On June 17, 2024, exactly 16 years since the Boston Celtics won their last championship, the Dallas Mavericks entered the TD Garden, trailing Boston 3 games to 1, with one chance to extend the series against the Celtics. All the Mavs had to do was win. Win, and they’d go home to the American Airlines Arena for a Game 6 and another opportunity to capture the franchise’s second championship. Unfortunately, by halftime of Game 5, everybody who was watching the game, knew it was over by halftime.
The Celtics’ backup point guard, Payton Pritchard, entered the game in the final seconds of the second quarter to do what he does best; hit a half-court buzzer-beater. If you remember, in Game 2, the 6-foot-1 guard launched a half-court 3-pointer at the end of the third quarter. In this game, his heave from half-court beat the buzzer to give his team a 21-point lead going into the half, and from there, it was just a matter of 24 minutes until Boston lifted the Larry O’Brien Trophy and dropped the banner for their league-leading 18th championship in franchise history.
And in the final 24 minutes, the Celtics did just that. They beat the Mavs 106-88, confetti rained on the floor. They raised the trophy, Jalen Brown won Finals MVP and they had champagne showers in the locker room.
Now that the NBA Finals is over, basketball fans witnessed the Dallas Mavericks being outmatched by the deep roster of the Boston Celtics. Although the Mavericks performed well to reach the finals, the reliance on hero ball from Luka Dončić and Kyrie Irving wasn’t enough to secure victory over the Celtics’ lineup, which included Jaylen Brown, Jayson Tatum, Jrue Holiday, Derrick White, Al Horford, and Kristaps Porziņģis. Looking ahead to next season, what steps do the Mavericks need to take to not only make a return to the finals but also win the championship?
The first thing the Mavs must do is get the duo some help. Going into the finals, there were talks about Kyrie and Luka being the best backcourt ever or the best-skilled duo ever, and that may be true, but even the best needs some help. Besides them to players, the Mavs had nobody who they could give the ball to and have them create their own offense. Too much of the load depended on Kyrie and Luka, and mostly Luka because Kyrie completely disappeared in the games in Boston. Doncic has 607 points, 196 rebounds, 173 assists, 38 steals, and has a post-season-leading seven triple-doubles, making him the first player in NBA history to lead playoffs in points/rebounds/assists/steals totals. Meanwhile, his running mate Irving averaged 28 points and home and 14 in Boston. There is no way you can be the “best backcourt ever” averaging 14 points on the road. No way, no how. So, the first thing the Mavericks organization must do is get Kyrie and Luka, mostly Luka, some help. A solid third piece would significantly help this team out in the future.
Another thing they have to do is either play better defense or get better defensive players. The one thing that stood out on the stacked Celtics’ roster was the ability of all five guys in the starting line to play both sides of the ball. White and Holiday were already on the NBA’s All-Defensive 2nd Team, but Brown is a well-respected defender, Tatum and Horford play good defense and Porziņģis is a great rim protector. So not only did they have the perimeter on lock, Porziņģis was blocking or altering anything that got close to the rim. Meanwhile, the Mav relied on Derrick Jones Jr to cover their defensive load. I repeat, Derrick Jones Jr.. Jones Jr. is a solid player, but he alone can’t guard everybody. If you watched the series, the Celtics attacked Luka and Kyrie on the defensive end because they knew they couldn’t guard them. Boston created mismatches every time down the court. The Mavs can’t win a championship with Jones as your only defender. They need to go out and recruit some solid two-way players. I hear that Paul George is a free agent. I think the Warriors are looking to move Klay Thompson, or they can try to bring back Dorian Finney-Smith. I’m not the general manager, but they have to bring in some bodies to play solid defense.
In addition to seeking support and improving their defense, Luka and Kyrie need to play better in critical moments. Surprisingly, two of the NBA’s top clutch performers faltered when it counted the most. I can’t even believe I’m writing this, but it’s true, Kyrie and Luka could have played better. Throughout the series, there were times that the Mavs could have taken advantage if either Kyrie or Luka made a shot or two down the stretch. In Game 3, Washington delivered an impressive performance, sinking two 3-pointers and contributing eight points as the Dallas Mavericks staged a remarkable 22-2 run in the fourth quarter. This run allowed them to narrow a significant 21-point lead held by the Boston Celtics down to just one point. However, despite Washington’s efforts, the Mavericks faced a setback when Luka fouled out. With a player like Kyrie on your team, being down by only one point should be manageable. Nonetheless, the Mavs were unable to capitalize on this advantage, leading to a missed opportunity as Kyrie fell short and the game slipped away from their grasp. Then after dominating Game 4, as the Mavs beat the Celtics by 38 points, they came back to Boston and lost by 18 points in a close-out game. Luka finished with 28 points, but that’s below his 34-point-per-game average in close-out games and Kyrie finished with 15. That’s not going to get it done in the NBA Finals. Next year, this team will be more experienced and hopefully, this performance could serve as a learning lesson for the Mavericks. All in all, this was a good year for Dallas, but if they want to win it all, they must play better.
