The Dallas Mavericks dominated the Timberwolves to reach the Finals. Now, they face the league's best team, Boston, in what promises to be one of the most refreshing NBA Finals matchups in recent years
While Boston is favored to win this matchup due to home court advantage and slightly more experience, some key Finals matchups appear evenly balanced. Derrick White and Jrue Holiday will need to focus on defense, putting their energy into guarding Kyrie and Luka.
Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum will face challenges driving into the lane against Dallas's length, switchability, and the depth behind Daniel Gafford, who will likely start Game 1.
The Mavericks have already navigated past the Clippers (Kawhi, PG, Harden), Thunder (Shai, JDub, Chet), and Wolves (ANT, KAT, Gobert), demonstrating their ability to outlast solid two-way players over a series.
In contrast, Boston hasn’t faced a dynamic backcourt duo like Kyrie and Luka this postseason and were ultimately outlasted by a similar duo from Golden State in their last Finals appearance.
Given how this series is shaping up, we’re looking at an end date in mid-June, bet the over 5.5 total games.
Since 2015, the champion has finished the series away from home in 7 out of 9 finals. This year will be no different, as Luka and the Mavs will lift the Larry O’Brien trophy in Boston against the favored team. This scenario is eerily reminiscent of 2011, when Jason Kidd, Dirk, and the Mavs won the trophy in Game 6 in Miami against a favored Heat team featuring LeBron, Wade, and Bosh.
As I mentioned earlier, when the conference finals are underwhelming, the finals usually live up to the hype. With this refreshing matchup between two teams that truly deserve to be here, I'd bet on Dallas to close this out in seven games, with odds no worse than +800.
Dallas’s lanky defense and switchability will prove a problem for Tatum, who won’t be able to get into the paint area at ease this series. Jason Kidd made sure none of the stars he faced this postseason would beat his team single handedly and the same should go for Tatum here. JT has averaged 26.0 PPG this postseason so far.
When White is hot, the Celtics find him beyond the arc. DWhite has averaged 3.4 3PM this postseason and 2.7 during the regular season. Only playing two games this playoffs shooting less than 7 three-pointers, Mazulla has given their two-way X-factor the green light that shouldn’t turn off in the NBA Finals.
Pick your Celtics guard, but if Boston ends up hoisting the Larry O’Brien trophy, it will be due to their guards’ defensive contributions in limiting Luka and Kyrie’s scoring, and their consistent 3-point shooting on offense. My pick would be Derrick White, who could clinch a game in the 4th quarter with his 3-point shooting. Either way, we are likely looking at an underdog MVP victory if Boston wins.