Tag: celtics

Joe Mazzulla jumping off a duck boat roof on a torn meniscus is most unhinged moment of Celtics’ parade joe,mazzulla,jumping,off,a,duck,boat,roof,on,a,torn,meniscus,is,most,unhinged,moment,of,celtics,parade,sbnation,com,front-page,nba,nba-playoffs,nba-playoffs-powerhouse-2024,dot-com-grid-coverage

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Anyone unfamiliar with Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla has certainly become more aware of one of the NBA’s strangest characters in the wake of Boston’s championship celebrations.

Mazzulla, likely the only head coach in the league who had to be told by his bosses to stop trying to block opposing player’s shots this year, has taken over the internet in the wake of the Celtics’ title celebrations. In addition to carrying the championship trophy around the city to various restaurants, Mazzulla went on an absolutely bonkers celebratory podcast tour that included him breaking down how he would plan to rob a bank, among other wild anecdotes.

Mazzulla has done it all, including coaching the Celtics to banner No. 18, on a meniscus he has apparently needed surgery on since tearing it in March during a loss to the Hawks, because of course he did. After all, this is a man who once tried to turn down health insurance while working in the G League because he “didn’t have time to get hurt.”

Well, he certainly put that mindset to the test during the Celtics’ championship parade, jumping both off the roof and out the window of the duck boat carrying him multiple times — again, on A TORN MENISCUS THAT WILL REQUIRE SURGERY — to celebrate with fans:

Mazzulla’s son even got in on the fun, showing he’s well on track to matching his father’s delightfully chaotic energy:

Perhaps fittingly, all this comes on a day the governor of Mazzulla’s native Rhode Island has officially dubbed “Joe Mazzulla Day.” That was obviously in the works before Friday, but after watching Joe Mazz at the parade, it would be hard to call the day anything else.

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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.

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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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Over the seven seasons Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown have played together for the Boston Celtics, they have faced a wide variety of skepticism about their fit together as two ballhandling wings. Both were varying degrees of great at different times, but did their skill sets overlap too much to build a championship team around them as a pair?

The Celtics’ 2024 NBA championship win answers that question with a definitive “no,” but there were real questions about the pairing’s fit together over their near-decade as a duo, as well as calls from media and fans alike to trade Brown. Instead, the Celtics (somewhat controversially) continually doubled down on the twosome, most recently by giving Brown the most lucrative contract in NBA history last summer.

Doing so may seem like the easy call with the benefit of hindsight, but in the aftermath of the confetti falling, as the Celtics celebrated their 18th championship in franchise history and Brown lofted his NBA Finals MVP, there was a stat on the broadcast for anyone watching at home that demonstrated just how unprecedented Boston’s patience with the Brown and Tatum duo was (as captured by Tim Bontemps of ESPN):

For Tatum and Brown, the 107 games they played together before winning the title are the most by a duo prior to winning their first championship in NBA history.

That’s quite the astounding factoid, and it shows how rare it is for any two NBA players to

  1. be good enough to justify keeping together that long, period, and…
  2. be good enough to maintain faith in despite not having won a title together yet.

It remains to be seen if this record will ever be broken, but given the constant roster churn of today’s NBA, it seems unlikely. Maybe Brown and Tatum’s long-awaited success will convince more GMs to remain patient with various star pairings, but this otherwise seems primed to be a record Brown and Tatum can hold together for a long time.

The Celtics’ 2024 NBA championship just gave James Harden a record no NBA player wants the,celtics,nba,championship,just,gave,james,harden,a,record,no,nba,player,wants,sbnation,com,front-page,nba,nba-playoffs,draftkings,nba-playoffs-powerhouse-2024,dot-com-grid-coverage

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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!

Payton Pritchard hit another NBA Finals halfcourt dagger seconds after checking in for Celtics payton,pritchard,hit,another,nba,finals,halfcourt,dagger,seconds,after,checking,in,for,celtics,sbnation,com,front-page,nba,nba-playoffs,nba-finals

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The Boston Celtics returned to their home floor in Game 5 of the 2024 NBA Finals with the chance to clinch the series and secure the 18th championship in franchise history. The Dallas Mavericks couldn’t even make it to halftime before Boston turned the game into a blowout.

The Celtics took a 67-46 lead into halftime against Dallas in Game 5 on Monday night. Boston’s offense led a cascade of shot-making, rim attacking, and ferocious defense. The Celtics saved their most devastating bucket of the first half for last.

Payton Pritchard didn’t play in Game 5 until Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla checked him in as Dallas went to the free throw line with four seconds left in the half. Pritchard had already hit a halfcourt in NBA Finals, beating the third quarter buzzer back in Game 2. He out-did himself in Game 5, delivering a buzzer-beating dagger to Dallas just before halftime. Watch the play here:

Pritchard checked in just to take a halfcourt heave, and he drained it. Mazzulla remains a mad genius.

It’s the longest shot made in the NBA Finals in the last 20 years, according to ESPN.

Pritchard has been the Celtics’ first guard off the bench all season long. He doesn’t play big minutes for the team, but like any role player on a championship team, he’ll soon be beloved in Boston forever. These halfcourt shots in the NBA Finals will be replayed for the rest of his life. Celtics fans are already loving this one:

The Celtics were the best team in the NBA all season. For the first time in the Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown era, they end the season on top of the league.

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The Boston Celtics have a chance Monday night to capture their 18th NBA Finals title. And they are putting it all on the line in pursuit of that championship.

Literally.

With the minutes ticking down in the first half, Boston held a 52-39 lead over the visiting Dallas Mavericks in Game 5, and were locked in on the defensive end. Dallas forward P.J. Washington stumbled off the dribble and tried to shove a pass in the direction of Dereck Lively, but the ball was knocked loose by Jayson Tatum.

In the ensuing melee for the loose ball, Derrick White of the Celtics absolutely laid out trying to corral the ball, before catching an entire face full of the parquet floor at T.D. Garden:

If you dare, you can watch the close-up replay of White’s effort:

In the moment, it looked as if Boston would lose the player that has been the “oomph” of their roster since he was acquired via trade during the 2022 season. White made his way to the Celtics bench after staying down on the floor for a moment, and was looked at by Celtics trainers:

He returned to the game immediately after.

And buried a three moments later to give Boston a 60-42 lead.

Look at this guy:

Between that and another heave at the buzzer from Payton Prichard, Boston has had one heck of a first half.

And they are 24 minutes away from their 18th banner.

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.

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The Boston Celtics had a chance to close out the 2024 NBA Finals on Friday night. Instead, the Dallas Mavericks extended the series at least one more game with a 122-84 trouncing of the visiting Celtics. The 28-point loss for Boston now goes into the NBA record books as the third-worst loss in NBA Finals history, behind Game 3 of the 1998 NBA Finals (where the Chicago Bulls defeated the Utah Jazz 96-54), and Game 6 of the 2008 NBA Finals (where the Celtics blew out the Los Angeles Lakers 131-92 to close out that series).

After the game, NBA Hall of Famer Charles Barkley had some thoughts.

Barkley blasted the Celtics, going as far to call their effort in Game 4 “unprofessional.” Barkley pointed to how well Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown had “gotten downhill” earlier in the series, and then pointed to a reliance on outside shooting from the Boston stars in early going Friday night.

“We said, if the Celtics come out just jacking up jumpers going through the motions, Dallas has a chance,” started Barkley. “They came out nonchalant. Lackadaisical … We said, if Jayen and Jason are going downhill … I think the first quarter they shot like 12 threes out of like the first 15 to 20 shots and they missed them.

“I still feel very good [Boston] winning [the] series, but that was so unprofessional the way they played that game tonight.”

You can see Barkley’s entire comments here:

While Barkley still thinks Boston will win the series, he even held up a sign handedd to him by a fan that said otherwise:

Beyond Barkley’s comments on the Celtics, the NBA Hall of Famer made some other news on Friday night. Speaking after the game on NBATV, he announced that next season — his 25th on television — would be his last.

“You know, there’s been a lot of noise around our network the last few months and I just wanna say, I’ve talked to all the other networks but I ain’t going nowhere other than TNT,” began Barkley. “I have made the decision myself no matter what happens last, next year is gonna be my last year on television.

“And I just want to say thank you to my NBA family. You guys have been great to me. My heart is full with joy and gratitude, but I’m gonna pass the baton at the end of next year.”

Barkley’s announcement can be seen here:

Given the brutal honesty he displayed in both discussing Boston’s effort in Game 4, and his own basketball future, you can understand why NBA fans might be saddened at this news.

And hoping Dallas truly forces a Game 7.

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The 2024 NBA Finals are here.

The Boston Celtics are back in the Finals, making a return trip after losing to the Golden State Warriors back in 2022. For the bulk of the season the Celtics were the class of the Eastern Conference, finishing with a 64-18 record — the best in the NBA — and 14 games ahead of the New York Knicks in the East.

That led many to wonder if the Celtics would be ready for the playoff run, and to many neutral observers, Boston’s path to the Finals was a little easier than expected. Boston squared off with the Miami Heat in the first round, but without Jimmy Butler who was lost with an MCL sprain, Miami struggled against Boston.

Then came the Cleveland Cavaliers, who began the series against the Celtics without rim protector Jarrett Allen, who missed the entire series with broken ribs. Add in a knee injury for Donovan Mitchell and you have a 4-1 series win for Boston, who moved on to face the Indiana Pacers in the Eastern Conference Finals.

Who were without Tyrese Haliburton for the final two games of that series, as the guard entered the Conference Finals with a groin injury that hampered him in the first two games, and saw him shut down for the final two.

Now they’ll take on the Dallas Mavericks, who stormed to the NBA Finals thanks to a tremendous playoff run from Kyrie Irving and Luka Dončić. Dončić might be playing the best basketball on the planet right now, and in our ranking of the top 15 players in this series, he was a fairly easy choice for the top spot. He has averaged almost a triple-double in the playoffs, averaging 28.8 ppg, 9.6 rpg, and 8.8 apg over Dallas’ 17 postseason games. With him, the Mavericks have the best player left standing, even if he is doing it on just one healthy leg as he deals with a knee sprain.

They also could pose some problems for the Celtics, given their length and athleticism. As outlined above Boston has seen a somewhat easier path to the Finals, but that will change starting Thursday night. Around Dončić and Irving the Mavericks have players who can frustrate the Boston offense, including P.J. Washington and Derrick Jones Jr.

Washington is big with a massive wingspan, and expect to see him on Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum for most of the series. Jones Jr. is one of the better athletes in the league, who can pose problems both near the rim and around the arc.

Down low Dallas can turn to the combination of Dereck Lively II and Daniel Gafford. The rookie Lively is 7’1, has a massive wingspan, and has been Dallas’ third best player on this run. Gafford is another springy rim protector who can disrupt shots and harrass Boston’s scorers near the tin.

Those players will need to step up if Dallas has a shot at pulling this off, but in the NBA Finals, anything can happen.

It all gets started this Thursday. Here is how to watch.

2024 NBA Finals Schedule

  • Game 1: Boston 107, Dallas 89 (Boston leads series 1-0)
  • Game 2: Boston 105, Dallas 98 (Boston leads series 2-0)
  • Game 3: Boston 106, Mavericks 99 (Boston leads series 3-0)
  • Game 4: Dallas 122, Boston 84 (Boston leads series 3-1)
  • Game 5: Dallas at Boston | Monday, June 17 | 8:30 p.m. ET | ABC/ESPN+
  • Game 6: Boston at Dallas | Thursday, June 20 | 8:30 p.m. ET | ABC/ESPN+*
  • Game 7: Dallas at Boston | Sunday, June 23 | 8:00 p.m. ET | ABC/ESPN+*

*If necessary