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.
— Bally Sports Cleveland (@BallySportsCLE) May 5, 2024
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.
At 25 years old, Luka Doncic is set to play in his first NBA Finals, looking to secure the first championship ring of his career.
The Dallas Mavericks have won just one NBA title in the franchise's history, and coach Jason Kidd, who was on that championship-winning team, spoke briefly about Doncic's legacy and where he ranks in franchise history.
When Richard Jefferson and Malika Andrews of ESPN asked whether defeating the Boston Celtics in this year's NBA Finals could vault him ahead of Dirk Nowitzki and give him a rightful claim as the greatest player in Dallas history, Kidd didn't deny the possibility.
"Yes. Yes," Kidd said.
Jason Kidd says Luka would become "the greatest Maverick ever" with a championship. 🏆 pic.twitter.com/cMOyD8Iaij
Nowitzki was named Finals MVP for his efforts in the Mavs' 2011 championship run. During the playoffs that year, he averaged 27.7 points and 8.1 rebounds while shooting at a stunning 46% clip from three-point territory. Doncic has averaged 28.8 points, 9.6 rebounds and is hitting 3.4 threes per game while shooting 34.3%.
Nowitzki, who was elected into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2023, spent his entire 21-year career in Dallas, making 14 All-Star teams and earning All-NBA honors 12 times. Despite all his success and accolades, Kidd didn't rule out the possibility of Doncic surpassing Nowitzki as the all-time greatest player in franchise history should he earn a ring this early into his career.
BOSTON—Kristaps Porzingis didn’t want to talk about it.
“It didn’t work out,” Porzingis said.
Luka Doncic wanted nothing to do with it.
“Moved on,” Doncic said.
Tim Hardaway Jr. didn’t want to touch it.
“I think that’s a question for them,” Hardaway said.
It is the question of why Doncic and Porzingis, teammates for 2½ seasons with the Dallas Mavericks, didn’t pan out. In 2019, Dallas, midway through Doncic’s rookie season, made what qualified as a blockbuster trade, flipping a pair of first-round picks to the New York Knicks for a package headlined by Porzingis. In Porzingis, a then-23-year-old forward coming off an All-Star season, the Mavericks believed they had landed an ideal co-star for Doncic who would form the foundation for a title contender. Then-Dallas coach Rick Carlisle likened Doncic and Porzingis to another pair of Mavs stars, Steve Nash and Dirk Nowitzki.
“Only these guys,” Carlisle said, “are taller.”
It wasn’t. By 2022, Porzingis was gone, offloaded for Spencer Dinwiddie and Davis Bertans. Porzingis’s numbers in his final 34 games in Dallas: 19.2 points on 45.1% shooting, including 28.3% from three.
“We had some good moments,” Porzingis said. “We had some decent moments. Overall I think it didn't work for both sides. It wasn’t perfect.”
Said Doncic, “I don’t really know. I don’t know why it didn’t work out. We were still both young. We tried to make it work. But it just didn’t work.”
Ask around the Mavericks about the Porzingis era, one that began with Carlisle as head coach and ended with Jason Kidd, and you hear many of the same things. The relationship with Doncic wasn’t a significant issue. “It’s always been good,” Porzingis insisted. Injuries were certainly a factor. Porzingis was traded while recovering from an ACL tear and tore his meniscus late in his first full season. Porzingis resisted Dallas’s analytics-based approach. He struggled in a catch-and-shoot role under Carlisle and couldn’t find a rhythm under Kidd.
“I thought it was going well in the sense of our defense, his ability to block shots, rebound,” Kidd said. “Then offensively we looked to post him up a little bit more than Rick had used him, which was strictly on the perimeter shooting threes. Both worked. He has the skill set to do both. I thought KP did great for us. But the business of basketball, there was a pivot. So from there things changed.”
With the Boston Celtics, Porzingis has been the kind of fit the Mavericks had hoped for. He averaged 20.1 points. He shot a career-best 51.5% from the floor. He connected on 37.5% of his threes. He blocked nearly two shots per game, backstopping the NBA’s third-rated defense.
Asked when he knew Porzingis would be a good fit, Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla said, “right away.”
“I think all he cares about is winning,” Mazzulla said. “He’s used the experiences he’s had around the league. He’s seen a lot. He’s seen it all. He’s seen success. He’s seen tough times. He knows what the league is all about. I think at this point in his career, winning is the most important thing.”
Indeed, at 28, Porzingis has seen a lot. He was the unicorn in New York, a budding superstar … until he wasn’t. Dallas was a disaster. He put up numbers with the Washington Wizards for a team going nowhere. Boston afforded him a unique opportunity: a role he was ready for on a team that needed him to win.
“KP essentially did exactly what we needed him to do the entire season,” Jayson Tatum said. “Whether it was punish switches or space the five man and be in the corner. Sometimes that might be going possessions without touching the ball or it may be when they’re switching, we give him the ball five times in a row. I give KP a lot of credit. Especially somebody as talented as he is and obviously as tall as he is, a lot of big guys may be stuck in their ways doing what makes him comfortable. He got outside his comfort zone a little bit and it made us a better team.”
Porzingis’s ability to be that player in the NBA Finals is an open question. He has not played since late April, since a calf strain sidelined him. He says he will play in Game 1 on Thursday. Boston did not list him on its injury report. But even Porzingis admits he’s not sure how sharp he is going to be.
“I did as much as I could to prepare for this moment,” Porzingis said. “But there’s nothing like game minutes and game experience that I’m going to get tomorrow. It will be tough to jump into the Finals like this. I did everything I could to prepare for it and we’ll see [Thursday] night.”
And Dallas? Porzingis is eager to beat the Mavs. But he insists none of it is personal.
“I know at that time there were some rumors there’s like something in the locker room,” Porzingis said. “It was never like that. It’s all just noise at the end. It wasn’t just perfect for us playing together. It didn’t work out, that’s it. We moved on. There’s no, like, ill will from their side, for sure from my side. I don’t think there should be. Just didn’t work out. But I have nothing but love for Dallas and for the teammates and for everybody there.”
At long last, the NBA Finals are just a day away, and I’m ready to lock in three plays for Game 1 – all of which end up being on the Boston side.
Earlier this week, I made my official prediction for this series (Boston Celtics in 6), and like many NBA fans, I’m ready for this series between Boston and the Dallas Mavericks to start.
This season, I’ve bet on the NBA every day that there have been games, and while we’re not positive on the year at the moment, a Celtics preseason future could get us there – depending upon how these Finals go.
We’re starting strong in Game 1 with three plays – two props and one side – with Boston entering the game as a 6.5-point favorite.
Eastern Conference Finals MVP Jaylen Brown has been terrific in the playoffs, averaging 25.0 points per game while shooting 54.3 percent from the field and 36.8 percent from 3-point range.
Brown has been much more efficient than Jayson Tatum, and he finds himself with a points prop that is four points lower than his co-star in Game 1.
I love the OVER here for Brown, who has cleared 22.5 points in nine of his 14 playoff games, including all four of his matchups in the Eastern Conference Finals.
While the return of Kristaps Porzingis could eat into Brown’s usage, I don’t expect KP to return to his normal role in his first game back from a calf injury. Brown has played a ton of minutes, clearing 40 in three of his last five games, and he’s taken at least 17 shots in 11 of 14 games this postseason.
JB has some serious value at this number ahead of Game 1.
Jrue Holiday OVER 22.5 Points, Rebounds and Assists (-122) – 0.5 unit
Jrue Holiday may not win an ECF MVP or Finals MVP, but he has been a massive difference maker in his first season in Boston.
Holiday’s defensive prowess makes him a staple in Joe Mazzulla’s rotation, and dating back to the second round he’s really stuffed the stat sheet overall.
Holiday is averaging 17.3 points, 6.7 rebounds and 5.3 assists per game over his last seven games, clearing 22.5 PRA in six of those contests.
I imagine Holiday will draw the assignment on either Luka Doncic or Kyrie Irving, and he should play heavy minutes in Game 1. Betting on Boston props is a little volatile since we don’t know Porzingis’ usage, but this number has dropped significantly for Holiday compared to the 25.5 and 26.5’s that we saw in the Eastern Conference Finals.
The only NBA champion on the Boston roster should continue his strong play in Game 1.
Boston Celtics -6.5 (-110) vs. Dallas Mavericks – 0.5 unit
I think that bodes well for a Boston team that covered in two of its three Game 1s so far this postseason and was 37-4 straight up at home in the regular season. The C’s also posted a 26-21-2 against the spread record as home favorites this season, winning those games by an average margin of victory of 14.4 points.
I have a lot of respect for the run Dallas made, but Jason Kidd’s team has struggled in Game 1s since he took over, going 1-5 straight up and losing four of those five games by seven or more points.
Boston – the best team in the NBA all season long – has been disrespected in my eyes entering this series. It went 12-2 on its run to the Finals and easily posted the best net rating of any team in the playoffs.
I’ll lay the points with the C’s in Game 1.
Odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.
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