The 2024 NBA season has been a very wild ride and the NBA finals are finally close enough. The Dallas Mavericks vs Boston Celtics will headline the NBA finals this year. Many pundits expected a Celtics finals appearance but maybe not against the Mavericks. This NBA finals will feature many surprises and expect many bold predictions to happen.
Luka Doncic Will Lead Finals In Scoring
In 2006 Dwayne Wade averaged 34.7 points in the finals. Six years later, Kevin Durant averaged 30.6 points in the 2012 finals. No one else in the three-point era has averaged 30-plus points in the finals before turning 26. Doncic turned 25 in February and in the previous round, he averaged 32.4 points when guarded by Jaden McDaniels and Rudy Gobert. Doncic managed to do this against a team that had the best regular-season defense. Against Boston, Doncic will continue his dominance against the Celtics, despite all they might throw at him. Game five against the Timberwolves was Doncic’s 45th career playoff game. In those games he has scored 1,400 points, 425 points, 370 assists. No one else has matched or surpassed all totals in their first 45 games.
Jayson Tatum Will Find His Outside Shot
Jayson Tatum has received criticism throughout the postseason. He is averaging team highs in points (26.0), rebounds (10.0), and assists (5.9). Tatum has set high standards for himself, but his three-point shooting is concerning right now. He is taking 7.1 threes a game but is only making 29% of those threes. If he continues to shoot at this rate Boston will struggle to keep pace with the Mavericks. Dallas has multiple players they can throw at Tatum to bother him and continue to disrupt him. However, Tatum is a career 35.9% three-point shooter in the postseason. Therefore, one can conclude that at some point his shot will begin to fall.
Dereck Lively II Will Average A Double Double
Lively II might be the biggest reason for the Mavericks midseason surge. That surge has put this team in the 2024 NBA finals. Dallas is getting high-end rim-running and rim-protection from Lively II and Daniel Gafford. With two lob threats the Mavericks pick-the n-roll game will seem unstoppable. As the finals move on Lively II may take up more minutes from Gafford. His minutes are split with Gafford. Lively II averages 8.5 points and 7.1 rebounds. Those totals can and should reach double digits.
Celtics Will Push It To A Game 7
The Celtics have had a spectacular season, they went 64-18 in the regular season. This Boston team is a juggernaut. However, during the post season they’ve had some letdowns. In each series before the finals, they have allowed lesser teams and teams with injuries to compete more than they should have. They almost faced another letdown in game 3 vs the Pacers. During the NBA finals, they will win three games in this series. Boston has the star power to be here. Jaylen Brown is scoring with volume and efficiency. Derrick White is averaging 17.8 points and 3.4 threes, while shooting 40.7% from deep. Boston is getting timely contributions from their role players.
Dallas Mavericks Will Win NBA Title
One can look at the difference between the East and West playoffs in multiple ways. In one way it can be seen how competitive the West has been and the Mavericks could be pretty exhausted. Boston has cruised past the Heat, Cavs, and Pacers. All three teams in each series were missing key players. So, therefore, the Celtics should be well rested. In addition, one can look at Dallas and see that they have been battle-tested and hardened. They beat the Timberwolves in five games which has given them extra rest. However, the advantage should go to the Mavericks have two of the best closers. When the games get close Doncic and Kyrie Irving can will their team to victory.
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