2024 cbhsports NBA Finals Preview

Image Courtesy: Celtics Blog

2024 NBA Finals
1.Boston Celtics (64-18)
5.Dallas Mavericks (50-32)

Schedule
*If necessary*
Game 1: June 6, 8:30 PM ET, ABC (Boston; TD Garden)
Game 2: June 9, 8 PM ET, ABC (Boston; TD Garden)
Game 3: June 12, 8:30 PM ET, ABC (Dallas; American Airlines Center)
Game 4: June 14, 8:30 PM ET, ABC (Dallas; American Airlines Center)
*Game 5*: June 17, 8:30 PM ET, ABC (Boston; TD Garden)
*Game 6*: June 20, 8:30 PM ET, ABC (Dallas; American Airlines Center)
*Game 7*: June 23, 8 PM ET, ABC (Boston; TD Garden)

The Eastern Conference champion Boston Celtics and the Western Conference champion Dallas Mavericks meet in the 2024 NBA Finals, beginning tomorrow night at TD Garden in Boston. The Celtics handled the eastern conference playoffs relatively easily, defeating the Miami Heat in the quarterfinals, the Cleveland Cavaliers in the semifinals, and the Indiana Pacers in the Eastern Conference Finals. A common denominator can be found in all three of the teams that Boston beat; injuries to their star player. Miami’s Jimmy Butler, Cleveland’s Donavan Mitchell, and Indiana’s Tyrese Haliburton all were out injured during some or all of the Celtics’ series wins during the 2024 NBA playoffs up to this point. But, to all of the people on social media saying Boston only won because of their opponents’ injured stars, it was not because of a lack of a great performance by the Celtics. Led by Eastern Conference Finals MVP (guard/forward) Jaylen Brown (25 points and 6.1 rebounds per game during the playoffs), forward Jayson Tatum (26 points, 10.4 rebounds, and 5.9 assists), guard Derrick White (17.8 points and 4.6 assists), and guard Jrue Holiday (12.7 points, 5.6 rebounds, 4.6 assists, and 1.3 steals) Boston advanced to play Dallas in the Finals. In addition, star Boston forward Kristaps Porzingis is expected to return to the court for game 1 the Finals from a “strained soleus” injury. Porzingis, a former Dallas Maverick, play his first game since game four of their first round series against the Miami Heat on April 29th. For Dallas, the mid-season additions at the trade deadline of former Charlotte Hornets forward PJ Washington (13.6 points and 6.7 rebounds) former Washington Wizards forward/center Daniel Gafford (9.2 points, 6 rebounds, and 2 blocks) helped support guards (and Western Conference Finals MVP) Luka Doncic (28.8 points, 9.6 points, and 8.8 rebounds) and Kyrie Irving (22.8 points and 5.2 assistants) on their run through the western conference playoffs for their first Finals appearance since 2011, where they upset the “Big 3” Miami Heat led by LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh. The Mavericks defeated the Los Angeles Clippers to open the playoffs in the quarterfinals before taking down the top seeded Oklahoma City Thunder in the semifinal, and finally eliminating the Minnesota Timberwolves in the Western Conference Finals. The guard match up between Luke Doncic and Kyrie Irving and Derrick White and Jrue Holiday should be fantastic. Dallas will need to find match ups defensively for Boston’s pairing of Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum without a true shutdown wing defender on their roster. The hot scoring duo Doncic and Irving in the Dallas backcourt will be challenged when they face two All-NBA defenders in Holiday and White for Boston. The coaching battle of Boston’s Joe Mazzula and Dallas’ Jason Kidd will be one of the best in recent in memory. The strategy on each coach’s clip board will be important in determining the winner of a series that should be close. With each team having a prominent player on their roster that played for the other team previously (Dallas’ Kyrie Irving and Boston’s Kristaps Porzingis), this should be an intense series that goes at least six or seven games.

Prediction: Dallas Mavericks in 7

I hope everyone enjoys the 2024 NBA Finals :).