Mavericks Advance to NBA Finals After Routing Timberwolves in Game 5

Mavericks Advance to NBA Finals After Routing Timberwolves in Game 5

The stage is officially set for the 2024 NBA Finals, as the Dallas Mavericks managed to close out the series against the Minnesota Timberwolves in Game 5 of the Western Conference finals.

The Mavs' 124–103 win lifts the team to its first championship appearance since 2011, and there was never really a doubt for most of the contest after a dominant start from Luka Dončić, who scored 20 points in the first quarter.

As has been the case all playoffs long, Dallas put the ball into the hands of its tandem of star guards, Dončić and Kyrie Irving, and let them go to work. The two combined for 72 points in Thursday's series-clinching win and were tied for the game-high in scoring with 36 points apiece.

The Mavericks' other starters and role players lived up to their end of the billing, too, providing quality work on the glass and making life difficult for the Timberwolves offensively. Daniel Gafford's plus-minus of +27 was the highest in the game, and he and Dereck Lively II didn't miss a single field goal attempt between them (6-for-6) while combining for 17 rebounds.

In 17 games during the playoffs, Dončić is averaging 28.7 points per game as he’s helped guide the Mavs, who entered the postseason as the No. 5 seed in the West, through the conference gauntlet. He's now set for the first NBA Finals appearance of his career, where a showdown against the Boston Celtics awaits.

Game 1 is set for next Thursday, June 6 at 8:30 p.m. EST from the TD Garden in Boston, Mass.

How to Watch the 2024 NBA Finals With & Without Cable: Full Streaming Guide

How to Watch the 2024 NBA Finals With & Without Cable: Full Streaming Guide

A new NBA champion will be crowned come June with the official start of the 2024 NBA Finals.

This year’s competition will feature a showdown between the top-seeded Boston Celtics and either the No. 5 Dallas Mavericks or No. 3 Minnesota Timberwolves. The Mavs currently lead the Western Conference finals series, 3-1, and will play the Timberwolves in Game 5 on Thursday.

If the Mavericks manage to close out the series, they will battle Jayson Tatum and the Celtics for their first NBA championship in 13 years.

The Celtics, meanwhile, will be looking to clinch their 18th championship in franchise history, which would surpass the Los Angeles Lakers (17) for most championships all-time. 

Here’s how to watch and listen to the 2024 NBA Finals.

All 2024 NBA Finals games will broadcast on ABC. 

Fans who have a cable subscription will be able to view the Finals broadcast, which is exclusive to ABC. They should check their local TV stations for specific channel info. 

GAME

MATCHUP

DATE/TIME

CHANNEL

Game 1

Dallas Mavericks/ Minnesota Timberwolves @ Boston Celtics

Thursday, June 6, 8 p.m. ET

ABC

Game 2

Dallas Mavericks/ Minnesota Timberwolves @ Boston Celtics

Sunday, June 9, 8 p.m. ET

ABC

Game 3

Boston Celtics @ Dallas Mavericks/ Minnesota Timberwolves

Wednesday, June 12, 8:30 p.m. ET

ABC

Game 4

Boston Celtics @ Dallas Mavericks/ Minnesota Timberwolves

Friday, June 14, 8:30 p.m. ET

ABC

Game 5 (if necessary)

Dallas Mavericks/ Minnesota Timberwolves @ Boston Celtics

Monday, June 17, 8 p.m. ET

ABC

Game 6 (if necessary)

Boston Celtics @ Dallas Mavericks/ Minnesota Timberwolves

Thursday, June 20, 8 p.m. ET

ABC

Game 7 (if necessary)

Dallas Mavericks/ Minnesota Timberwolves @ Boston Celtics

Sunday, June 23, 8 p.m. ET

ABC

All 2024 NBA Finals games will be available to stream on the ESPN app as well as the ABC app. Both the ESPN and ABC apps will require a TV provider login, though.

Streaming options that don’t require cable include FuboTV, DirecTV Stream, Hulu + Live TV, Sling TV and YouTube TV. For fans not looking to spend exorbitant amounts on a streaming service, FuboTV offers a free one-week trial to new subscribers.

All 2024 NBA Finals games will be available to listen to on Sirius XM NBA Radio, Channel 86 nationally.

For local stations, fans are encouraged to check their local listings for channel information specific to their area.

Select NBA Finals broadcasts are also available on NBA on ESPN Radio. Fans should also check their local listings for more information as the start date of the Finals nears.

Looking Back at Every Sweep in NBA Finals History

Looking Back at Every Sweep in NBA Finals History

Among the four major North American sports leagues, the NBA has traditionally stood out in the popular imagination as being the league of the dynasties. The Boston Celtics of the 1960s begat the Celtics and Los Angeles Lakers of the 1980s begat the Chicago Bulls of the 1990s, and so on and so forth.

For this reason, it may surprise you to learn that in the NBA Finals' entire history—from its quaint 1947 origins to the present day—professional basketball's final series has seen just nine sweeps.

Here is a look back at the nine perfect performances in the event's annals. Note before we begin that there were four best-of-five finals sweeps in the history of the National Basketball League, the NBA's immediate predecessor.

GAME

RESULT

Game 1

Celtics 118, Lakers 115

Game 2

Celtics 128, Lakers 108

Game 3

Celtics 123, Lakers 110

Game 4

Celtics 118, Lakers 113

The very first Finals between Boston and the Lakers, and the only one that took place while the Lakers were located in Minneapolis. The first of the Celtics' run of eight straight championships, the longest streak in the history of the four major North American sports. Boston center Bill Russell averaged 29.5 rebounds per game, which will play.

GAME

RESULT

Game 1

Bucks 98, Bullets 88

Game 2

Bucks 102, Bullets 83

Game 3

Bucks 107, Bullets 99

Game 4

Bucks 118, Bullets 106

The Milwaukee Bucks' first title, and their only title until 2021. The first of six rings for Bucks center Lew Alcindor, the future Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. The most recent of two series, along with the 1956 Finals, played under a 1-1-1-1-1-1-1 format in which the two teams alternated home games.

GAME

RESULT

Game 1

Warriors 101, Bullets 95

Game 2

Warriors 92, Bullets 91

Game 3

Warriors 109, Bullets 101

Game 4

Warriors 96, Bullets 95

Both the Golden State Warriors (Al Attles) and Washington Bullets (K.C. Jones) had Black head coaches, which hadn't happened before in any league. The Bullets actually took three of four from Golden State in the regular season, anticipating a highly competitive matchup. A 14-5 run late in Game 4 gave the Warriors their last title until 2015.

GAME

RESULT

Game 1

76ers 113, Lakers 107

Game 2

76ers 103, Lakers 93

Game 3

76ers 111, Lakers 94

Game 4

76ers 115, Lakers 108

A fitting conclusion to Hall of Fame center Moses Malone's third and final MVP season. Polished off a 12-1 playoff run after Malone predicted the Philadelphia 76ers would need only four games to win each series. The last major Philadelphia championship until the Philadelphia Phillies won the World Series in 2008.

GAME

RESULT

Game 1

Pistons 109, Lakers 97

Game 2

Pistons 108, Lakers 105

Game 3

Pistons 114, Lakers 110

Game 4

Pistons 105, Lakers 97

The Detroit Pistons' first title after a grueling seven-game loss to the Lakers the season prior. Featured a superb performance from Pistons guard Joe Dumars, who averaged 27.3 points per game. The curtain call on Abdul-Jabbar's spectacular 20-year career.

GAME

RESULT

Game 1

Rockets 120, Magic 118 (OT)

Game 2

Rockets 117, Magic 106

Game 3

Rockets 106, Magic 103

Game 4

Rockets 113, Magic 101

Notorious for the Orlando Magic's complete meltdown in Game 1, during which guard Nick Anderson missed four crucial free throws to open the door for Houston Rockets guard Kenny Smith's game-tying three. The Rockets, seeded sixth, became the lowest-seeded team to win the title. Houston's title followed a seven-game championship win over the New York Knicks in 1994.

GAME

RESULT

Game 1

Lakers 99, Nets 94

Game 2

Lakers 106, Nets 83

Game 3

Lakers 106, Nets 103

Game 4

Lakers 113, Nets 107

The Lakers' third consecutive championship, and center Shaquille O'Neal's third consecutive Finals MVP award. Los Angeles overcame a superb individual series from New Jersey Nets guard Jason Kidd, who had averaged a triple-double in the Eastern Conference finals. The last Finals aired on NBC to date.

GAME

RESULT

Game 1

Spurs 95, Cavaliers 76

Game 2

Spurs 103, Cavaliers 92

Game 3

Spurs 75, Cavaliers 72

Game 4

Spurs 83, Cavaliers 82

Noted for its astoundingly low scores, Game 3 was the lowest-scoring Finals game since 1955. The first Finals for Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James, and for every Cavalier apart from veteran guard Eric Snow. Despite several close games, only in Game 4 did Cleveland lead in the second half.

GAME

RESULT

Game 1

Warriors 124, Cavaliers 114 (OT)

Game 2

Warriors 122, Cavaliers 103

Game 3

Warriors 110, Cavaliers 102

Game 4

Warriors 108, Cavaliers 85

The sweep everyone remembers. Began with a bizarre overtime game in which Cavaliers guard J.R. Smith appeared to forget the score at the end of regulation and James scored 51 points in defeat. The average margin of victory, 15, is the largest in any NBA Finals.

Cavaliers-Celtics Odds Paint Grim Picture for Cleveland in NBA playoffs

Cavaliers-Celtics Odds Paint Grim Picture for Cleveland in NBA playoffs

If the Cleveland Cavaliers were looking for bulletin board material heading into their Eastern Conference semifinal series against the Celtics, all they’d have to do is look at the odds. 

Recent NBA betting scandals notwithstanding, it's clear oddsmakers don't think the Cavs stand any chance against Boston. In fact, sportsbooks are giving the Cavs a better chance of getting swept than upsetting the top-ranked Celtics, and it’s really not even close. 

The Celtics are -3000 to win the series at FanDuel Sportsbook and -1200 to win at DraftKings. That means those sportsbooks are giving the Celtics an implied probability to win the series of 96.8% and 92.3% respectively. 

Even more telling, the Celtics are +140 at FanDuel and +170 at DraftKings to win the series 4-0. Those are the shortest odds of any correct series score. The Celtics winning 4-1 has the second shortest odds at +170 and +190, respectively. 

For context, even after winning Game 1, the Knicks are only -440 at FanDuel to win their Eastern Conference semifinal series. 

This is not exactly surprising.

The Celtics have been the betting favorites to win the NBA championship most of the season and remain so today. They are +100 to win the title at FanDuel and +115 at DraftKings. 

The Cavs are +10000 and +8000 at those books, respectively, the longest odds of any playoff team.

All of this paints a grim picture for the Cavs, even more so when you consider the Celtics are expected to be without their third-leading scorer from the regular season, Kristaps Porzingis, who is dealing with a calf injury and is not expected to play the entirety of the series. 

The Cavs are at full strength but struggled to beat a young Orlando Magic team in the first round of the playoffs. The series went seven games and the Magic had the Cavs on the ropes in the first half of Game 7 before Donovan Mitchell took over and willed Cleveland into the second round. 

Led by Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown, the Celtics easily dispatched the Miami Heat in five games in the first round, though the Heat were without Jimmy Butler.

It’s clear oddsmakers believe in the duo of Tatum and Brown, not only against the Cavs, but against anyone in the league. The Cavs could look at that as an insult and use it as motivation. It won’t matter to oddsmakers though. It seems their belief is near certainty, at least in this round.

Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.

If you or someone you know has a gambling problem and wants help, call 1-800-GAMBLER.

NBA Playoff Schedule: Full Rundown for Conference Semifinals

NBA Playoff Schedule: Full Rundown for Conference Semifinals

The first round of the 2024 NBA postseason had some great matchups, and things will only get better from here on out. Saturday marked the start of the second round of the playoffs, when true contenders battle against one another in an effort to reach the final four of their conference. Iron sharpens iron, after all, and this year's slate of Round 2 contests look pretty great across the board.

Fewer games means fewer overlapping broadcast times, too. After two weeks with up to three NBA games on every night, we're more or less back to the standard of an Eastern Conference tip-off around 7 p.m. ET and a Western Conference tip-off around 10 p.m. ET.

For your viewing habit purposes, here is the full schedule for the second round of the 2024 NBA playoffs, organized by series.

NBA Playoff Schedule for Second Round

Eastern Conference

(1) Boston Celtics v. (4) Cleveland Cavaliers

• Game 1: Cavaliers vs. Celtics, Tuesday, May 7 (7 p.m. ET, TNT)
• Game 2: Cavaliers vs. Celtics, Thursday, May 9 (7 p.m. ET, ESPN)
• Game 3: Celtics vs. Cavaliers, Saturday, May 11 (8:30 p.m. ET, ABC)
• Game 4: Celtics vs. Cavaliers, Monday, May 13 (7 p.m. ET, TNT)
• Game 5 (if necessary): Cavaliers vs. Celtics, Wednesday, May 15 (TBD)
• Game 6 (if necessary): Celtics vs. Cavaliers, Friday, May 17 (TBD)
• Game 7 (if necessary): Cavaliers vs. Celtics, Sunday, May 19 (TBD)

(2) New York Knicks v. (3) Indiana Pacers

• Game 1: Pacers vs. Knicks, Monday, May 6 (7:30 p.m. ET, TNT)
• Game 2: Pacers vs. Knicks, Wednesday, May 8 (8 p.m. ET, TNT)
• Game 3: Knicks vs. Pacers, Friday, May 10 (7 p.m. ET, ESPN)
• Game 4: Knicks vs. Pacers, Sunday, May 12 (3:30 p.m. ET, ABC)
• Game 5 (if necessary): Pacers vs. Knicks, Tuesday, May 14 (TBD)
• Game 6 (if necessary): Knicks vs. Pacers, Friday, May 17 (TBD)
• Game 7 (if necessary): Pacers vs. Knicks, Sunday, May 19 (TBD)

Western Conference

(1) Oklahoma City Thunder v. (5) Dallas Mavericks

• Game 1: Mavericks vs. Thunder, Tuesday, May 7 (9:30 p.m. ET, TNT)
• Game 2: Mavericks vs. Thunder, Thursday, May 9 (9:30 p.m. ET, ESPN)
• Game 3: Thunder vs. Mavericks, Saturday, May 11 (3:30 p.m. ET, ABC)
• Game 4: Thunder vs. Mavericks, Monday, May 13 (9:30 p.m. ET, TNT)
• Game 5 (if necessary): Mavericks vs. Thunder, Wednesday, May 15 (TBD)
• Game 6 (if necessary): Thunder vs. Mavericks, Saturday, May 18 (8:30 p.m. ET)
• Game 7 (if necessary): Mavericks vs. Thunder, Monday, May 20 (8:30 p.m. ET)

(2) Denver Nuggets v. (3) Minnesota Timberwolves

• Game 2: Timberwolves vs. Nuggets, Monday, May 6 (10 p.m. ET, TNT)
• Game 3: Nuggets vs. Timberwolves, Friday, May 10 (9:30 p.m. ET, ESPN)
• Game 4: Nuggets vs. Timberwolves, Sunday, May 12 (8 p.m. ET, TNT)
• Game 5 (if necessary): Timberwolves vs. Nuggets, Tuesday, May 14 (TBD)
• Game 6 (if necessary): Nuggets vs. Timberwolves, Thursday, May 16 (8:30 p.m. ET)
• Game 7 (if necessary): Timberwolves vs. Nuggets, Sunday, May 19 (TBD)

Key Dates for the 2024 NBA Playoffs

Aside from the all the above, the NBA postseason generally has a few key dates.

The first have already passed in the form of the play-in tournament, as well as the start of the first round. The Nuggets and Timberwolves kicked off the second round on Saturday, May 4. Below are several other key dates to look forward to.

• Conference Finals start dates: May 19-22, depending on the length of the second-round series.
NBA Finals start date: Thursday, June 6 will be Game 1 of the 2024 NBA Finals. Sunday, June 9 will be Game 2. Game 3 will take place on Wednesday, June 12. Friday, June 14 will be Game 4.

First Round Results

Below are the full results for the first round of this year's postseason.

Eastern Conference

(1) Boston Celtics def. (8) Miami Heat in 5 games

(2) New York Knicks def. (7) Philadelphia 76ers in 6 games

(4) Cleveland Cavaliers def. (5) Orlando Magic in 7 games

(6) Indiana Pacers def. (3) Milwaukee Bucks in 6 games

Western Conference

(1) Oklahoma City Thunder def. (8) New Orleans Pelicans in 4 games

(2) Denver Nuggets def. (7) Los Angeles Lakers in 5 games

(3) Minnesota Timberwolves def. (6) Phoenix Suns in 4 games

(5) Dallas Mavericks def. (4) Los Angeles Clippers in 6 games

And that's everything you need to know about the second round of the 2024 NBA playoffs. Enjoy watching!

Little-Used Celtics Player Reacts to Cavaliers Fans Chanting 'We Want Boston'

Little-Used Celtics Player Reacts to Cavaliers Fans Chanting ‘We Want Boston’

The Cleveland Cavaliers overcame a 10-point halftime deficit to blow the doors off the Orlando Magic on Sunday in Game 7 of their first round NBA playoffs series, which will earn them a date with the top-seeded Boston Celtics in round two. Jubiliant fans at Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse spent the final minutes chanting "we want Boston" because that's just what fans do and they are entirely right to prefer the season keep going rather than end. Heck, it's not even that interesting of an event, even though the Celtics are heavy favorites to advance to the Eastern Conference Finals.

But Boston reserve forward Oshae Brisset found the development intriguing enough to post about, saying "hear the chants" with one of those eye-covering emojis available on X, formerly Twitter. Then he deleted it, which doesn't do much good after enough people see it.

Brisset played six minutes in the Celtics' opening round victory over the Miami Heat. He's not expected to be a major factor in the battle against Cleveland either. Or perhaps that's changed after a routine chant awakened a sleeping giant.

There are no real rules for this but it does seem like most people are already operating on the sensible plane when it comes to in-arena proclamations about wanting to play whatever team is next on the schedule. Which is that it's entirely fine. There's nothing wrong with it at all and no one is going to be the first person to, in that moment, start a "we're probably going to lose chant" because they might need a ride home from their buddy after the final buzzer. Pretty much every human who made it public that they "wanted Bama" lived to regret it. It's just something you say.

Jimmy Butler Utters Confident Statement About Heat's Playoff Fate

Jimmy Butler Utters Confident Statement About Heat’s Playoff Fate

The Miami Heat were bounced from the NBA playoffs in five games by the Boston Celtics, but star Jimmy Butler believes things would have been different if he was healthy.

Butler suffered a sprained MCL during the play-in tournament against the Philadelphia 76ers. He missed all five games against the Celtics.

"If I was playing, Boston would be at home," Butler recently said in an interview with Rock the Bells. "New York would d--- sure be f--king at home."

The Celtics cruised to the Eastern Conference's best record (64–18) this season, but Butler's confidence likely is coming from the rivals' recent playoff history. The Heat got the better of Boston in both the 2020 and '23 conference finals.

Butler was named the 2023 Eastern Conference finals MVP after tallying 24.2 points, 7.7 rebounds and 6.2 assists per game against the Celtics.

Butler ended his quick interview with Rock the Bells by addressing New York Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau, who he played for with the Chicago Bulls from 2011 to '15 and again with the Minnesota Timberwolves from 2017 to '19.

Thibodeau and the Knicks are set to face the Indiana Pacers in the Eastern Conference semifinals after defeating the Philadelphia 76ers in six games.

"I love Thibs, but I don't want him to win," Butler said. "Thibs, I love you baby, but I want to beat you to a pulp. It's like a one-sided relationship. You're in love with me. I love you, but I'm not in love with you."

Butler, 34, will be paid over $48 million by the Heat next season. He has a $52.4 million player option on his contract for the 2025-26 campaign.

Celtics' Payton Pritchard Reveals Why He Wears Sabrina Ionescu's Signature Shoes

Celtics’ Payton Pritchard Reveals Why He Wears Sabrina Ionescu’s Signature Shoes

Payton Pritchard and the Boston Celtics are currently awaiting the end of the Orlando Magic - Cleveland Cavaliers series to learn their opponent for the upcoming Eastern Conference semifinal series.

While everyone waits for the unofficial NBA TV series to wrap up on national television sometime this weekend, the local press gets to ask whatever questions they don't have time for when there are actual games to talk about, which is probably why someone finally asked Pritchard about his sneakers.

Prtichard wears Sabrina Ionescu's signature Nike shoes. Pritchard and Ionescu both went to Oregon as freshmen in 2016 and played all four years in Eugene before turning pro.

Ionescu was selected with the first pick of the 2020 WNBA draft, while Pritchard was taken 26th by the Celtics. While Pritchard doesn't have his own signature shoe, at least he found a comfortable one with his friend's name on it.

Pritchard is not the only NBA player rocking the Sabrina's. During All-Star Weekend, Dallas Mavericks center Dereck Lively II revealed that he had an exciting exchange with Ionescu about her shoes. She thanked him for wearing them while he thanked her for making them so comfortable.

That's some solid word-of-mouth. Not only does Ionescu have the skill and profile to be featured during NBA All-Star Saturday, but she also has got the footwear to back it up.

And if she has it her way, more WNBA players will get signature shoes. If they're half as comfortable as hers apparently are, that's a good thing for all basketball players.

Jayson Tatum Had Deep Message About Toughness After Celtics Eliminated Heat

Jayson Tatum Had Deep Message About Toughness After Celtics Eliminated Heat

After ending the Miami Heat's season with a 118-84 victory in Game 5 at TD Garden on Wednesday night, the Boston Celtics are on to the second round where they'll face the winner of the first round series between the Cleveland Cavaliers and Orlando Magic.

The ultimate outcome of Boston moving on to the second round past the shorthanded Heat was expected, but after the Celtics lost Game 2 of the series in stunning fashion, critics bashed the toughness of this Celtics' core, led by stars Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown.

Why did the Celtics lose to the Golden State Warriors in the 2022 NBA Finals? Fans and media critics pointed to Boston's lack of toughness.

Why did the Celtics lose to the Miami Heat in seven games in the 2023 Eastern Conference Finals? Fans and media critics once again pointed to Boston's lack of toughness.

So with fans and media questioning Boston's toughness earlier in the series, did it get to Tatum at all? Don't count on it.

"No, I think [in] the world we live in, it's gotta be something wrong with every team," Tatum told the media Wednesday night. "That's what they like to say. You can see how talented we are. I think it's lazy, or easy, to say that teams can out-tough us, right? I never understood that. What's the definition of tough? Having louder guys on your team? That s--- don't make you tough. Everybody has their own definition of what toughness is. It's playing the right way, showing up every day to do your job without complaining. I think that's being tough."

Whether Tatum likes it or not, the Celtics have had their fair share of head-scratching losses with their young superstar core over the past few postseasons, and in many cases, those losses have kept Boston from reaching its ultimate goal of winning an NBA championship.

The Celtics are hoping to break that trend with a title later this summer.

Celtics Broadcaster Mike Gorman Signs Off: ‘One Thing I Remember ... the Fans’

Celtics Broadcaster Mike Gorman Signs Off: ‘One Thing I Remember … the Fans’

Mike Gorman’s career nearly ended in a parking lot. It was in the mid-1970s and Gorman, fresh off a five-year stint in the U.S. Navy, was still trying to figure out a post-military future. He loved sports and had an itch for broadcasting, so one day he decided to take a chance and pop into the offices of WBZ, a Boston-area radio affiliate, and try to speak to Gil Santos, then a legendary local play-by-play man. If Santos wouldn’t meet with him, his next stop was Weymouth (Mass.) High School, where a friend said he could get him a part-time gig as a substitute teacher. 

When Gorman arrived, he was stopped at the security gate. He was asked by the guard if he had an appointment. He didn’t. He was asked if he had a résumé or a tape to leave for Santos. He didn’t. Puzzled, the guard suggested Gorman get some experience and come back. 

When the guard opened the gate for Gorman to turn his car around, he noticed a hat in the backseat. Stitched onto the front was VP-44, the naval squadron Gorman flew with. The guard, it turned out, used to fly with VP-8. After a few minutes chatting about planes, the guard called Santos. After hearing Gorman’s story, Santos agreed to meet with him. The two talked for 90 minutes. When they were finished, Santos called a small regional radio station and set Gorman up with a job as a public affairs director. 

“That was it,” says Gorman. “That’s how it all started.” 

Nearly 50 years later, including the last 43 as the indelible voice of the Boston Celtics, Gorman is at the end. He will be on the mic Wednesday, calling Game 5 between the Celtics and Miami Heat. If Boston wins, it will be his last game (local networks lose broadcasting rights after the first round of the playoffs). Recently, Gorman sat down with Sports Illustrated to discuss his signature style, how he knew it was time to quit and some of the highlights of a celebrated career. 

SI: Forty-three years. How did you know it was time?

Mike Gorman: “It’s just that I felt like I was losing touch with the game. Not just the Celtics, but the entire game. And I had spent close to 40-odd years now, having my life dictated by in July when the Celtics schedule would come out. And then the college schedule and the Big East schedule in those days when I was doing about six or seven games a week, it seemed. It just struck me one day when I was scraping the snow off my car. It’s about 3:30 in the morning, we’re in Hanscom Air Force Base. It’s snowing like a bandit. And I’m getting in the car. I’m saying to myself, ‘Michael, you’re 70 years old. What are you doing here? What are you doing?’

“And that was probably the moment that hit me more than anything else. I would continue on tomorrow if they were telling me I could just do the home games forever. That’s not a problem. That’s fun actually. Walk up, show, do the game, game’s over, you leave. That’s the ideal. But that package wasn’t quite available. I understand why it shouldn’t be. And I have other things I want to do. I’ve spent my whole life doing basketball. It’s going to be nice to, after the Final Four goes by and the NBA playoffs are done, to know that that’s done, too. That now when I wake up in the morning, I’ll go do what I want to do, not what the day tells me I should do or I have to do.”

SI: Did just doing home games extend your career? 

MG: “No question it did. And it would be nice if these guys [go on] to win a championship now in my last year and give that to me, going out. I’m sure it’s high on their priority list (laughs). But yeah, it kind of all came together in that parking lot. I swear, I’m not kidding. It’s just that I’m saying myself, ‘Why am I doing this? Why am I putting myself through this?’ It was one of those nights I remember specifically where it’s snowing like a bandit. We played in Detroit or someplace like that. We’re flying home so we could play some other team that wasn’t very good. And I’m saying to myself, ‘Come on, Mike. You love to do the Celts against the Knicks, Celts against the Lakers, Celts against anybody. You’re not really wanting to do the Celts against the Pistons anymore.’ ”

SI: It’s been four years since your longtime broadcast partner, Tommy Heinsohn passed away. How did that affect you?

MG: “There’s no lie, every day I think of him at least once about either what he would do in a certain situation. What would Tommy do? I should have a button like that that says that.

“It did change my style because a good part of my time that I spent with him, Tommy was a bit of an unguided missile on the air, so I had to keep it straight. So I would try to bring him back to reality. I know every time that he would make some really particularly outrageous or perhaps even offensive statement to somebody, I would count to 10 in my head without saying a word, because I was going to make it hard for them to match my quote with anything I might say up against what Tommy just said. And he would look at me like, ‘Well, aren’t you going to back me up on that one?’ I’d be like, ‘No, that’s, no, I’m not.’ But that was OK with him. He didn’t mind. It didn’t affect our friendship. Didn’t affect our relationship. 

“And Scal [Brian Scalabrine] has been great. He wants the job. He’s got a great enthusiasm for the job. Sometimes he gets a little lost in the trees. I got to feel like I got to pull him out when he starts talking the lingo of the assistant coaches that most of us, even me, don’t understand. But Scal’s going to be just fine. He’s funny. He’s a nice guy. As I said, he wants the job and unlike a lot of people I have worked with, he will accept criticism for what it is, and he will try to improve if he believes that’s an area of weakness. And not that many guys do that, especially guys who are ex-athletes, they don’t want to be told anything.”

SI: If you were going to write a book … 

MG: “I am writing one.”

SI: OK, so what will be the best story?

MG: “Well I want to write a fiction book. Or a screenplay. I think then I can really say what I want to say about a lot of people, but not put their real names down there. I have certainly had my run-ins with my share of characters in 40-odd years. So I just know about changing the name or change the vowel or two here. I can make them what I want them to be or expose them for what they were. And if they can find out who they are by guessing in the book, fine. But that’s my goal is to write a nonfiction novel or write a screenplay, one of the two.”

SI: Let me rephrase, then: What would your favorite broadcasting memory be? 

MG: “It’s just in a court sense, when Isiah [Thomas] threw the ball away and [Larry] Bird had the deflection to DJ and the layup and that had taken The Garden from dead silence right before that moment to blowing the roof off. And we had those games. That was before the NBA sold its soul to ESPN and all the other television networks out there and left us, as the locals, out of the picture as soon as the first round of the playoffs were done. And I’ve never really gotten over that, and I’ll never forgive the NBA for that. And I understand owners won’t need the money, I guess, but to do 82 games and then maybe do three or four in that first round and then see you later. 

“Let the network pick up the game, that’s fine. But I think the local broadcasters should at least be allowed to work. It’s a very sophisticated world we live in and they could provide a feed of me and Tommy, for instance, that just went out there. If you didn’t like it, you could take Mike Breen and whoever else he’s working with that particular week. But yeah, I just felt so when people say, ‘What’s your favorite game? What’s the biggest moment?’ In the first round, I guess, there are no big moments in the first round. You just got to survive to move on. So that hurts most of all.”

SI: I completely agree. 

MG: “I’ll remember all the people I worked with. I’ll remember all the guys around The Garden. I’ll remember Jack, I’ll remember Jimmy, I’ll remember all those guys. And I will, it’ll be those people who stick out in my mind, not necessarily the players. Paul Pierce will live forever in my head because I just love Paul. He’s such a good guy. I saw [Rajon] Rondo in the stands [recently], that started all sorts of rumors flying around. But yeah, again, if you ask me one thing I remember, it may not be the answer that you’re looking for, but it’s just the fans, it’s the people that I’ll think of most. And I’ll miss that most. It’s fun to walk through The Garden, hear people call your name. And they’re not looking for anything, they just come on, a wave and say hi and say thanks.

“If I could do one thing over, I probably would’ve waited until maybe the first of the year to announce I wasn’t going to come back because what it’s done, it’s afforded everyone a task to come say goodbye, which is nice. But I feel like I’m at my own wake. I just sit there and people come by, they tap you [on] the shoulder. Don’t care if I’m on the air or anything else, they just, ‘Just came by to say hi, Mike. Thank you very much. Yeah, thank you.’ So yeah, those are the folks I remember.”

SI: You are a phenomenal play-by-play man. But I’ve always thought one of your strengths is knowing when to let the moment breathe a little. Is that intentional? 

MG: “Without question. I try to tell anybody I work with, and Tommy was a firm believer in this, too, is pretend there’s a third person in the box with you, whether there is or not, and you have to leave him time to talk. And if you do that, then you’ll get a nice blend of what the play-by-play guy has to say, what the analyst has to say and what the fans are saying, what the crowd noise is like. I mean, at big moments, I hear guys all the time trying to impose their voice over big moments in the game and let the big moment in the game happen.

“You can do that later, when you’re reviewing it. But let the game breathe. Let people hear what it’s like to be in that seat at The Garden when that layup is hit at the buzzer. Don’t be so worried about what your call is and does your call make ESPN SportsCenter that night. I would say, it’s less is better. I’ll take that as a compliment, not as a knock.”

SI: It absolutely is. 

MG: “So many people come to The Garden and that’s no easy night. If you have two kids, you go to The Garden and you get all the paraphernalia, they get in the seats and everything else, you’re down a nickel before they throw the ball up. So that’s tough. So at least I try to give them a chance if they’re at home and not in The Garden, to get the feeling for what it’s like to be in the crowd and not to have Mike Gorman’s voice running all over the thing.”

SI: Was broadcasting always an ambition?

MG: “In the Navy, everybody has a collateral job when you’re in the squadron. And mine was the public affairs announcer. And we used to have this AOM, which is an All Officers Meeting, which in the case of a squadron up in Maine as we were, about 50 or 60 guys. And so we used to have these AOMs and I was in charge of all the AOMs. So I used to stand up in front of 60 guys with a microphone and tell them what was going on. And I found that I felt very comfortable doing that. I had seen guys who weren’t comfortable doing it. It was hard to watch them. They’d read it. They couldn’t handle being in front of a crowd. I started interjecting jokes in it and started doing a little bit of standup before the thing began, which is always my dream that I wanted to do standup.

“There’s not a lot of big demand out there right now for 77-year-old guys who do standup. So I’ll get that in the next lifetime, I guess. But yeah, so I felt comfortable with a microphone, and there was a kid who was one in the squadron and he had worked at a radio station before he came into the military. And he kept telling me, he said, ‘You’re pretty much a natural at doing this. You should take advantage of this when we get out. If you’re going to stay in, doesn’t matter, but if you’re going to get out, this is probably the best skill I seen you have.’ So that was my impetus to try to look for jobs in radio. But then I realized once I get out, you don’t just walk into WBZ in Boston unless you get lucky. I mean if that baseball cap is not sitting in the backseat, I tell you, I’m probably the basketball coach at Dorchester High School.”

SI: You mentioned your affection for Paul Pierce. Why him?

MG: “It was the timing more than anything else. And I feel like, with him, I watched him grow. And I have a little bit of that watching Jayson Tatum now and watching Jaylen Brown now. But with Paul, Paul had many more hardships off the court that he had to deal with. And how he dealt with them and how he came back from them, I just admired. And we had a little thing. People used to say, ‘Boy, it’s great the relationship you have with Paul Pierce,’ because every time, second time through the layup line, Paul would come and give me a hug no matter where I was. People said that’s great. Well, what was happening was Paul would give me the hug and say, ‘Who we got tonight [officiating the game]?’ And I’d say, ‘It’s Chris, Danny’s the Black guy, and Joe is the white guy. He’s kind of bald.’ And then Paul would go through around the layup line, I’d see him go, ‘Hey, Danny, how are you tonight, Paul? What’s happening over there?’ And I swear it used to buy him one or two whistles every game at least.”

SI: So a lot more time with family now, right? You’re a grandfather now. 

MG: “Without question. Again, how many holidays did I have to work? You always seem to be working and traveling on Christmas day. But to be out there on Christmas day and to be traveling on Easter to be traveling during stretches like that, you miss a lot. And once you miss it, it’s gone. You can’t say, ‘OK, now I’ll have that second year of life back.’ I want to watch that happen. So to live all this through my granddaughter all over again and to be Pap Pap, that’s cool. I like that.”