The Dallas Mavericks and Boston Celtics will be squaring off in the 2024 NBA Finals, meaning star guard Kyrie Irving will be up against one of his former teams with a championship on the line.
Irving spent two seasons with the Celtics from 2017-19, and his exit from the franchise was anything but ceremonious. After joining the rival Brooklyn Nets in ’19, the relationship soured further over the next few seasons, including one infamous moment in which Irving could be seen “flipping the bird” at a fan in the TD Garden crowd after a Game 1 loss back in the 2022 playoffs.
“…when we played in the playoffs and everyone saw me flip off the birds and kind of lose my s— a little bit–that wasn’t a great reflection of who I am and how I like to compete on a high level,” said Irving, via ESPN. “It wasn’t a great reflection on my end towards the next generation on what it means to control your emotions in that type of environment, no matter what people are yelling at you.”
Since pairing up with Luka Doncic in Dallas, Irving has earned nothing but rave reviews from teammates, who often look to him as the team leader. His leadership culminated in the franchise’s first NBA Finals appearance since 2011, and it’s a trait he feels he truly honed in on while with the Celtics, who were a young and upcoming team during his tenure.
“…the greatest thing I learned from Boston was just being able to manage not only my emotions or just what’s going on on a day-to-day basis of being a leader of a team or being one of the leaders, and having young guys around you that have their own goals, but you have to learn how to put the big picture first,” he said.
Four wins separate Irving from the second ring of his career, and although his past with the Celtics figures to be a prominent storyline in this NBA Finals matchup, he’ll look to demonstrate the growth he’s made as a leader and help guide Dallas to a championship.
Dallas Mavericks superstar Luka Doncic has been downgraded from probable to questionable (Thoracic Contusion; Right Knee Sprain; Left Ankle Soreness) for Game 2 of the NBA Finals against the Boston Celtics on Sunday night.
Doncic, who played in Game 1 and scored 30 points, has been dealing with ankle and knee injuries since Game 3 of the first round against the Los Angeles Clippers.
Luka Doncic is now listed as questionable for Game 2. He has a thoracic contusion in addition to the right knee sprain and left ankle soreness he has been playing through.
Despite the injuries, Doncic has been effective for most of the playoffs, dominating in the Western Conference Finals against the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Even with Doncic listed as questionable, oddsmakers have not moved the odds in Boston's favor for Game 2.
This injury designation could just be gamesmanship by the Mavs, but it's certainly a little concerning to see Doncic downgraded before the biggest game of the season to date.
Dallas has been solid in the playoffs and this season as a road underdog, going 14-12 against the spread overall. If Doncic ends up getting ruled out, this spread would skyrocket in favor of Boston, but for now it appears he will at least try to give it a go based on these odds.
Odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.
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Returning to the Boston lineup for the first time in more than five weeks, Porzingis was outstanding, finishing Game 1 with 20 points (on 8 for 13 shooting), six rebounds and three blocks. Coming off the bench for the first time this season, Porzingis made an immediate impact, racking up 11 points in the first seven minutes, helping the Celtics build a 37–20 lead.
“Even if I have time off, I can jump right back in and I feel the same way,” Porzingis said. “I get to my spots, so whether it’s playoffs, regular season or whatever, I know how to do this. That’s it, just having that confidence, going out there whatever, first round or Finals, just going out there with full confidence and giving what I have to the team.”
As solid as Boston was during the conference playoffs—and the Celtics lost just one game after Porzingis went out in the first round with a calf injury—Porzingis’s return clearly makes Boston measurably better. Porzingis torched the Mavericks offensively, exploiting switches and forcing Dallas’s bigs to chase him beyond the three-point line. Defensively, Porzingis was a menace; the shots he didn’t block he contested and on screens he all but dared the Mavs wing players to take the ball to the rim.
“He was great for them,” Mavericks star guard Luka Doncic said. “He was knocking down shots. He was blocking shots. So he was really, really huge for them on both ends of the floor.”
As thrilled as the Celtics were to get Porzingis back, the 7’2” big man was happier to be there. He received a loud ovation when he came out to warm up hours before the game. And the crowd exploded when Porzingis popped up on the JumboTron making the walk down the back hallway and onto the floor.
“Getting that kind of support was unreal,” Porzingis said. “The adrenaline was pumping through my veins and that definitely helped. Obviously, it wasn’t ideal that I was out for such a long time, but I did everything I could to prepare mentally for this moment coming back. And it paid off and we got the job done tonight and had a good game and [I’m] happy about the result.”
Entering this series, the Celtics believed they were uniquely equipped to defend Doncic. They had two All-Defensive Team members (Jrue Holiday and Derrick White) and Jaylen Brown, who probably deserved to be on one. Doncic got his points (30 on 12 for 26 shooting) but finished the game with one assist, his lowest total of the season. The lobs that powered Dallas’s offense in the conference finals? Gone. The corner threes? Taken away. The Mavericks’ nine assists were their lowest total of the season.
“They did a great job defending, making it tough on us,” Dallas head coach Jason Kidd said. “We had some good looks that didn’t go down. We’ve got to move the ball. The ball just stuck too much.”
Said Boston head coach Joe Mazzulla, “I thought our defensive mindset, our defensive execution, our defensive game plan, our positioning, we had the right intentions and I thought we played really physical, for the most part, defending without fouling.”
Doncic finished with 30 points but had only one assist, his lowest total of the season. / David Butler II-USA TODAY Sports
Credit Brown, who glued himself to Doncic for most of his 37 minutes. Brown has the size and strength to stay in front of Doncic and the discipline not to bite on any of his pump-fakes. By not sending double teams, Boston shut down the rest of the Dallas offense; when Kidd waved the white flag in the fourth quarter, only two other Mavericks (Kyrie Irving and P.J. Washington) had scored in double figures and neither had more than 14 points.
“What you saw tonight is kind of the challenge he took for himself coming into the year,” Mazzulla said. “Not wanting to be defined by one thing. Wanting to make plays. Wanting to be a well-rounded player and get better and better. So his spacing, his ball movement, his defense on ball and off ball.”
The much-talked-about hostility from the TD Garden crowd toward Irving never materialized; it’s tough to get too fired up when your team spent most of the game leading by double digits. Irving’s return to Boston was a dismal one: 12 points (on 6 for 19 shooting), two assists and three turnovers. While Irving had to contend with Holiday most of the night, the ex–All-Star missed a lot of open looks, including several beyond the three-point line and three in the third quarter, when Dallas briefly cut the lead to single digits.
“They really rely on their great defensive ball pressure and one-on-one defenders,” Irving said. “They funnel us into certain areas. Even as I say that, that they are relying on the one-on-one, every time I got an iso, there’s almost two, three people waiting for me to get in there. I have to catch the ball on a live dribble and just be aware of my opportunities.”
The Celtics have been burying opponents in three-pointers all season, finishing first in the league in attempts (42.5 per game) and second in percentage (38.8%). In Game 1, the Celtics were 7 for 15 from three-point range in the first quarter, helping build the double-digit lead they wouldn’t surrender.
Hauser had a rough conference finals, connecting on 12.5% of his shots and making just one three in a four-game sweep of the Indiana Pacers. He shook that off in Game 1, collecting eight points and making both of his three-point attempts. When Dallas went Hauser-hunting in the first half, he responded, locking up Doncic on two possessions and forcing Irving into a missed three.
Hauser shook off a rough conference finals to post a solid outing in Game 1 of the Finals. / David Butler II-USA TODAY Sports
NBA commissioner Adam Silver didn’t provide one at his annual pre-Finals news conference. Silver declined to comment on reports the NBA had agreed to the framework of deals with ESPN, NBC and Amazon while passing on a specific question about whether or not Warner Bros. Discovery—the parent company for longtime NBA broadcast partner Turner—had the right to match any deal.
“It’s complicated for several reasons,” Silver said. “One is the advent of new platforms, particularly streaming, and the interest of streaming companies, and then the traditional media companies also carrying our games on streaming platforms. It’s complicated with multiple partners all seeking similar assets. In many cases, just figuring out the right way to balance those games as they go to different partners.
“We tend to do long-term deals. We think that’s good for the stability of the league, but it means, to a certain extent, you’re trying to predict the future, which is, of course, impossible. So part of it is a bet on the partners that we will ultimately align with and their ability also to adjust with the times and their willingness to continue to invest in media and also become global, which is very important to the league as well.”
The Boston Celtics had a little scare in Game 3 of the NBA Finals. After a Derrick White three-pointer put Boston up 91-70 with 11:07 remaining in the fourth quarter the Dallas Mavericks went on a 22-2 run to make it a one-point game with 3:37 left in regulation. It must have felt like watching a train crash in slow motion for everyone in Boston, but according to White, there's one person might have enjoyed it: head coach Joe Mazzulla.
White, who had 16 points, five rebounds, four assists and two blocked shots, talked to the press after the game and was asked about how Mazzulla acted down the stretch as the lead disappeared. As Mazzulla said before the game, “The closer you think you are to beating someone, the closer you are to getting your ass kicked." White confirmed that Mazzulla probably enjoyed it because it would allow him to keep telling the team that they have to stay focused.
"He's a sicko, so probably." 😅 🤣
Derrick White on whether or not Joe Mazzulla enjoyed the chance to rally back after a blown lead pic.twitter.com/7yBEcRdvDT
— Celtics on NBC Sports Boston (@NBCSCeltics) June 13, 2024
"Yeah, Joe is consistent the whole time," said White. " And I mean, he's probably so happy that it happened like that so he can just continue to tell us that. He just stays consistent. He just makes the right calls and we trust him completely. Yeah. Seemed pretty true today."
Asked a followup about whether Mazzulla was really enjoying it White said, "He's a sicko, so probably."
The ultimate compliment for any coach. With a 3-0 lead in the Finals, Mazzulla currently has a 121-43 record in the regular season and won 26 of the first 37 postseason games he's coached. Whatever he's saying or doing, it seems to be working. No matter how sick in the head he may seem.
