Road to the O'Brien: Mavericks vs Celtics NBA Finals Matchup

JUNE 06, 2024 ANAHEIM, CA

Which young star comes out on top?

Yes, Jayson Tatum is still a young star.

We are in for a great Finals series. Being in Southern California, there isn't many Mavericks or Celtics fans around (Nothing but Lakers fans). And all I'm hearing is "I'm happy with whoever wins". And I feel the exact same way. Of course there's those Lakers fans who don't want to see Boston regain that championship-quantity lead.

The Mavericks are coming off a real dominant run against the Minnesota Timberwolves. Although I had Anthony Edwards leading that team to the Finals, Luka and the Mavericks were my winners in my heart. If you ask me, the Mavericks should've easily swept the Timberwolves if it wasn't for a rusty game 4 from Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving. This Mavericks team is fully loaded and ready to go for tonight's Game 1 of the NBA finals. With Luka still fighting through his injuries, I don't doubt he plays tonight.

Yes, you can make the argument the Celtics had it easy to get here. And if you asked me, they would've still been here against every team they've faced if they were all fully healthy. The Celtics are a great team. Like I've mentioned in previous posts, they've been good all season long. Solidified 1 seed all season long, it's no surprise to see them cruise through the playoffs without Kristaps Porzingis.

It's great to see Porzingis activated for Game 1 tonight, and both teams having all hands on deck to kick off this year's championship. This time around, I will be discussing the players' individual performances throughout the postseason this year. And I understand statistics aren't everything.

THE MATCHUPS

POINT GUARD MATCHUP: DONCIC V HOLIDAY

Luka Doncic is one insane NBA player. He is easily the best player in this postseason, really doing it all for the Dallas Mavericks and is fighting injury left and right. If the Celtics do come out on top, Luka deserves a Jerry West-like treatment with the NBA finals MVP trophy. Averaging a near triple-double all season and all postseason, Luka is playing out of his mind. I see him taking no breaks and playing until his legs fall apart and averaging 32/11/10 this series without a doubt in my mind. Jrue Holiday was a crucial part of that championship Milwaukee Bucks team back in 2021. With experience under the bright lights of the NBA finals and being one of the backbones on this Celtics roster defensively, he's bound to give Luka some trouble. Luka has the experience of a Euro-League championship under his belt as well, he isn't scared of the stage either. Luka over Jrue easily.

SHOOTING GUARD MATCHUP: IRVING V WHITE

Oh is this a lovely script. The Kyrie Irving show has returned to Boston for the NBA finals, after "betraying" them back in 2018. Hopefully the beef with the city of Boston is somewhat cooled down, but Boston fans are going to Boston and for sure talk their thoughts and throw water bottles at the guard. Besides the "drama", Kyrie has been the Mavericks closer, and leader in crunch time and comebacks all postseason long. Derrick White on the other hand, has been great for Boston. Scoring on great efficiency and being reliable to the Celtics offense with taking some work off Tatum's and Brown's shoulders. I don't see him performing as well with switches between PJ Washington and Kyrie guarding him. Kyrie will close a game or two easily for the Mavericks, I take him over Derrick White.

SMALL FORWARD MATCHUP: JONES JR. V BROWN

Derrick Jones Jr. was a great pickup for Dallas. He came in ready to play his role and has been doing it well all postseason. Shooting well and when needed and providing some defense is great from a role player in the Luka Doncic system, but he doesn't come close to Jaylen Brown. Jaylen Brown has been fantastic this postseason, he's much better this year than he was in the 2022 Finals against the Warriors and his numbers show us that. The Finals aren't new to Brown and helping lead this Celtics team, and rampaging through this postseason is a great set-up to face this Dallas roster. With Porzingis back in the lineup, I expect the set ups for Jaylen Brown to be more fluent and more efficient. I see Brown leading the Celtics in this Finals run offensively. With that I take Jaylen Brown over Derrick Jones Jr.

POWER FORWARD MATCHUP: WASHINGTON V TATUM

Is see PJ Washington as the Mavericks' Derrick White. Someone who will come through offensively when Luka and Kyrie aren't really there. Like Jones Jr., Washington was a great mid-season pick-up. Really coming through in some games to help lead the Mavericks to wins earlier in the postseason, but I don't see him doing that against Boston. Jayson Tatum has been excellent all postseason. Obviously like Jaylen Brown, the NBA finals stage is nothing new to this man and is 100% a far-better player than he was in that 2022 Finals run against Golden State. I truly see Tatum going into this series as the second-option, but probably the best two-option in recent finals series, when it comes to scoring of course. He will easily take advantage over Washington and Jones Jr. with Gafford too occupied with Porzingis and Horford. Easily Tatum over Washington.

CENTER MATCHUP: GAFFORD V PORZINGIS

Another great mid-season trade for the Mavericks in Daniel Gafford. No one fits the Luka Doncic system better than Gafford. Being so consistent and ready for a Luka assist with ease, he will shine in this series. Although his postseason numbers aren't doing him the best justice, his presence in game is clearly there. The blocks he has made in game have stopped runs and or amplified runs for the Mavericks. Kristaps has only played 4 games this postseason and is slightly in-line with the Celtics' run this postseason. I don't see him performing as well as we'd expect him too. I don't see him being 100% healthy either. But he will for sure be a great piece for Boston defensively with support in the paint, but I also seeing him getting into foul trouble easily. For how well Gafford has been in his position for the Mavericks and Kristaps cold and recovering I take Gafford in a heartbeat.

BENCH MATCHUP: MAVERICKS V CELTICS

With Al Horford officially now on the bench with Porzingis' return, Boston easily has the more depth and the better bench. With Al Horford, Payton Pritchard and Sam Hauser being the end of the 8-man rotation, is easily better than Dallas' end of the 8-man in Dereck Lively, Maxi Kleber and Josh Green. But Dereck Lively has been outstanding for Dallas, being a great sixth man behind Gafford on the bench. But as mentioned in recent posts, Dallas to too heavily reliant on Kyrie and Luka to even mention the bench.

OVERALL SERIES: CELTICS WIN IN 7 GAMES

Luka Doncic is and will be an absolute superstar this NBA finals run. But unfortunately, I'm going with the Boston Celtics to win it all this year. They are far too-well constructed and has been dominant since last October. I've been Celtics all year long, and in my season-opening prediction blog. I do see this series going into 7. The Celtics are yet to see a real series all postseason and its great to see a Mavericks team fully-healthy to go against a team whose seen nothing but injured stars all postseason. Luka will emerge for a 40-50 point game in for sure two of the games. The Mavericks have fought through the playoffs and will continue to do so.

It's going to be an exciting NBA finals. The most exciting one since the Toronto-Golden State one in 2019 if you ask me. It will be great for the sport of basketball see a new young-champion in Luka Doncic or Jayson Tatum/Jaylen Brown. The new generation of the NBA is here and I'm all for it. Celtics in 7.

It was a great NBA season. It was a pleasure doing this Road to the O'Brien series. Please let me know if you enjoyed the series.