How much more could a fan ask for? Mavericks point guard Kyrie Irving makes his return to Boston as he looks to stomp on Celtics fans and prove everyone wrong to go along with Celtics center Kristaps Porzingus playing his old team. Not to mention one of the two brightest stars in the game will cement their legacy in history and prove they can win when it matters most. Who will it be, Jayson Tatum or Luka Donic?
Both teams have looked nothing less than dominant, with the Mavs beating a stellar Timberwolves roster in only five games the Celtics sweeping the Pacers and winning all four. Either team can explain why they’d win, but I think the Mavericks may be in for a rude awakening as the Celtics are a different beast.
The Mavs’ starting lineup provides so many different offensive options, with one of the best scoring duos we’ve seen in Donic and Irving and very valuable scorers, such as power forward PJ Washington and center Daniel Gafford. Off the bench, they have key assets as well, like rookie center Dereck Lively, who will hold the fort down defensively. The Mavs’ biggest issue in this series will be defensively as they don’t have the guys to contain Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown to low-scoring nights while also worrying about one of the most versatile big men in the game in Kristaps Porzingus.
The Celtics are big-time favorites in this series having the better offense and defense. Luka and Kyrie are fantastic but to have Jrue Holiday, Derrick White, and Jaylen Brown constantly guarding you is going to run you down. Defensively, when max effort is displayed it’ll give the Mavs big problems but as we’ve seen in each series max effort defense isn’t always the case.
What scares Celtics fans like me is the glass. With Gafford, Lively, and Kleber, these are some big guys who are solid rebounders. The Celtics on the other hand are not fantastic on the glass but hope that changes with the return of Porzingus. Offensively, I don’t think the Celtics have much to worry about as they have been scoring well all year no matter who the opponent is. If they want to win the finals though, Tatum will have to be elite, especially in the fourth quarter.
Here’s my prediction for the series. After ten days of rest, the Celtics come out with a defiant offensive performance, taking control late in the game and getting the W in game one. Then, we all know game twos haven’t been kind to the Celtics, but they won’t let the fans in the TD Garden down and go to Dallas up 2-0 in dramatic fashion. An angered Dallas will have the help of their fans and steal game three is a game where they light up the Celtics offensively. Game four on the other hand is quite the opposite and the Celtics come out red-hot beating them from the beginning. Then, in a win-or-go-home game for Dallas for game five, Boston sends them packing and on a one-way flight to Cancun.
Ladies and gentlemen, your 2024 NBA champions will be the Boston Celtics, and Jayson Tatum will take home the finals MVP award.