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.
After it was reported Porzingis was dealing with a "torn medial retinaculum," the Latvian big man was ruled out for Game 3 shortly before tip-off. The Celtics leaned on Al Horford, as they had for the many games Porzingis missed earlier in the postseason, and turned to Xavier Tillman Sr. for backup duty and he delivered. Boston ultimately prevailed in Game 3, 106-99, to take a nigh-insurmountable 3-0 lead in the Finals.
The Celtics will look to finish off the sweep in Friday's Game 4 and early reporting suggests Porzingis could be healthy enough to help. On Thursday, The Athletic's Shams Charania said Porzingis "has a chance" to suit up for Game 4.
After Wednesday night's victory the Celtics are 10-1 without Porzingis this postseason. They have shown time and time again that they can win without their starting center. But Boston's Game 1 win over Dallas showed how impactful Porzingis can be when he's healthy and cooking. The Celtics won that contest by 18, the only game they've won by double-digits so far.
Wins are wins but Porzingis's presence provides a fairly large buffer for Boston. He averaged 20.1 points and 1.8 blocks per game during the regular season. That production can be compensated for by the extremely strong roster the Celtics boast but there's a trickle-down effect with Porzingis out there and healthy that makes everyone else's lives much easier.
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.
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.
