The best-of-seven series final began with the Dallas Mavericks bound to face the Boston Celtics team in the Garden. The first game was explosive as the Mavericks lost to the Eastern Conference first seed with an 18-point margin.
The Boston Celtics’ offensive team has been tremendous this 2023-24 NBA season. Also, with how the team performed against the Dallas Mavericks, the Celtics might change the perspective of NBA teams. Here are three key takeaways from the Boston Celtics performance vs. the Dallas Mavericks
1. Celtics Team is the Strategy
Though Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum are the star players at the Celtics, the Celtics play more like a team which debunks the ‘Dynamic Duo’ or ‘Big Three’ notion. As a complete team, they were able to move the ball around effectively and each player performing their role to defend against the Dallas Mavericks
The Mavericks on the other hand depend on their dynamic duo, Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving to provide more offensive threats in the game. With this strategy easily read by the Celtics, they were able to play more as a team, ensuring everyone that’s on the court gets points while applying one-on-one pressure on the Mavs defensively.
2. Dallas Mavericks Luka Doncic Was No Match
The Boston Celtics understood the Mavericks game and could stop the opposing team’s main player. Playing as a team helped the Celtics switch roles and defend each Maverick player well.
With this playing style, the Celtics team could obstruct the Mavs ball movement which reduced the number of assists drastically. During Game 1 of this playoff series final the Mavericks had nine assists with Doncic contributing only one assist.
The Slovenian basketballer couldn’t dish out those adept passes to his Center and Forward for dunks and alley-oops. Also, it was difficult to get the ball to the arc’s corner to bucket those three-pointers. During the game, the Dallas Mavericks shot 25.9% out of their 27 three-point attempts.
Also, the defensive switch on Luka Doncic was effective as it led to steals and turnovers converted to vital points. This defensive switch forced the All-Star player to dribble more which gave no option for easy ball distribution. Despite having a bad game, Luka Doncic scored 30 points and clinched 10 defensive rebounds.
3. One Latvian Could Stop The Australia-Slovenian Dynamic Duo
The Dallas team expected more from their dynamic duo in the final quarters, like how the Mavs took down the Clippers, OKC, and Timberwolves. However this night, they weren’t in their bag to close out the game. To make things worse, Kristaps Porzingis, who was reportedly injured, exploded to the rim to maintain his team’s lead in both halves.
Porzingis, who missed more than four games with the Celtics teams, protected the rim to prevent the Mavs’ dunks and alley-oops style of play. Despite his offensive impact, the Latvian had crucial three blocks, and 20 points. He started by adding 18 points to the Celtics’ leads in the first half and maintained his defensive stands throughout the game.
These performances show that the Boston Celtics aren’t a star-dependent team, they could perform with or without their stars on the court using their balling IQ and experience. When Kristaps Porzingis was sidelined for a calf injury, the Celtics felt it but balled their way to the NBA Championship. Now that he’s back, the Mavericks have to figure out how to stop the Celtics.
About the Author
Wisdom is an email and brand copywriter with two years of content writing experience. He started Cloud Kitchen Concept to help startups and business owners elevate their brands from good to great. You can connect with him on LinkedIn and Instagram to enjoy cooked meals for your business’s growth.
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