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The Boston Celtics are four wins away from holding up their end of the deal. The Dallas Mavericks are four wins away from making some backers a nice chunk of change. After cruising through their respective conference final the teams are set to meet for the NBA Championship starting with Game 1 on June 6. With dates for the NBA Finals pre-determined we have some time on our hands to handicap the matchup. The extra days came because neither series went longer than five games.
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The NBA futures odds favorite before the NBA season began, the Boston Celtics lived up to their billing posting the best record (64-18) and they were the only team to win at least 60 games. They also finished 14 games in front of second-place New York in the Eastern Conference standings. Working their way through the East playoffs with ease hopefully doesn’t make the Celtics complacent. They beat Miami and Cleveland in the first two rounds in five games each before sweeping the Indiana Pacers in the Eastern Conference Final.
Playing in the conference final is nothing new for the Celtics, who reached that round of the NBA playoffs for the third straight season and for the sixth time in eight years. However, this is only the second time in that span that they advanced to the NBA Finals. The other was in 2022 when they fell to the Golden State Warriors in six games. By sweeping their series with Indiana the Celtics get nine days between games, a “luxury” according to veteran Al Horford. The down time also gives injured big man Kristaps Porzingis a chance to recover from a calf injury that sidelined him in the opening round.
Before the season started Boston had championship odds of around 9/2. They hit the board for the NBA Finals as a -212 favorite. Dallas had preseason championship odds of around +2500. The Mavs are still underdogs, like they’ve been in every series, with odds at +184. Dallas knocked off three of the top four seeds in the Western Conference to reach the NBA Finals for the first time since 2011 when current coach Jason Kidd was the starting point guard on the club that upset Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh, LeBron James and the Miami Heat.
There is no shortage of star power with both sides boasting some of the biggest names in the game. Postseason breakdowns have tarnished the reputation of Jayson Tatum, who looks to change the narrative and his legacy in this series. Tatum has been one of the best players in the NBA for several years and his only time on the grand stage was a failure. Tatum had an awful NBA Finals against the Warriors shooting 36.7 percent from the field and 65.6 percent from the line. He averaged 26.9 points during the 2021-22 season but saw that number drop to 21.5 in the NBA Finals. The Celtics lost in six games.
The duo of Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving has propelled Dallas this postseason with each player going for 36 points in the closeout rout of Minnesota. What’s been inspiring about Dallas’s play, though, has been their defense. The additions of P.J. Washington and Daniel Gafford in separate deadline deals helped turn the Mavs around. They allowed an opponent to score more than 108 points in a game three four times.
Boston Celtics
The Celtics are hopeful Porzingis can return to the lineup ahead of the NBA Finals opener. Not that he was needed but his presence does make the offensive more threatening. The Celtics were during the regular season and are in the playoffs the most efficient basketball team in the NBA with KP able to spread the floor. Tatum and Jaylen Brown have been the top producers but both teams have received huge contributions from role players. Derrick White is averaging nearly three points per game more in the playoffs than he did during the season and Al Horford has filled in nicely for Porzingis during his absence. Boston’s two playoff losses came at home and they’ll need to protect their court.
Dallas Mavericks
The Mavs have a NBA champion and former Celtics player ready to take down his old team. Irving won a title with the Cavaliers in 2016 and played two years in Boston. He’s thriving with Dallas and Doncic with the duo averaging over 56 points this postseason between them. This club was built around those two with length and defensive tenacity. The addition of Washington and Gafford was only part of the puzzle that started the previous year with players like Derrick Jones Jr. and Dereck Lively II. Luka’s production has dipped from the regular season, but he’s been clutch and he’s getting help, something that could give the Celtics problems.
NBA Teams
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