Luka Dončić and the Dallas Mavericks are now a loss away from being swept by the Celtics in the NBA Finals after losing Game 3 at home, 106-99, on Wednesday night.
Dončić, who wasn't happy with the officials after the game, had a simple message for his team when asked what they can do now being down 3-0 and having their hopes of winning a championship all but dashed by Jaylen Brown, Jayson Tatum and the Boston Celtics.
Dallas fell behind by 21 points in the fourth quarter and then had their furious comeback fall short thanks mostly to the fact that Luka Doncic fouled out with just over four minutes left in the game and couldn't help his team in the final stretch.
ESPN's Brian Windhorst was asked after the game by Scott Van Pelt about what he thought of Doncic's sixth foul and he did not hold back, blasting the guard for that play and crushing him for the way he's acted and played all series long.
"I thought it was perfect that Luka fell on on to the ground there in an unacceptable position to put himself in with four minutes left and five fouls and then immediately looks at the bench and says you better bleeping challenge it, as if its the bench’s fault that he just made a terrible play," Windhorst said.
His rant then got even more personal:
"I’m standing here in the Mavericks tunnel. Over there is the Celtics tunnel. That’s where the winners are. If Luka is ever going to be a winner coming out of this tunnel here he’s going to have to use what happened in this Finals as a learning experience. His defensive performance is unacceptable. He’s a hole on the court. The Celtics are attacking him. They are ahead in this series because they’ve attacked him defensively. And you’ve got a situation here where Luka is complaining about the officiating. They have begged him, they have talked with him, they have pleaded with him—he’s costing his team because of how he treats the officials. He’s a brilliant player, he does so many things well. They are here because of how he did. His performance in this game is unacceptable and the reason why the Mavericks are not going to win. He’s got to get over this. The fact that he came out after the game and blamed the officials showed me he’s nowhere close yet. So maybe over the summer someone will get to him because nobody with the Mavericks or anybody in his life has and that’s why the Mavericks are at this point. They’re never going to this tunnel with the trophy if he doesn’t improve" those aspects of his game."
Here's the video of that:
Brian Windhorst BLASTS Luka Dončić on 'SportsCenter with SVP' after Game 3 of the NBA Finals. 🏀🔥🔥🔥
Game 4 is Friday in Dallas. We'll see if Doncic and the Mavs can bounce back or if the Cetlics can close out their 18th championship in convincing fashion.
The Boston Celtics are one win away from hanging their 18th banner inside TD Garden.
In a wild Game 3 filled with scoring runs, big games from the stars of both teams and a surprise fouling out of Dallas Mavericks star Luka Doncic, the Celtics prevailed 106–99 to take a commanding 3–0 series lead in the 2024 NBA Finals.
Entering the game in a 2–0 series deficit, Dallas came out desperate and had its collective foot on the gas early in the ball game. Behind a hot start from Doncic and Kyrie Irving, the Mavericks took a double-digit lead, 22–9, with 5:48 to go in the first quarter.
But just as the Celtics have done all series long—and all season long—they met the Mavericks' initial run with one of their own. Despite struggling to score in the first two games of the series, Boston star Jayson Tatum came to play on Wednesday night, as all superstars do, in the absence of center Kristaps Porzingis. He led the charge as Boston punched back. The Celtics closed the quarter down 31–30, and entered halftime down 51–50 despite an offensive barrage of Doncic and Irving, who paced the Mavericks with first-half scoring.
But the second half is where the fun began.
The Celtics have been a poor third-quarter team all season long, but Jaylen Brown came out on fire after halftime, hitting jump shot after jump shot, overcoming a slow shooting start that saw him score just six first-half points. Brown scored 24 second half points, and put on a show in the third quarter in particular, where he concluded the frame with an emphatic slam.
Boston's 35–19 third quarter spurt, to go along with a strong start to the fourth quarter, saw its lead balloon to as many as 21 points.
The Mavericks were on life support, but they weren't done yet. A 20–2 spurt that left the Celtics' players absolutely stunned cut the 21-point lead all the way down to three.
However, with 4:12 to go and the Celtics clinging to a 93–90 lead, Brown crossed half-court and drove to the basket with Doncic riding his hip. The Mavericks star, who already had five fouls, stepped in front of Brown for an obvious block. The play was challenged by Dallas and ultimately upheld, but Doncic's disqualification loomed large in the closing minutes of the contest.
Boston closed on a 13–6 run of its own with Doncic out of the lineup, and Irving's offensive heroics for Dallas simply weren't enough.
Tatum (31 points) and Brown (30 points), who have been much maligned by the media throughout the course of their careers, coexisted when it mattered most on the biggest stage and kept pace with Irving (35 points) and Doncic (27 points) to survive Game 3.
Game 4 is on Friday night, a 48-hour turnaround for the first time in the series. Boston will have a chance to raise its first championship banner since 2008, while Dallas will fight to keep its season alive.
There is no shortage of respect from Dallas Mavericks coach Jason Kidd towards Boston Celtics star Jaylen Brown.
Despite Brown being snubbed from both the All-NBA and All-Defensive teams this season, he has keyed the Celtics' playoff run, showing incredible two-way prowess en route to capturing Eastern Conference finals MVP.
Brown continued the momentum into Game 1 of the NBA Finals on Thursday, scoring a team-high 22 points, while adding six rebounds, two assists, three blocks and three steals in Boston's 107-89 win in Game 1.
Kidd was asked about the difficulty of game-planning for Brown, and his message was clear.
"Well, Jaylen's their best player," Kidd said during Saturday's media availability. "Just looking at what he does defensively. He picked up Luka full court. He got to the free throw line. He did everything, and that's what your best player does. Just understanding he plays both sides defensively and offensively at a high rate, and he's been doing that the whole playoffs.
"We talk about the Eastern Conference MVP, and it seems like he's continued to pick up where he left off. So he's playing at a high rate. We just got to be a little more physical with him and again, we gotta keep him off the free throw line and out of the paint, because he was finishing at a high rate or getting fouled and getting to the free throw line."
Jason Kidd was asked what makes going up against Jaylen Brown so challenging:
Brown has been Boston's most consistent player throughout the playoff run thus far, even if he doesn't garner the accolades like his teammate and first-team All-NBA selection Jayson Tatum.
Regardless, the Celtics will need both Brown and Tatum to be at their best in order to capture the franchise's 18th title this month.
Game 2 between the Celtics and Mavericks is set for 8 p.m. ET on Sunday at TD Garden in Boston.
The narratives entering Game 1 of the NBA Finals surrounded the Boston Celtics' lack of quality opponents faced in the Eastern Conference playoffs.
Many of those statements were true. The Celtics ran through injury-plagued versions of the Miami Heat, Cleveland Cavaliers and Indiana Pacers en route to their second NBA Finals appearance in three years.
But in the first half of Game 1 on Thursday night against the Dallas Mavericks, the Celtics reminded NBA fans that they were a league-best 64-18 in the regular season, and that they were rightfully the Finals favorites.
Boston surged out to a 37–20 first quarter lead—the largest first-quarter lead in a Game 1 in NBA Finals history—and took a 63–42 lead into halftime. The Celtics shot 54.5% from the floor and hit 11 first half threes, while celebrating the triumphant return of Kristaps Porzingis, who poured in a team-high 18 points on 7-for-9 shooting in 13 minutes.
The Mavericks lacked defensive intensity from the jump, and couldn't get out of their own way offensively against a stout Celtics defense. The Mavericks shot 43.9% from the floor in the first half, but went just 3-for-13 from three (23.1%). Luka Doncic led the way with 17 points on 7-for-14 shooting, but no other Mavericks player scored in double-digits in the first half.
Here are some of the best reactions from social media to Boston's torrid start:
It's crazy how the first basketball game anybody on the Dallas Mavericks ever played was Game 1 of the NBA Finals.
It's been a long break since the conference finals wrapped up, but the 2024 NBA Finals between the Boston Celtics and Dallas Mavericks is here at last. Game 1 will tip off on Thursday, June 6 at 8:30 p.m. ET.
It is a heavily anticipated matchup with legacies on the line. Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown will vie for their first ring against Luka Doncic doing the same, and Kyrie Irving, on the hunt for his second championship many years and teams after the first. There is some "unstoppable force meets immovable object" energy here, too. The Mavs have been on a heater since transforming their roster at the trade deadline and took down two of the NBA's very best teams en route to the Finals. The Celtics have been amazing all season long, putting up a 64–18 regular season record before going 12–2 running through the East playoff bracket.
It will be a fascinating series and, fans hope, a competitive one. Some will be lucky enough to see it for themselves by way of purchasing tickets to an NBA Finals game. Like any finale of a major American sport, it will not be cheap.
What's the ticket price range for the 2024 NBA Finals? Here's the breakdown for each game (ticket prices as of Wednesday, June 5).
Game 1 is on Thursday night and will be held at TD Garden in Boston, MA. as the Celtics earned home court advantage throughout the postseason by way of owning the league's best record. The hometown fans are, as expected, very excited to watch their team compete for the championship. So it is going to be an absolutely packed house, and one that will run a pretty penny per ticket.
Most expensive tickets
Per the Ticketmaster sales page, the most expensive ticket to see the Celtics play the Mavericks in Game 1 is a cool $27,000. That's right—nearly thirty grand. The ticket is in Row A of the VIP11 section, which is a courtside seat near the baseline across from the Mavs' bench. The ticket must be bought with its seat partner so this is a package that will cost $54,000 before fees, which in this case are an extra $12,000. So if you want the absolute best seat available, it's roughly a $66,000 investment.
In the interest of fairness, those two are particularly exorbitant. There are two similarly-priced sets of seats available— two seats on the baseline under the basket are $25,000 each, and a pair right next to the Celtics' bench on the floor are $17,000 each. But otherwise, most of the good seats (i.e. lower bowl) do not pass the $10,000 mark and instead hover between $6,000 and $10,000.
Cheapest tickets
All the above prices are largely unattainable for the vast majority of the population barring an unwise loan and/or second mortgage. But it is possible to get in the door for less than an arm and a leg. The cheapest ticket available is in section 305, row 15 (three rows from the wall of TD Garden), which is listed for $620 before fees. Still very expensive, but it doesn't hit the four-digit mark.
There are actually many tickets available at that general price point. The 300 level of TD Garden has over a dozen listings for tickets ranging from $620 to $700.
Game 2 is scheduled to tip off on Sunday, June 9 at 8 p.m. ET, and will once again be held at TD Garden in Boston.
Most expensive tickets
Tickets for Game 2 aren't quite as insanely pricey as Game 1. The most expensive ticket available for purchase for Sunday's contest is worth $15,432 and is located in the row directly behind the broadcast table. How much is being on television worth to you? If the answer is over 15 grand, then you have a great opportunity here.
Cheapest tickets
In an interesting contrast, the cheapest available tickets for Game 2 are pricier than Game 1. A ticket to sit in the 300-level with your back against the wall starts at $729 and rises pretty rapidly to over $800.
Game 3 of this year's Finals will be in Dallas at American Airlines Center and is scheduled for Wednesday, June 12 at 8:30 p.m. ET. It'll be the first Finals game for the Mavericks since Dirk Nowitzki's epic 2011-12 run that culminated in the organization's first and only championship. Safe to say the place will be loud and packed to the brim.
Most expensive tickets
It should not surprise you, reader, to learn that the supply and demand for Finals tickets is the same south of the Mason-Dixon Line. The most expensive ticket to purchase for the Mavs' first home game of the Finals is going for $12,650 in section 107—right at mid-court, but not courtside. The best view in the house.
Cheapest tickets
Interestingly, it is even more expensive to just get in the door for the first Dallas game. The cheapest ticket available is in section 302 and going for $770. There are only five other tickets available for fewer than $800.
Game 4 is scheduled for Friday, June 14 at 8:30 p.m. ET. If things go extremely well for one side it could be a closeout game. But with how good both teams are, it seems more likely it'll be a pivotal but not potentially season-ending contest.
Most expensive tickets
The market does not care if you agree with the above sentiments. The tickets are still going to be pricey. In fact, even more so than Game 3. Perhaps in anticipation of a Mavericks or Celtics sweep, the most expensive ticket for Game 4 is on the baseline right next to the Dallas bench, going for a cool $24,000. That is by far the most expensive seat in the arena; most of the high-end tickets are in that same $12,000 range as Game 3.
Cheapest tickets
Continuing on the above trend, Game 4 brings the highest price of admission yet. The cheapest ticket available clocks in at a cool $893 per seat in section 319 at the terrace level. Bring your binoculars.
Ticket prices for Games 5-7 are more likely to fluctuate based on what happens in the series, seeing as there is a non-zero chance those games do not even happen. So we'll keep it at four. For now. Enjoy the basketball and more power to you if you are willing and able to pull the trigger on these ticket prices.
Dallas Mavericks star Luka Dončić went viral during Friday night's Game 6 of the Western Conference first round series against the Los Angeles Clippers when his stare down of James Harden harkened a throwback to his iconic meme of staring down Phoenix Suns star Devin Booker.
The original stare down of Dončić and Booker took place in Game 7 of the 2022 Western Conference semifinals when the Mavericks were blowing out the Suns. On Friday night, with the game well in hand, Dončić had a conversation with Harden in which the meme was recreated on social media.
Luka really recreated his iconic meme last night before eliminating the Clippers 😂
NBA fans couldn't help but relish in the recreation of the iconic basketball moment on social media. Here are some of the best reactions to the clip after the Mavericks advanced to the second round and sent the Clippers home packing.
