How do the Celtics fare in the NBA Finals Vs. the Mavericks?

Here is a quick little poll to see how the board feels about the NBA Finals.

There will be no vote cancelling, go ahead and give it your best and final shot!

If I knew Zinger was back and healthy, I'd had gone with Win in 4, but without him, we win in 6.

Do you really think Zinger won’t be in there??? This will be a huge disappointment if he is not. I went with 6, much as i dislike Kyrie, there is no way he is losing in 4 straight. They are going to have their work cut out for them

I went Celtics in 5, that's what I picked the last 3 series so why change now ?

I actually think our primary strength is our perimeter defenders. I think Jrue, D White and JB match up favorably with Luka and Kyrie, and can contain them. I also think we can switch anything 1-4. The only switch that is difficult is when they pnr the 5. However, I think the primary defender can fight through the screen and Al or the Zinger can stay with their man. I also think they will have a difficult containing our offense. Luka and Kyrie are below average defenders and we will target then and make them work on defense. I am basing my prediction that Zinger will be healthy and ready to go.

Go Celtics!!!

Hi,
I don't think Zinger will be in the first 2 games.

AK

Celtics17 wrote:I went Celtics in 5, that's what I picked the last 3 series so why change now ?

I actually think our primary strength is our perimeter defenders. I think Jrue, D White and JB match up favorably with Luka and Kyrie, and can contain them. I also think we can switch anything 1-4. The only switch that is difficult is when they pnr the 5. However, I think the primary defender can fight through the screen and Al or the Zinger can stay with their man. I also think they will have a difficult containing our offense. Luka and Kyrie are below average defenders and we will target then and make them work on defense. I am basing my prediction that Zinger will be healthy and ready to go.

Go Celtics!!!

+1

Besides Tatum and Brown, all our starters can attack Luka and Kyrie. I see DWhite and Jrue going downhill on them too. Midrange we can feast on them.

Celtics in 7.

This one is going to be a battle. Tatum and Brown vs Doncic and Irving in particular.

Porzingis sounds like he's still not ready. If and when he is able to play, I'm concerned about his mobility on defense.

Porzingis and/or Horford are going to have a real task with the young tandem of Dallas bigs; Gafford and Lively.

The series could come down to depth and whose bench can step up with the most productive minutes on both ends of the floor.

If White and Holiday can continue the strong display of defense, I think that could be enough to put the Celtics over the top.

That 18th banner is going to be hard fought for and well earned.

Give me a high Five.

Our key numbers are better than theirs.  LD/KI averaged 51.6 PPG during their 17 game participation.  JT/JB averaged 51 PPG in 14 games.  If you want to call that a wash go right ahead.

I'm taking our other top  4 guys in White, Holiday, Horford and Porzingas over theirs.

I'm taking our homecourt advantage and our undefeated road games over them.

I'm taking our +300 games of combined experience over them.

Yes this will be a fun series and I can barely wait for it to begin.

OK.  So the bad news is, no one jumped ship and got on the original DB BOS 4-0 over IND Bandwagon.  The driver was not offended and completely understood the skepticism.  But what they've done is, they have checked the tires, the engine, the transmission, the electrical, the A/C...everything and have completed a thorough examination and are making this special 1-time offer...DB BOS 4-0 over DAL!! And this is with or without KP.  It doesn't matter at this point.  KP can only help.  But he won't hinder. 

Here's why.

1.  DAL simply cannot play any better.  We saw this same dance with IND.  That resulted in a sweep.  DAL is the MIA of last year just in a different suit.  They beat teams they shouldn't have beaten, doors opened, they entered.

2.  Clearly MIN was not the best of the West with their "#1" defense.  BOS is a whole other kind of animal for defense with all our two-ways.  Time to wear the glamour boys out 1-on-1.    

3.  BOS could play worse, but we can certainly play much better.  We have yet to be fully operational.  How convenient!!  Just in time for the FINALS!!

4.  In addition to the irrefutable Law of Averages which DAL will have to answer to, I'll throw in the corollary of Newton's 3rd Law of Motion for free. 

5.  Bench Play - All eyes will be on PP and Doogie.  Doogie certainly can play no worse.  Expect the full application of Laws of Averages and Motion.  

6.  Team vs. Individual Stars - TEAM wins EVERY SINGLE TIME.  17 Banners to prove it beyond a shadow of a doubt.  Talk about beating a dead horse.  

7.  With the West falling apart like a cheap suit and squashing any notion of it being the better, more difficult conference, DAL is a 5th seed for a reason or two.  Supporting cast to Kryrie and Luka will wilt on the Finals stage.  Clearly, Lively can't shoot any better.  All down hill from there.    

8.  Jrue was brought here for this duo's public execution.  Jrue's role has changed here in the playoffs versus what it was at the start of the season.  Originally we got Jrue for dismantling Damian Lillard in the ECF.  Dame no-showed there.  Gone.  Then MIA didn't show up with Butler.  Gone.  Then Jrue role came to snuffing out Donovan Mitchell which he did before DM bowed out.  Gone.  Then it was changed to Tyrese and neutralizing him.  And while defending him he did his job and then Tyrese bowed out.  Gone.  Now Jrue has a two-headed monster.  Jrue probably can't sleep in anticipation of blowing this tag-team duo push those bricklayers through the Great Wall of China?  See a pattern?  Everyone that faces Jrue injures THEMSELVES!!  OK.  I can't prove that but it does sound plausible.  

9.  Superior Defense.  Enough said.  Not even close.  Defense wins championships.  Great offense does not lead to great defense.  MIN just proved that.  Nice try, though.  Gotta give them credit for trying.  But no.  There's no D in Dallas.  Especially Kryrie and Luka.  

10.  JT and JB just aren't going to blow this opportunity.  Too much water under the bridge, stage is way too big, having to answer all the bs and address the fallout if it doesn't work.  Just win it.  No further questions.  

Now, as for the 2.0 Version of the Bandwagon, there are plenty of empty seats available at no cost!!  Jump on board!  All are welcome!!!  Come get yours!!!  We won't be losing any games at home nor on the road.  BOS in 4.  

db

db

I will not be jumping on the bandwagon to sit on one of the open seats marked SWEEP.  But I will be on the bandwagon in a very comfortable seat.

Of course it could   happen.   For historical considerations there have only been 8 final sweeps in the history of the NBA.  The Celtics did it once, a long time ago in 1959 against the ha, ha Minneapolis Lakers.

The Celtics are an excellent team with balance at both ends of the court.  They managed to go 9-1 without their 20 PPP, 7 rebounds 1.9 block shots center.  

CJ indicates that KP is coming along but his on-court activity has not elevated beyond some one on one activity work.  He promises to be ready so I have to believe that the calf strain has healed.  

We need center depth but have managed to win without it.    

Over the next 6 days we will be looking for updates on the KP situation.  The Celtics can win  without him and have proven that during the regular season and in this playoffs.

No one has to jump and change their vote.  Just acknowledge that I'm right!!         

Just having some fun!   

db

It’s pretty amazing we went 9-1 without Zinger in the competitive fire of the playoffs. I understand the other teams had some injuries, but so did we. Kudos to Al for some big games and doing enough things on defense and intangibles for us to still go 9-1. The Pacer series was really good for us, in tight games down to the wire that we didn’t know what we had from the regular season, we played hard with amazing resolve and composure. I understand it may take him some time to get in rhythm, but if he can just give us close to his averages in the playoffs before he went down, that will be plenty with the way the J’s are rolling. If we get regular season numbers from Zinger we will be unbeatable this series.

There still isn’t enough credit being given to us or Jaylen Brown for the last 10 seconds of game 1. Down 3 with them having the ball with 10 seconds left, on Birds great steal, we were only down 1 I believe. So Jaylen’s pressure causes the ball off of Siakim, then hits the 3 off a great double screen and call by Joe. Jaylen should be getting more credit for 2 dynamic clutch plays both ends. Both ends should be the theme for these Finals, our superstars do it and the supporting cast does it too. Wolves had the worst execution both ends and especially at crunch time. How did the coaching staff let KAT bomb away from 3 and not attack or hunt down obvious mismatches with Luka? Our staff and players will not be so lame. Luka will have to cover one of DWhite, Jrue, Tatum or Brown. He can’t keep up with any of them and whoever he ends up with, like we can switch on defense, we can hunt mismatches on offense. Exposing Luka on defense and wearing him out with multiple guys attacking him over and over will be the key to the series. And PJ defensively on Tatum and whoever is on Jaylen are great match ups for us too. After the purpose and cutch poise he has shown in these playoffs so far, I’m expecting big things from Jaylen. Tatum has also continued his growth with improved defense and rebounding, perfect time for the law of averages to even up on his 3 point shooting. We can expose this Mavs defense like a way the Wolves couldn’t dream of, they were so clueless compared to how we are going to attack them offensively. You can hide Luka and give him a breather on Gobert or McDaniel, he won’t have any room to hide on defense vs us.

Agreed cowens/oldschool.  You can have all the offense in the world but Luka and Kryrie are going to look like G1 WCF Ant-Man for all 4 games.  You can't shoot if you have no legs or can't get the oxygen in your lungs fast enough.  Pull the permits.  There'll be some shopping malls going up soon!!  

It's all going to come back to defense and you can only put so much lipstick on that DAL pig before you realize that their defense is still a pig.  We've seen this movie before.  Ask KD (BKN).  Luka and Kryrie won't be able to see straight.  Celtics should make Luka so ineffective that Redemption Tour Kryrie is forced to take over and be the "leader".  We all know how THAT turns out!!  Gimme a slice of that!!  

The mismatches KP brings adds another layer DAL won't have an answer for. 

Does KP come off the bench just in G1 just to warm up?  Changing lineups will confound DAL I would think.  The whole momentum argument goes out the window with the 10-day lapse o' time.  Then you got the whole 9-1 deal sans KP.  What's Coach going to do here?  Anyone?  

db

cowens/oldschool wrote:It’s pretty amazing we went 9-1 without Zinger in the competitive fire of the playoffs. I understand the other teams had some injuries, but so did we. Kudos to Al for some big games and doing enough things on defense and intangibles for us to still go 9-1. The Pacer series was really good for us, in tight games down to the wire that we didn’t know what we had from the regular season, we played hard with amazing resolve and composure. I understand it may take him some time to get in rhythm, but if he can just give us close to his averages in the playoffs before he went down, that will be plenty with the way the J’s are rolling. If we get regular season numbers from Zinger we will be unbeatable this series.

There still isn’t enough credit being given to us or Jaylen Brown for the last 10 seconds of game 1. Down 3 with them having the ball with 10 seconds left, on Birds great steal, we were only down 1 I believe. So Jaylen’s pressure causes the ball off of Siakim, then hits the 3 off a great double screen and call by Joe. Jaylen should be getting more credit for 2 dynamic clutch plays both ends. Both ends should be the theme for these Finals, our superstars do it and the supporting cast does it too. Wolves had the worst execution both ends and especially at crunch time. How did the coaching staff let KAT bomb away from 3 and not attack or hunt down obvious mismatches with Luka? Our staff and players will not be so lame. Luka will have to cover one of DWhite, Jrue, Tatum or Brown. He can’t keep up with any of them and whoever he ends up with, like we can switch on defense, we can hunt mismatches on offense. Exposing Luka on defense and wearing him out with multiple guys attacking him over and over will be the key to the series. And PJ defensively on Tatum and whoever is on Jaylen are great match ups for us too. After the purpose and cutch poise he has shown in these playoffs so far, I’m expecting big things from Jaylen. Tatum has also continued his growth with improved defense and rebounding, perfect time for the law of averages to even up on his 3 point shooting. We can expose this Mavs defense like a way the Wolves couldn’t dream of, they were so clueless compared to how we are going to attack them offensively. You can hide Luka and give him a breather on Gobert or McDaniel, he won’t have any room to hide on defense vs us.

Cowens,

+1

Totally agree we are going to make both Luka and Kyrie work on defense. They won't be able to hide or rest. This is key. Defensively, both of them will see JB, Jrue, D White and JT. I really believe we will wear them out.