2024 Playoffs- 4th Round: Boston Celtics - Dallas Mavericks

[KillerLeft]

Is it sobering?

He also picked the Wolves against the Mavs. Highlighted all the size issues Minny will present. Said Ant and McDaniels will slow Kyrie down considerably and Luka will be stagnated. 

He had OKC/Mavs as a 50/50 but favored OKC because of Maxi's injury.

He had LAC over the Mavs too and called it Kawhi's best series matchup. 

Timpf has been pretty consistent in that the Mavs will lose every single series.

That’s fair. 

I just remember he said the Minnesota series was over after game one, and everything he said from that point forward has been true. He was absolutely right about how the rest of that series would play out after game one.

[fifteenth]

Listening to Legler's prediction episode right now. We'll see. This may be Jason vs Tim.

[fifteenth]

Well, this is a little sobering, especially since it touches on all of deepest fears going into the series.

Jason Timpf picks Boston in 6, with pretty sound reasoning:

https://youtu.be/CH1RlkHfZkk?si=hexJhqwwwYzQLKRe

Jason's reasoning was based on how the Mavs have defended so far. And the Mavs may use the same schemes they have been using. But I have wondered, especially with this week off, if Kidd would attempt to install some stuff that's much more Boston specific for this series. I've wondered if they might try to do more switching, attempt to play man without as much help, or come up with something that I can't imagine at the moment. Boston may have the advantage either way, but it would create a dynamic that Jason didn't really address in his prediction. 

Warning! The above speculation was written by someone whose basketball knowledge is dwarfed (understatement) by that of Jason Timpf.

[fifteenth]

It appears there may be quotes and takes that I have to run over here and report while I'm still listening...

Legler: "If Luka wins this year, against a healthy Celtics team, at his age, the league is in trouble."

[HoosierDaddyKidd]

Jason's reasoning was based on how the Mavs have defended so far. And the Mavs may use the same schemes they have been using. But I have wondered, especially with this week off, if Kidd would attempt to install some stuff that's much more Boston specific for this series. I've wondered if they might try to do more switching, attempt to play man without as much help, or come up with something that I can't imagine at the moment. Boston may have the advantage either way, but it would create a dynamic that Jason didn't really address in his prediction. 

Warning! The above speculation was written by someone whose basketball knowledge is dwarfed (understatement) by that of Jason Timpf.

I'm just shocked he predicted two Boston blowouts. I could see it though, if they all get it going from 3. I don't expect it, but it could happen. He also singled out PJ and DJJ as the X factors. They can't get the jitters playing in their 1st finals. They MUST make shots for them to win.

[fifteenth]

Another way to say what I said up above about Jason's prediction is that he didn't really address the Maxi factor. We've speculated here that Maxi may play a lot because we may need to be able to switch against Boston. Excited to see how it goes.

[BigDirk41]

We'll see how all these "experts" feel after the Mavs take game 1 and realize how good the Mavs are. We have Luka and they don't. We are battle tested against many of the best teams in the entire NBA in the playoffs and they aren't. I really think we take game 1 and then Boston has to adapt in game two.

[Jym]

Jason's reasoning was based on how the Mavs have defended so far. And the Mavs may use the same schemes they have been using. But I have wondered, especially with this week off, if Kidd would attempt to install some stuff that's much more Boston specific for this series. I've wondered if they might try to do more switching, attempt to play man without as much help, or come up with something that I can't imagine at the moment. Boston may have the advantage either way, but it would create a dynamic that Jason didn't really address in his prediction. 

Warning! The above speculation was written by someone whose basketball knowledge is dwarfed (understatement) by that of Jason Timpf.

At least we have some options 
If the bigs are hitting their 3's, we can go switch heavy with Maxi 
Not the best since it kills that threat of lobs and offensive rebounds but at least there are backups. We can even go DJJ and Washington as the bigs. The Celts can't really punish that

[SleepingHero]

https://twitter.com/luka7doncic/status/1...3000392149

Luka posts this video to his twitter. Enjoy.

4 more wins Mavs.

Lock in

[SleepingHero]

@DickCarlisle
Bill Simmons chalks Mavs success in WCF up to “are we sure the Wolves didn’t just suck?”

5 min later: “How ever you feel about the Indiana Pacers in the ECF, that team was playing really, REALLY well.”

[BigDirk41]

@DickCarlisle
Bill Simmons chalks Mavs success in WCF up to “are we sure the Wolves didn’t just suck?”

5 min later: “How ever you feel about the Indiana Pacers in the ECF, that team was playing really, REALLY well.”

What in the absolute hell? What a moron!

[KillerLeft]

I'm just shocked he predicted two Boston blowouts. I could see it though, if they all get it going from 3. I don't expect it, but it could happen. He also singled out PJ and DJJ as the X factors. They can't get the jitters playing in their 1st finals. They MUST make shots for them to win.

Washington especially, if Porzingis/Horford are really going to be guarding him.

[SleepingHero]

@_abigaiiiil
“I remember my first year when I came here, it was surreal to be on the same team as Dirk Nowitzki. I wish I could’ve played with him more, but his last season and my first was amazing.”

Luka and Dirk have an incredible special relationship. It’s beautiful to see it pay off on the court as Luka Doncic leads this team back to the NBA Finals almost 13 years later.

[SleepingHero]

Noah Weber (@noahweber00)
Luka Doncic on the craziest environment he's played in:

"It was quarterfinals of EuroLeague against Panathinaikos in Panathinaikos. The crowd went crazy. They started winning 20-0. Imagine that."

EuroLeague is different. This is why Doncic is built for the big moment.

[SleepingHero]

Noah Weber (@noahweber00)
Luka Doncic on how it feels to be playing in his first NBA Finals:

"Amazing. First time here. Hopefully it's not the last game. But never take it for granted. You never know if you are going to come back, so just enjoy the experience."

[SleepingHero]

Noah Weber (@noahweber00)
Luka Doncic on Kyrie Irving's leadership:

"His leadership is amazing. The way he connects us. I think me and Kyrie are the leaders of this team, but he's the one that's been in the Finals. He's the one that won in the Finals. He's the one that is really leading it. He's keeping us all together and motivated."

[SleepingHero]

Tim Bontemps (@TimBontemps)
Kristaps Porzingis said that he’s going to play in Game 1, but that it’s still “open” when it comes to what his conditioning level is going to be. He said he’s done light work on the court the last couple days, & will again today, but has to see how he feels as the game goes on.

[SleepingHero]

NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral)
Draymond Green is picking the Mavericks in 6

"I think it is Luka's time, I think Kyrie wins another one."

(Via @TheVolumeSports / h/t @NBCSWarriors )

[HoosierDaddyKidd]

NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral)
Draymond Green is picking the Mavericks in 6

"I think it is Luka's time, I think Kyrie wins another one."

(Via @TheVolumeSports / h/t @NBCSWarriors )

You can take anything Draymond says with a grain of salt. Just like Barkley who flips the script every chance he gets.  May the best team win is all I'll say.

[fifteenth]

Listening to Legler's prediction episode right now. We'll see. This may be Jason vs Tim.

Legler picks the Mavs. 

He believes the games will be close, that both of these teams are difficult to run away from, and that in close games he thinks Luka gives Mavs the advantage.