is difficult to explain exactly why Bryson was so not liked, given that it is a lot of things. His personality rubbed people the wrong way (he had a lot to do with that), but in the last year or so he has really turned things around.

DeChambeau lost golf’s most recent major championship (the PGA Championship at Valhalla) to Xander Schauffele by one stroke, and even as someone who appreciates Xander a ton I was so bummed for Bryson. It was confusing.

Watching Bryson get it done on Sunday at Pinehurst and taking down a fan favorite like Rory McIlroy in the process and being overwhelmingly happy for Bryson was such a weird sequence of emotions given everything up to this point. In the spirit of this… I wanted Michael and I to take a shot at figuring out which NFL players could elicit similar emotions.

Ultimately I think that the answer is Kirk Cousins. Netflix’s Quarterback really elevated Kirk’s reputation for a lot of people and his season-ending Achilles injury last year while he was playing great football seemed to pull even more people into his corner. Then there is also the fact that his new team in the Atlanta Falcons drafted Michael Penix Jr. right after paying Kirk to join them in the first place.

Imagine if Kirk led the Falcons to the Super Bowl this season? If Kirk was the person to slay the 28-3 demons? If Kirk were the one to do it all? Given everything that has happened up to this point?

Dare I say it would be Bryson DeChambeau winning the U.S. Open at Pinehurst.

Michael:

I’m going to hop into your neck of the woods and use Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott as my choice here.

Prescott is widely viewed as one of the better quarterbacks in the NFL. Depending on who you ask, he probably varies anywhere between the top 15, top 10, and even the top 5 of NFL quarterbacks during some stretches of the season. The unfortunate part is that, despite being on a team that had both a top-5 offense and top-10 defense over the past three seasons, Prescott has not been able to guide the Cowboys out of the Divisional Round in three consecutive playoff appearances. He’s 2-5 in the playoffs and 1-3 since 2021. Those numbers are not becoming of a team that has been one of the best regular-season clubs of the past 10 years and has 12 wins in each of the past three seasons.

So similar to what you had to say about Kirk Cousins, the recent narrative around Prescott and the Cowboys could be flipped on its head were they to win their first Super Bowl since 1995. The thing is, maybe they need to stop being so successful during the regular season so the pressure isn’t nearly as high come the postseason? Maybe they should barely squeak into the playoffs and then they can play with nothing to lose and everything to gain.

Thoughts? Prayers? Sounds like a steel-clad plan to me.

How we would approach the McDonald’s fantasy football eating punishment

Michael:

Alright so I loved this story when you sent it to me.

A guy got last place in his fantasy football league and his punishment was that he has to spend 24 hours inside a McDonald’s. However, he has the opportunity to “eat his way out” by consuming menu items, each of which are paired with a time amount that gets taken off the clock. So for example, if he eats a bacon, egg, and cheese biscuit, he gets 45 minutes taken off the clock. If he consumes an entire hotcakes and sausage combo meal, he gets an hour taken off.

Here is the full structure:

So now let’s talk how I would personally attack this thing.

If I began at the crack of dawn, I would start with a plethora of Sausage McMuffins with Egg. Normally I’m just an Egg McMuffin guy, but the additional sausage would provide 15 more minutes off the clock and that little slab of meat added won’t affect my overall stomach capacity. I would gorge myself on those until I simply couldn’t anymore. Maybe that’s six or seven of them which amounts to about 5 hours already gone. From there, I’d intermittently nap to pass the time and digest. When I wake, I’d consume another McMuffin or switch to the double cheeseburgers as the morning turns to afternoon.

While a McDouble is only 30 minutes off, a double cheeseburger is 45 minutes. I’m not entirely sure what the difference is between the two, but it can’t be much of anything so we’re going with the item that takes more time off the clock.

If I can get out of there before the sun sets entirely, I’d be happy (and grossly full).

RJ:

Full disclosure: I sent this to a lot of people on Saturday morning, coincidentally while I was in the drive-thru at McDonald’s of all places. Life can be funny like that.

But my perspective on this is that the goal should not be to get out of there as quickly as possible. My goal would be to spend something like 7-8 hours physically in the building and spend the time writing, reading or watching something. Determining that getting out in an hour is the first step of acceptance here. You’ve got to lean into the ordeal.

Understanding that I’m trying to shave about 16 hours off I feel the need to say that as a kid I really enjoyed the hash browns from McDonald’s. I would eat around four in a single sitting… as a kid.

With the belly of an adult I really think that this would be the cheat code for me as my child-like order of four would knock out an hour at a time. Hash browns are also really small relative to everything else so I think I could do about 16 over the course of my first hour. After some time to settle I think I could repeat this and boom, half the time I want to take off is now gone. Presto, baby.

For the record I do not think I have had an actual hamburger from McDonald’s since around the time that I was crushing hash browns with regularity (as a Texan I am a Whataburger loyalist). That being said I think a cheeseburger is an easy mountain to climb four times to take another two hours off. Six to go.

I think at this point you kind of have to accept that this is where things start to suck so I would just do the “Big Breakfast with Hotcakes” three times to drag myself across the finish line.

Boom. Done. Easy.

The Carolina Panthers are hurtling towards threats of relocation the,carolina,panthers,are,hurtling,towards,threats,of,relocation,sbnation,com,front-page,nfl,draftkings

The Carolina Panthers are hurtling towards threats of relocation thecarolinapanthersarehurtlingtowardsthreatsofrelocationsbnationcomfront pagenfldraftkings
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All is not well with the Carolina Panthers, and it has nothing to do with recent years of putrid performance. Charlotte City Council will hear statements from the public on Monday about whether or not taxpayers believe $650M in revenue should be given to Tepper Sport Entertainment (TSE) to renovate Bank of America Stadium as part of a $1.3B proposal to upgrade the home of the Panthers.

Over 60 percent of residents polled disagree with the proposal, which would exchange the $650M for a 20-year guarantee that the team would not relocate from Charlotte. This “guarantee” gives TSE a 15-year out to leave in 2039 and pay “any outstanding debt” in exchange for the move.

It’s the latest in a back-and-forth between North Carolina residents and David Tepper, who has seemingly done everything in his power to become the most-disliked man in professional sports since purchasing the Panthers in 2018. While there’s little doubt some good has come from Tepper’s time, like the establishment of Charlotte FC in MLS and turning the stadium into a large-scale concert venue, he’s also alienated the public time and time again by making seemingly unnecessary changes that forsake tradition in name of the bottom line.

These changes include:

  • Moving training camp from Spartanburg, South Carolina — which allowed lower-income fans to see the team in person, to the center of Charlotte on Panthers property to transform camp into more of a money-making venue, alienating fans.
  • Removing natural grass from Bank of America Stadium and replacing it with field turf, much to the chagrin of players and fans.
  • A plan to move Panthers headquarters to Rock Hill, South Carolina — which was seen as a positive move, only to have Tepper back out mid-construction and become embroiled in a legal battle with the county.
  • Rumors of exploratory conversations with neighboring Kannapolis to build the stadium, if Charlotte didn’t play ball.

In short: There’s been myriad examples of why people should be wary of any deal involving Tepper that promises it will be better for them — because ultimately everything that has transpired since 2018 has only been better for David Tepper.

Where the current proposal falls short

There has been a lot of mistrust around Bank of America Stadium itself. Completed in 1996, the stadium is not yet 30 years old — but there has been a back-and-forth on whether what level of renovation the stadium actually needs.

Fans anticipated that any redesign for the stadium would include either a full or partial dome, which would allow for the city to host a Super Bowl, as well as other clear-cut amenities for fans. Instead the first stage of the revamp (and the only guaranteed changes) are largely superfluous, outside of restrooms.

There are legitimate questions why this first stage is set to cost over $650M, without really offering much to fans. It’s the Panthers’ argument that funds they’re looking for are already earmarked for tourism and development anyway, but new bathrooms and a video board doesn’t make the team more of a destination.

Essentially we’re seeing some basic infrastructure being pitched as a tourism improvement, with the veiled threat being that if these aren’t delivered then there’s no guarantee the Panthers will stay in Charlotte.

The majority of the changes people actually want come in the Tier 2 and Tier 3 development plans, both of which are at the whim of Tepper and the Panthers. There’s a very real possibility none of the most exciting elements of the redesign are realized — with taxpayers being on the hook for upfits they don’t really want.

Meanwhile, the $677M of public funds could be spent on a variety of tourism-centric public works that drastically improve the city, such as museums, public transportation, and a long-proposed rain line from Charlotte Douglas Airport — all of which would likely garner much more tourism than these changes for the Panthers.

Could the team really move over this?

Yes, absolutely. However, as we’ve seen in more recent NFL arguments over public funding it’s less about mammoth moves to different regions — and more about threats to move from outside city limits and into neighboring suburbs.

Ultimately it’s simple about finding a sucker to fit the bill, and there’s been no shortage of suckers in local government (especially outside of major cities) willing to fund pet projects for billionaires at taxpayer expense. In the case of the Panthers it would likely mean a move to wealthy neighboring areas in either North or South Carolina, both of which are part of the Charlotte suburban area.

In the grand scheme of things this would mean little to the NFL as a whole, but have a mammoth impact on the perception of the Panthers locally, who have called Uptown Charlotte home since the team’s inception.

Relocation for the Panthers has always been a risk. Tepper is the wealthiest individual owner in the NFL with a net worth of $20.6B. It would be peanuts for him to pay a relocation fee and exit the entire region if that’s what he wants, and there would be no shortage of other states willing to become the suckers to gain an NFL team.

The first salvo will be fired on Monday as the public voices their concerns. Ultimately this will help shape whether Charlotte City Council agrees to give the Panthers money, or rejects their overtures. If this funding falls through then the escalation will continue, and there’s no doubt talks of moving will be on the cards.

F1 Spanish Grand Prix: What comes next in the Red Bull-McLaren-Ferrari fight? f,spanish,grand,prix,what,comes,next,in,the,red,bull,mclaren,ferrari,fight,sbnation,com,front-page,formula-one,2024-formula-one

F1 Spanish Grand Prix What comes next in the Red
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Two weeks ago the Formula 1 grid arrived in Montreal with visions of a true title fight on the minds of fans and drivers alike. “I don’t think either championship is over by any means,” Oscar Piastri declared to me when I sat down with the McLaren driver for an exclusive interview following his second-place finish in the Monaco Grand Prix.

“The Constructors’ [Championship] I would say is still open. We’re still a third of the way through the year. So it’s definitely still all to play for. I would say, of course, we’re at a bit of a disadvantage being as far back as we are, but it’s certainly not impossible,” continued Piastri “And yeah, I think even in the Drivers’ Championship, it’s not done and dusted yet.”

However, Max Verstappen had something to say about that latter point in Montreal.

Verstappen’s win in the Canadian Grand Prix, coupled with a DNF for Charles Leclerc, his closest challenger in the Drivers’ Championship, meant the Red Bull driver pulled 25 points further head of his nearest threat. Even with Lando Norris’ P2 in Montreal, Verstappen’s first-place finish saw him gain a few more points on the McLaren driver.

Now, the Constructors’ Championship was another matter. Sergio Pérez suffered a DNF of his own, so while Verstappen added 25 points to Red Bull’s account with his win, Norris’ P2 and Piastri’s P4 saw McLaren bank 28 points in the Canadian Grand Prix. Those two results, coupled with the Ferrari double DNF, meant the field on the Constructors’ side of things tightened up even more in Montreal.

As Piastri said, neither championship is “done and dusted” just yet. And things have only tightened more in the Constructors’ Championship these past few weeks.

Will things tighten even more in Barcelona? That is surely the biggest storyline to watch this week as the F1 grid heads to the Spanish Grand Prix.

But it is not the only one.

What awaits on the driver market front?

Will the fluid driver transfer market deliver more news this week?

With the F1 world descending upon Barcelona, the focus likely shifts to Carlos Sainz, Jr. The Spanish driver has yet to confirm his plans for the 2025 season, when Lewis Hamilton slides into the seat Sainz currently occupies at Ferrari.

Rumors have surrounded Sainz ever since that announcement, with teams such as Mercedes, Sauber — soon to become the Audi works team — and most recently Williams linked with the accomplished driver.

Late last week reports surfaced that despite expectations that Sainz would move to Sauber, ahead of the transition to Audi, that Williams was in the driver’s seat to land the driver. According to these reports, Williams has offered Sainz a four-year deal, giving the driver a potential out after two seasons if he believes the team has not made sufficient progress in his mind.

Of course, nothing is official until ink is put to paper, and Sainz himself has brushed aside various reporting already this season.

“The only thing I can tell you is there is nothing locked in. I’ve seen reports, I don’t know if it’s in Spain, people saying I’ve signed. I look at those things and it makes me laugh because I remember seeing reports three months ago that I had signed for Mercedes, reports that I had signed for Red Bull. Now obviously those places are not going to happen,” said Sainz earlier this month.

“So it’s funny now seeing people say I’ve signed for Williams. It makes me laugh that this goes a bit unpunished for some media person. It concerns me that people can get away with that kind of stuff,” added Sainz. “When I have something to announce, you guys will be the first to know and I will be here openly talking about my future.”

Now Sainz is just one of the drivers yet to announce his future plans. Other drivers we are waiting to hear from include Pierre Gasly, Valtteri Bottas, Esteban Ocon, and more. But with the grid in Sainz’s home country, it is fair to turn our thoughts to an announcement from him first.

The future of F1 in Barcelona

As the grid arrives in Barcelona for this weekend’s Spanish Grand Prix, the future of Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya on the F1 grid is in severe doubt. At the start of this calendar year it was announced that the Spanish Grand Prix will move to a new street circuit in Madrid beginning in 2026, on a track that will city’s exhibition center.

The new location will extremely accessible for fans, as the new circuit will be just five minutes away from Madrid-Barajas Adolfo Suarez airport, and near local Metro and train stations. According to the announcement, “ … it is estimated that 90% of fans will be able to travel to the paddock via public transport, while those staying in local accommodation will be a short walk away from the venue.”

While that might be great news for fans, it calls into question the future of an event in Barcelona.

Will Spain soon host two races, or will the new circuit in Madrid remain the sole race on Spanish soil going forward? Or perhaps Barcelona will again host F1 pre-season testing, as it did until 2023, when the site of pre-season testing was moved to Bahrain.

The next step in the never-ending development wars

We are truly in the thick of the 2024 F1 season, and when you add in the layer of a true title fight shaping up — at least when it comes to the Constructors’ Championship — every upgrade matters.

And as you might expect, teams are bringing a host of upgrades to Barcelona ahead of the upcoming tripleheader (more on that in a second).

Andrea Stella, the McLaren Team Principal, teased some upcoming upgrades for the Woking-based outfit recently. “For the coming races, we will have some upgrades, but they won’t be a single kind of big upgrade like we have seen over the last 12 months,” said Stella. “This is more some individual components where we found a little bit of performance and rather than waiting to deploy everything together once ready we take it track side.

“So I won’t say what but we will see some new stuff coming over the few coming races.”

McLaren, thanks to a P2 from Lando Norris and a P4 from Oscar Piastri last time out, actually gained three points in their chase of Red Bull at the top of the Constructors’ standings. And with Ferrari dealt a double DNF in Canada, McLaren pulled 28 points closer to the Scuderia, and they now trail Ferrari by just 40 points.

While Mercedes is a bit farther back in that fight, the Silver Arrows are coming off their best weekend of the year, with George Russell notching a podium finish in Montreal. That result comes as the team has been rolling out a series of upgrades, starting with the Miami Grand Prix. That package has included a new front wing, with Russell utilized in the Monaco Grand Prix and then Lewis Hamilton utilized in Montreal.

But the Silver Arrows are not done, as a new floor is coming for the W15.

“I think definitely, since Imola, we’ve taken the right steps and put parts on the car that are working, something that we were struggling in the past couple of years,” said Mercedes Team Principal Toto Wolff recently. “Now directionally we seem to be adding performance every weekend and we have new stuff coming also, new parts coming in Barcelona that should help us. So I would very much hope that we can continue this positive trajectory.”

While the new floor is a big component, and a new front wing is something certainly visible to the naked eye, Wolff outlined that Mercedes has been bringing many new components these past few weeks, some of which might not be visible to the untrained eye.

“Sometimes when you bring a highly-visible part like a bodywork or front wing, this is pretty much the talk of what has changed the performance,” added the Mercedes boss.

“But the truth is we have, over the last three races, brought so many new parts, visible and invisible for the eye, that have contributed milliseconds to more performance. I think this is where those marginal gains then have that positive effect. That was just a huge effort of the factory, so I think the wheel has started to get some real motion on it.”

As for Ferrari, the Scuderia planned on bringing their latest set of upgrades later this season, but reports out of Maranello indicate that they may push those new components out for the Spanish Grand Prix, given the disaster that was the Canadian Grand Prix for the team. According to Formu1a.uno, Ferrari was targeting Silverstone for another aggressive package, but the team may be “ … accelerating production times to introduce the most important innovations already in Barcelona.”

Will that truly be the case? We’ll know more in a few days.

Finally there is Red Bull. Will they have some upgrades of their own in Barcelona?

Team Principal Christian Horner hinted recently that they indeed might have some new components ready for Barcelona. “It’s a possible yes,” said Horner when asked if Red Bull would roll out some upgrades in Barcelona. “We’re closer to the top of the curve, so you get into a law of diminishing returns. But there will be subtle upgrades over the summer months.”

As the F1 schedule hits the summer the action on the track — and in the factories — heats up.

Round 1 of a tripleheader

When the 2024 F1 schedule was announced, many noticed that the calendar called for three different triple headers.

The first is upon us.

This weekend’s Spanish Grand Prix kicks off three straight weeks of racing. Following the Spanish Grand Prix, the grid will head to Red Bull Ring, for the Austrian Grand Prix. That weekend adds even one more layer, as the Austrian Grand Prix is one of six F1 Sprint race weekends.

Following Austria, the grid then heads to historic Silverstone, the site of the British Grand Prix.

Beyond the usual challenges an F1 week presents for teams and drivers, having three straight weeks of racing adds even more hurdles — and potential problems — for the ten teams to endure.

So buckle up friends, as a lot of F1 action is heading your way these next three weeks.

33 soon … ?

F1 Grand Prix of Canada - Qualifying

Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images

When the grid arrived in Barcelona a year ago, Aston Martin and Fernando Alonso were in many ways the talk of the F1 world. Aston Martin was still second in the Constructors’ Championship standings, one point ahead of third-place Mercedes. As for Alonso himself, he was in third place, 12 points behind Sergio Pérez. As you might expect from that place in the standings, the veteran driver was in fine form, having five podiums in six starts.

That beginning of the 2023 season led to talk of “33 soon?”, the rallying cry that followed Alonso’s quest for his elusive 33rd grand prix victory. With the grid arriving in Barcelona, there was hope that perhaps Alonso would earn that elusive victory in front of a home crowd.

However, if anything the results in the 2023 Spanish Grand Prix told the story of what was to come for Aston Martin down the stretch a year ago. Alonso finished down in seventh — behind teammate Lance Stroll — and he would see the podium just three more times over the rest of the year.

“I think sixth and seventh positions were the maximum for us. I thought our performance seemed better in qualifying, so I think we need to look at why and aim to bounce back for Canada,” said Alonso after the race. “We still scored some solid points and we had no risk at the end of the race. I want to thank the fans for their passion, energy and support this weekend. It was very emotional and special for me.”

Canada was one of those final three podiums for Alonso in 2023, as he finished P2 behind Max Verstappen. But that elusive 33rd victory has yet to materialize for the veteran driver.

Can he make some magic happen at home this weekend?

Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese’s rivalry is a good thing for the WNBA, and they know it caitlin,clark,and,angel,reese,s,rivalry,is,a,good,thing,for,the,wnba,and,they,know,it,sbnation,com,front-page,nba,wnba,womens-sports,all-womens-sports,wnba-content,dot-com-grid-coverage

Caitlin Clark and Angel Reeses rivalry is a good thing
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INDIANAPOLIS — It may still be very early in their respective journeys, but Angel Reese and Caitlin Clark will be tied to one another no matter what happens over the rest of their careers.

Even before simultaneously entering the WNBA as part of one of the most heralded rookie classes ever, Clark and Reese — and especially the competitive college clashes between their Iowa Hawkeyes and LSU Tigers, respectively — played a huge role in bringing the women’s game to a national audience.

Sunday offered the latest chapter in their rapidly growing rivalry. For the second time in as many meetings against the Chicago Sky, Clark was hit with a hard foul. This time, it was Reese who caught Clark in the head on a block attempt, a play that was eventually deemed a Flagrant-1 foul.

While it likely won’t create the national firestorm the last flagrant foul against Clark in a game against the Sky did, it was a watershed moment between the two in another game that came down to the wire, a recurring theme in matchups between the pair.

Clark had arguably her best game in the WNBA, flirting with a triple-double while finishing with 23 points, 9 assists and 8 rebounds, as well as a couple of late clutch plays — including an assist to NaLyssa Smith and a pair of free throws in the final 30 seconds — that helped seal a fifth win of the season for the Fever (5-10) and fourth in the last six games.

Reese left her mark as well, scoring 11 points to go with 13 rebounds (5 of them were offensive), and 5 assists.

After the game, though, there was only one topic to discuss. After cursory first questions to open their pressers, the second question for both Clark and Reese postgame was about the flagrant foul.

“What’s going through my mind is I need to make these two free throws,” Clark said when asked about Reese’s flagrant foul. “That’s all I’m thinking about. It’s just part of basketball. It is what it is. She’s trying to make a play on the ball and get the block but, yeah, it happens.”

Reese, meanwhile, was far shorter with her response, calling the foul a “basketball play” and stating that she was going for the ball. Neither wanted to make a big deal about it, but that won’t stop the take train from going down the tracks — and potentially derailing women’s basketball discourse for a few days once again.

Clark and Reese are no strangers to being in this spotlight, nor is it new for them to do it together. Sunday was the eighth time the pair have faced off, including in college. Reese won the first four meetings, culminating in the national title game in 2023 in which the first viral moment between the two came when Reese taunted Clark in the waning seconds of the game.

Clark, though, has won the three most recent meetings. That includes the Elite Eight contest earlier this year and the two WNBA meetings between the pair so far.

While their duels in the Big Ten when Reese was at Maryland in her freshman and sophomore seasons before transferring to LSU didn’t capture the national audience, their tournament showdowns certainly did. The pair helped set the record for the most-watched women’s college basketball game of all time in 2023 at 9.9 million viewers.

This spring in a rematch with a Final Four berth on the line, they obliterated that record, with 12 million fans tuning into the game. In their first WNBA meeting this season, 1.5 million fans tuned in, the fourth-largest audience to watch a WNBA game in the last two decades at the time.

After years of commanding enormous audiences on the collegiate level, Clark and Reese are now bringing a whole new set of eyes to the professional ranks.

“They love to watch us,” Reese said of her and Clark before Sunday’s meeting. “I think we’ve done a great job bringing a lot of fans to the league from college. I think we both have done that from our respective schools and [having] our championship runs and going to the Final Four. I think we did a great job bringing fans from college to the league and…we’ll continue to help [the league] grow.”

Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports

Given the events and controversy that took place in the first meeting between the Fever and Sky in their first meeting, the TV audience for Sunday’s game will almost certainly be another large one. Gainbridge Fieldhouse was sold out for the fourth time this season, and the fans were as loud as they’ve been all year.

It’s inarguable that Reese and Clark are compelling television: two of the best young players in the world squaring off with one another time and time again as they help grow the game along the way.

But what Clark thinks draws audiences most, though, is the “emotion and passion” the two play those showdowns with.

“I think people love to see that,” Clark said. “I think that’s maybe not something that was always appreciated in women’s sports and it should be. That’s what makes it fun. We’re competitors. That’s the way the game should be. It’s going to get a little feisty, it’s going to get a little physical but at the end of the day, both teams are just trying to win.

“I think what she’s done with her platform is incredible. She has an entire fanbase that has supported her [with] what she did at Maryland and then LSU. Obviously, I’ve played her for a very long time and she’s been a tremendous player. It’s been fun to get to compete against. I think it’s been really good for the game. People just love seeing great matchups. But also, at the same time, people tune in for these matchups but then they get to see how amazing these teams are and then they find new players to support and continue to come back for them, too. So, I think that’s another benefit of it, honestly.”

Sunday was another noteworthy moment in the rivalry. Even if both downplayed it, the headlines from the game won’t be about Clark’s near-triple-double or Reese’s double-double. It will bring attention to the league, but not in the way either desire.

The pair, though, is bringing lots of the wanted attention to the league as well. And Reese and Clark will have plenty of opportunities to provide more memorable moments against one another.

The WNBA is not chock full of rivalries that resonate on a national scale the way Clark’s and Reese’s do. The Liberty and Aces are a clear one as the league’s two superteams, but outside of that, there aren’t many other nationally-known rivalries.

Pregame, Fever head coach Christie Sides was asked if their matchups against the Sky feel like rivalry games. Sides, who served as an assistant in Chicago from 2011 through 2016, said it was a “huge” rivalry and has been for many years. But even if that’s how it felt to those on the inside already, the addition of Reese and Clark was always going to bring it up a couple of notches now.

They’re two of the bright young stars in this game and have already defined an era of the college game. They look to be on the path to doing the same in the WNBA as well.

And if they do, it could help elevate the league to its highest levels yet.

You can follow Jacob on Twitter at @JacobRude.

The Mavericks’ Game 4 showed a blueprint that could allow them to make history against the Celtics the,mavericks,game,showed,a,blueprint,that,could,allow,them,to,make,history,against,the,celtics,sbnation,com,front-page,nba,nba-playoffs,nba-playoffs-powerhouse-2024,dot-com-grid-coverage

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After the Dallas Mavericks’ deflating loss in Game 3 to the Boston Celtics on Wednesday, the normal cliches and platitudes were shared by players and coaches alike. The theme was universal: the series isn’t over, take it one game at a time.

It was nothing earth-shattering, a semi-cliche sentiment and mentality shared by most professional athletes facing such a scenario. History said that Wednesday’s loss meant the likely end of the series for Dallas, but they still had a job they’re paid to do, and they’re still going to do it.

But even with all of the chatter, and knowing Boston might feel a little comfortable up 3-0, it’s hard to think anyone expected the Mavericks to completely dominate Game 4 of the NBA Finals in Dallas.

Their 122-84 demolition of Boston was such an extensive and brilliant performance that Dallas is actually leading in the aggregate for the series; they are now +6 through the four games, outscoring Boston 408-402. A team winning Game 4 after falling behind 3-0 in any playoff series isn’t unusual, but the Mavericks’ dominance in doing so certainly was, especially when you consider how historically great this Celtics team is.

So normally a win in this scenario doesn’t raise too many eyebrows or change thoughts about the series as a whole. Normally. But while the Celtics are still the overwhelming favorite to win the NBA title, a win of this magnitude does invite the possibility of “what if?” If the Mavericks could decimate the Celtics this badly in an elimination game, are the two teams as far apart from each other as most thought?

We’ll find out soon enough, but these questions have a sudden validity now that they didn’t feature before. So if we’re going to take Game 3 as a blueprint, here’s how the Mavericks can shock the world, beat the Celtics, win the NBA Finals, and make history by becoming the first NBA team ever to overcome a 3-0 series deficit.

Continue to trust their bigs defensively

The Mavericks’ biggest strength heading into the Finals was their rim defense, behind the stalwart duo of trade deadline acquisition Daniel Gafford and rookie standout Dereck Lively II. Through the first three games of the Finals, that advantage was hardly felt as the Celtics spread out and sliced up the Mavs’ defense and neutralized their size advantage.

In the first three games, this all looked like a system shock to both Gafford and Lively. Dallas had solid options for those two to roam off of in the first three rounds, while the Celtics give a defense no easy outs. It’s not just that Boston plays five-out, but the other four perimeter players in their starting lineup are all comfortable driving and passing. Lively in particular looked like he finally hit his rookie wall in the first two games, understandable for a 20-year-old rookie who had already impressed so much. That changed a little in Game 3, and then the script flipped completely in Game 4.

The duos’ performance in the win was easily their best of the series. After the two failed to contain drives well on switches early in the series, it was clear Dallas wanted its two bigs to stay as close to the rim as possible. In Game 3, that meant Lively and Gafford were sometimes stuck in the paint as the Celtics swung the ball to shooters in the corner. What made matters worse was Boston still shot well at the rim, despite the extra attention to guard the paint. Entering Game 4 the Celtics were shooting a staggering 81.7% in the restricted area, while also averaging 14.7 corner three attempts per game. The two best shots in basketball are layups and corner threes, and Boston was getting both of them, with Dallas’ centers often in no man’s land trying to cover ground they’d never had to cover before.

In Game 4 the two clearly felt more comfortable — Boston attempted a series low seven corner threes and only shot 58.8% in the restricted area. Credit the two bigs for being let off the leash a bit, as both Gafford and Lively ventured outside the paint again, this time with better results. The two put together a highlight reel of closeouts, quick feet, and strong contests on Friday night.

If Lively and Gafford can play in space defensively, it changes the game for the Mavericks defense. You could really feel the continued absence of Kristaps Porzingis, as Al Horford only had one 3-point attempt in 23 minutes, and Xavier Tillman off the bench only had two attempts total. The floor geometry is just significantly different with the slower trigger of Horford and the lack of threat Tillman presents. Lively and Gafford could be aggressive, knowing there’s not a seven-foot unicorn waiting behind them to make them pay from the perimeter. The closeouts are just a little bit easier with Porzingis on the bench.

It also helps when those bigs get support, like Luka Doncic showed repeatedly throughout Game 4.

Doncic played his best defensive game on Friday, rebounding from fouling out in Game 3. Dallas’ bigs are better suited when they can play aggressive and not have to clean up so many mistakes. If the mistakes keep coming, that means those two are reacting and compensating instead of dictating the terms. Dallas isn’t going to completely solve the math problem the Celtics present (Boston still shot 41 total threes Friday), but they can do a better job directing where those 3-pointers come from. The corner three is so valuable because it’s a shorter shot, but that swings both ways — it also means it’s less ground to cover on closeouts. Lively and Gafford are big, long dudes: they have the length and athleticism to close out to the corner and then recover to the rim. As long as their teammates continue to back them up and coach Jason Kidd trusts them, the Mavericks can give themselves a chance defensively.

Green, Exum pressuring the defense

The Celtics rarely double on defense, or blitz the pick and roll. They like to play drop with their bigs, and switch the other four spots. With as many talented individual and team defenders as they employ in their rotation, it makes a lot of sense. It makes even more sense against this Mavericks team, who play a lot of players that need Doncic and Kyrie Irving to spoon feed them buckets.

Boston made the correct bet that if Lively, Gafford, PJ Washington, and Derrick Jones Jr. don’t have wide-open space, their effectiveness on offense is limited. Those aren’t players that can bust one-on-one defense, or truly make a closeout pay: Lively and Gafford live on lobs, while Washington and Jones do their damage on corner threes and spot-up attempts. The Celtics have taken those away, as the Mavericks corner threes have plummeted. Doncic and Irving’s usage rates have skyrocketed in the Finals, and the Celtics are daring that duo to beat them with tough twos against shaded coverage. It’s not that Boston isn’t helping at all, it’s just that they’re not doubling aggressively to get the ball out of Doncic or Irving’s hands — they’re inviting the long twos, and shading help toward the paint without outright doubling.

That defense has left most of Dallas role players ineffective. It’s not just that they’re not making shots, but the volume of attempts for the Mavericks role players has decreased mightily in the Finals. Game 4 saw the right adjustment to this, with more minutes for backups Josh Green and Dante Exum. Exum and Green haven’t had great playoffs, but this matchup and style might suit them better — for better and worse, those two have the most live-dribble juice of any Mavericks players outside of Doncic and Irving. Exum and Green’s shared ability to both aggressively drive and pass gives the Mavericks a counter to the Celtics defense — if they’re daring the role players to beat one-on-one coverage, you need role players that can attack and pass. Not playmakers, necessarily, but just players that can make the simple straight-line drive and the right read.

Green and Exum’s stat lines don’t pop off the box score (they combined for 13 points and one assist) but it was undeniable that their presence loosened the Celtics’ defense a little, just because they had the ability to dribble past their man and make the right play, unlike Washington and Jones.

On this Exum layup in the second quarter, look how tight Exum’s defender is playing up on him.

With Doncic face-guarded, Exum has a defender right on him despite holding a live dribble on the logo. Boston doesn’t respect the Mavericks role players to drive past that type of defense, so Exum’s ability to get by and score is the counter. The same goes for the nice Green assist in the third quarter for a Lively jam — Brown picks up Green tight, and Green burns the overplay and gets into the paint.

These are plays that the rest of the Mavericks non-stars can’t do. While it might have taken longer than Mavericks fans wanted, kudos to Kidd and the coaching staff for making the right adjustment.

Luka Doncic’s paint efficiency

After Game 3, Irving noted that with how the Celtics are giving himself and Doncic one-on-one chances in the paint and near the rim, it’s on them to be efficient enough to force the Celtics into another coverage. On Friday, that duo certainly was, especially Doncic.

Doncic missed every 3-pointer he took in Game 4, but was an impressive 11-16 in the paint, including 5-6 in the restricted area. Irving was 9-12 on twos, most in the paint. Dallas as a team scored 60 points in the paint, and you could see that paint control tilt the Celtics defense a little bit, as the Mavericks finally got some corner threes (4-7 from the corners, compared to 2-5 in Game 3). There was even a trap in the third quarter as the Celtics were underwater as the game spiraled out of control, but that’s what the Mavericks have to do to force Boston try something else. Dallas still didn’t have a high assist game on Friday, with only 21 total, and Doncic finished with six assists. There is still room for experimentation and working with Irving’s off-ball gravity, but none of this matters if Doncic isn’t converting in the paint, which he did in Game 4.

It also helps to score in the paint when you get stops, and it’s no coincidence that the Mavericks’ best defensive game of the series also resulted in Dallas scoring well in transition. The Mavericks only had 11 fastbreak points, after 12 in Game 3, but that follows up single-digit fastbreak performances in Games 1 and 2. It’s also no surprise that Lively and Gafford combined for 18 points, their highest of the series, as those two got out and ran the floor and got the space they needed before Boston’s halfcourt defense settled in.

None of this means a Game 7 or even a Game 6 is a guarantee — Boston is that good. But the Mavericks showed a formula in Game 4, a formula that really started to develop during Game 3 on Wednesday. The Mavericks put that blueprint together for a full game on Friday and executed, and while their chance to make history is still a ways off… it is just enough to allow oneself to start thinking about this series in a new light.