The NBA Finals are finally here.
I correctly predicted the Eastern Conference team, the Boston Celtics, which had not played in nine days.
I predicted the Denver Nuggets would represent the Western Conference; instead, the Dallas Mavericks have not played in six days.
No matter the teams. Everyone is ready for basketball.
The Boston Celtics are making their 23rd NBA Finals appearance, and 17 titles have been won. The Dallas Mavericks are making their third Finals appearance with one title won.
The Mavericks this season are a different team from the team that started the season. Because they made key transitions before the trade deadline, they are a team that can shoot well and play a physical style of defense.
The Mavericks’ head coach, Jason Kidd, played for the Mavericks the last time they were in the NBA Finals, 13 years ago.
“This group believes in each other. The connection since the trade has been incredible,” Kidd said. “We are playing at a high level. The connection offensively and defensively but off the floor also this is a special group.”
The Celtics had the most efficient offense and the second-best defense in the league. They are a more experienced team than Dallas, and their players have all made deep playoff runs.
“This is not the end of the journey; the journey is for however long you are alive. This is one piece to that,” Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla said. “Regardless of what happens you have to wake up and do your job. The journey will forever be there. You do everything in your control to prepare for it.”
Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown have high salaries and are stars for the Celtics, but the heartbeat of Boston is Jrue Holiday and Derrick White. They take the team’s temperature, and when areas on both ends of the court need help, they go out and fill that void.
“We only hang NBA championship banners, 17 of them some of the greatest players to play this game wore this uniform. All of us are honored to follow in their footsteps,” Tatum said. “The way that they paved for us to live out our dreams. If you want to be one of the greats to put on this uniform, every great before you won a championship. The expectations are different here, it takes a special player to be part of an environment like that.”
Entering game one, it will have been 38 days since Kristaps Porzingis last played a game. He suffered a left calf strain April 29th in game four of the first-round series against the Miami Heat. He will be valuable in the Celtics’ winning the series quickly.
“You learn and grow from your experience from being a 25-year-old to a 27-year-old is a big difference,” Brown said. “Different team, different coach two years later makes a difference.”
The Celtics have four players in their starting lineup who can guard Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving. Because of their long length, Luka and Kyrie will have issues guarding players on the Celtics.
Boston won the season series 2-0. Though they played against each other after the trade deadline, the team’s players were coming together. Now, they are confident and know each other well.
Doncic outscored the Minnesota Timberwolves himself in the first quarter of game five of the Western Conference finals.
“We are going to the NBA Finals, I cant believe it,” Doncic said. “My mind was set the tone, I knew they were going to double and just play basketball.”
The acquisitions of P.J. Washington and Daniel Gafford in early February helped build the confidence of a rookie Dereck Lively. The Mavericks added a defensive identity with size that complimented Irving and Doncic’s backcourt scoring. The team fully accepted defensive assignments, which improved going into the playoffs.
“Enjoy the moment; realize how hard you work to get there. Nothing is guaranteed in this league especially making it to the Finals,” Irving said. “We could not have done it without a collective responsibility us working together everyday, practicing hard doing the little things.”
Gafford and Lively will be X factor, bringing physicality, rebounding, and size defenders, including Derrick Jones Jr. They are not just a team that will shoot threes.
“We are great team, it is not just about me and Luka we said that in the begging of the season,” Irving said. “Without the support, without our ladies supporting us, thank you to everyone supporting us every night.”
The coaching edge goes to Jason Kidd since he played in the Finals as a player.
“This group believes in each other. The connection since the trade has been incredible,” Kidd said. “We are playing at a high level. The connection offensively and defensively but off the floor also this is a special group.”
Doncic and Irving are argued to be the best backcourt duo; however, they are going against four Boston players who can defend them. Boston is on the way to their goal of winning the NBA title.
The Mavericks will have a tough task in this NBA Finals. The Celtics will win their 18th NBA crown in a seven-game series.
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