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

[SleepingHero]

It really is 1 game a time mentality for Dallas. They aren't supposed to win any of these games. The pressure is all on Boston.

Mavs have to play free and expect Boston to make mistakes given the pressure.

Game 5 is going to be a big battle, but if the team can shoot like they did on Friday, then we have a good shot in any game!!

[DanSchwartzgan]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N5zyhiJvFvs

Good breakdown from Thinking Basketball.  Can Boston figure out our one man zone?  Can we keep up the energy necessary to block off the paint and get out to their 3 point shooters?

[SleepingHero]

@noahweber00

Luka Doncic on Dereck Lively II:

“Big time man. I think people forget he’s a rookie…He’s been amazing the whole season…It’s fun having him out there with me and call him my teammate. It’s unbelievable and it’s a pleasure to have him.”

[SleepingHero]

@DorothyJGentry

Dorian Finney Smith and his dad Elbert Smith Jr.

“How does it feel to have your dad here and it’s Father’s Day weekend?”

“We having a good time,” #Mavs #MFFL #nbafinals 


Dodo and his dad were in the AAC last game. MFFL through and through.

[SleepingHero]

@AbbyJones

“They’re my family.”

Dereck Lively shares the impact this organization has had on him and what playing with the Mavericks means to him in his rookie season.

[SleepingHero]

Boston beat reporter with a pretty weird tweet:

@AdamHimmelsbach
Just saw Porzingis heading to the court in practice gear to do media when he found out he wasn’t on the list today.

Said he was happy to talk if people wanted. I told him we did. We were overruled by higher powers, but he was in good spirits.


"Overruled by higher powers" what is that supposed to mean and why would they be overruled?

[omahen]

Boston beat reporter with a pretty weird tweet:

@AdamHimmelsbach
Just saw Porzingis heading to the court in practice gear to do media when he found out he wasn’t on the list today.

Said he was happy to talk if people wanted. I told him we did. We were overruled by higher powers, but he was in good spirits.


"Overruled by higher powers" what is that supposed to mean and why would they be overruled?

They said he was overruled to have an unscheduled media appearance. I wouldn't put anything into it, looks like organizations are strict in following the scheduled protocol.

[Chicagojk]

https://x.com/johnhollinger/status/18024...53532?s=46

[SleepingHero]

@NoaDalzellNBA
Xavier Tillman on Kristaps Porzingis:

"If he's in excruciating pain and can't be himself it might not be worth it."

"When we go through our practices, he's doing some stuff but you can tell he's very uncomfortable."

Any improvement?

"It's been pretty much the same."

[Winter]

As much as I hate to say it, Hardaway is probably the gamble you take for this game. If you get a couple of 3's in 10 minutes, you probably manage a needed net+ for the team. Plus he's not likely to go to sleep on defense for this game.

[DanSchwartzgan]

As much as I hate to say it, Hardaway is probably the gamble you take for this game. If you get a couple of 3's in 10 minutes, you probably manage a needed net+ for the team. Plus he's not likely to go to sleep on defense for this game.

I disagree.  The bench formula that worked in Game 4 was Lively, Maxi, Green and Exum playing fantastic defense.  They were flying all over the place.  They helped to close down the paint and still got out to three point shooters.  That defense can travel.  I think the standard we need is higher than "not going to sleep".

I think you have to trust those guys to hit their shots.  It is easier to envision than Hardaway playing at the level of Green and Exum at the defensive end.

[Chicagojk]

I expect a real good game from the Celtics tonight. The stadium will be wild because they are expecting a celebration at the end of the night. Really can't have many mental lapses tonight. Keep it close and hope you make that one extra play.

If you can beat Boston at home when they play well, that puts more doubt into that team. They are expecting a coronation tonight.

[Winter]

I disagree.  The bench formula that worked in Game 4 was Lively, Maxi, Green and Exum playing fantastic defense.  They were flying all over the place.  They helped to close down the paint and still got out to three point shooters.  That defense can travel.  I think the standard we need is higher than "not going to sleep".

I think you have to trust those guys to hit their shots.  It is easier to envision than Hardaway playing at the level of Green and Exum at the defensive end.

Maybe. I hope I'm right just because it appears to me Kidd is going to give Hardaway minutes no matter what we think.

[michaeltex]

Is there a consensus that losing KP could be a game changer for BOS? In the 5 quarters since KP was injured, DAL has outscored BOS by 151-105, which includes Luka+Kyrie going 1-14 on 3s in Game 4. Maybe BOS figures something out, but the series feels more balanced now. I'd like to say maybe even tilts toward DAL a little, but BOS won a bunch of games without KP last season and in playoffs, so I'm not too confident making that statement.

I just don't see Horford and Tillman keeping up with a Gaff/Dlive/Maxi front court and if BOS has to help in the paint, then DAL perimeter scoring should explode.

Interested in any adjustments BOS tries and whether Kidd keeps using a big rotation with Exum and Maxi.

[Chicagojk]

Maybe. I hope I'm right just because it appears to me Kidd is going to give Hardaway minutes no matter what we think.

I think there is a chance Hardaway gets minutes.  I think it is only if others fall flat and we are at a stage where we just need some kind of spark.   I think he has probably jumped in front of Hardy for that role.  Especially on the road.   Kidd still has a lot of trust in Hardaway.   I hope we don't need to count on him.   

Although if this is going to go forward, we probably will need someone unexpectant to make a few plays.

[Chicagojk]

Is there a consensus that losing KP could be a game changer for BOS? In the 5 quarters since KP was injured, DAL has outscored BOS by 151-105, which includes Luka+Kyrie going 1-14 on 3s in Game 4. Maybe BOS figures something out, but the series feels more balanced now. I'd like to say maybe even tilts toward DAL a little, but BOS won a bunch of games without KP last season and in playoffs, so I'm not too confident making that statement.

I just don't see Horford and Tillman keeping up with a Gaff/Dlive/Maxi front court and if BOS has to help in the paint, then DAL perimeter scoring should explode.

Interested in any adjustments BOS tries and whether Kidd keeps using a big rotation with Exum and Maxi.

It certainly impacts things.    Enough to turn the series around?  Not Sure.

I think Dallas has the right mindset though without KP.   Attack the basket.  With Horford, Boston really has no rim protection.   White, Brown and Tatum are all long and can be some protection.  They lack the big rim protector though.  

I also like how we have used Gafford early a few times to post up.  He has gone hard at Tatum and the results have been pretty good so far.  Just gives Boston another thing to think of.   I also really liked how Lively made Boston pay by having a smaller person on him.  Right now Lively isn't ready to punish a smaller defender in the post, but he can get offensive rebounds on missed shots.

[KillerLeft]

The Hardaway thing is...interesting.

On one hand, 75% of the people here will think the sky is falling the second he checks in, and I can't really fault them at this point. He has been truly awful lately.

On the other hand, Dallas is trying to do something that has literally never been done before - not once, in 156 attempts, has a team come back from being down 0-3 to win any series, let alone the NBA finals. Something tells me, personally, doing this might require some type of game-changing adjustment or uptick from some player.

In game 4, those changes came via Luka playing with significantly more pace, manifesting in much better games from Lively, Kleber and Green. I'm going to pencil that in as a given to continue, because he has to understand how that happened, I hope, and because if they don't get that kind of effort four times in a row this conversation is all academic.

But, the OTHER significant change was that Dante Exum looked like regular season Dante Exum again. This is troubling to me, because we haven't seen it for so, so long. Was it a fluke? Is he going to continue to look at the rim? If he can do it again, that's absolutely the way to go, because, again, it will help with PACE. But, and this won't be popular, but has crossed my mind, if you subtract all of the baggage our fan base brought into this season with Hardaway and actually look at their careers, I'm not sure that in the larger sample size he's not the better bet to be ready for this moment. That's in no way something I'm confident about, but when I try to put myself in Kidd's shoes it's a nagging thought in the back of my mind I can't totally dismiss. It's going to be truly fascinating to see which way he goes. A good Hardaway game (if there's any realistic chance of getting that, at this point) is something that could literally win a game for the Mavs. Obviously, a bad one could be a season ender.

One thing I'm sure of: while I'm ready to commit to a regular rotation role for Hardy next year (if he's on the roster) to get the ball rolling on his career, I'd be done with him in this series.

[Jmaciscool]

The Hardaway thing is...interesting.

On one hand, 75% of the people here will think the sky is falling the second he checks in, and I can't really fault them at this point. He has been truly awful lately.

On the other hand, Dallas is trying to do something that has literally never been done before - not once, in 156 attempts, has a team come back from being down 0-3 to win any series, let alone the NBA finals. Something tells me, personally, doing this might require some type of game-changing adjustment or uptick from some player.

In game 4, those changes came via Luka playing with significantly more pace, manifesting in much better games from Lively, Kleber and Green. I'm going to pencil that in as a given to continue, because he has to understand how that happened, I hope, and because if they don't get that kind of effort four times in a row this conversation is all academic.

But, the OTHER significant change was that Dante Exum looked like regular season Dante Exum again. This is troubling to me, because we haven't seen it for so, so long. Was it a fluke? Is he going to continue to look at the rim? If he can do it again, that's absolutely the way to go, because, again, it will help with PACE. But, and this won't be popular, but has crossed my mind, if you subtract all of the baggage our fan base brought into this season with Hardaway and actually look at their careers, I'm not sure that in the larger sample size he's not the better bet to be ready for this moment. That's in no way something I'm confident about, but when I try to put myself in Kidd's shoes it's a nagging thought in the back of my mind I can't totally dismiss. It's going to be truly fascinating to see which way he goes. A good Hardaway game (if there's any realistic chance of getting that, at this point) is something that could literally win a game for the Mavs. Obviously, a bad one could be a season ender.

One thing I'm sure of: while I'm ready to commit to a regular rotation role for Hardy next year (if he's on the roster) to get the ball rolling on his career, I'd be done with him in this series.

I think these are good points.  I think you HAVE to have either the same Exum or the same Hardaway from Game 4 show up to win Game 5.  Personally I would give the nod to Exum because I think his pace/defense (if playing well) is sorely needed and seemed to be part of the key to the Mavs' only win in this series, but if he struggles like he has before Game 4 I would put Hardaway in to see if he can continue the shooting from the last game.  If Hardaway struggles then go back to Exum and stay there.

[Scott41theMavs]

The Hardaway thing is...interesting.

On one hand, 75% of the people here will think the sky is falling the second he checks in, and I can't really fault them at this point. He has been truly awful lately.

On the other hand, Dallas is trying to do something that has literally never been done before - not once, in 156 attempts, has a team come back from being down 0-3 to win any series, let alone the NBA finals. Something tells me, personally, doing this might require some type of game-changing adjustment or uptick from some player.

In game 4, those changes came via Luka playing with significantly more pace, manifesting in much better games from Lively, Kleber and Green. I'm going to pencil that in as a given to continue, because he has to understand how that happened, I hope, and because if they don't get that kind of effort four times in a row this conversation is all academic.

But, the OTHER significant change was that Dante Exum looked like regular season Dante Exum again. This is troubling to me, because we haven't seen it for so, so long. Was it a fluke? Is he going to continue to look at the rim? If he can do it again, that's absolutely the way to go, because, again, it will help with PACE. But, and this won't be popular, but has crossed my mind, if you subtract all of the baggage our fan base brought into this season with Hardaway and actually look at their careers, I'm not sure that in the larger sample size he's not the better bet to be ready for this moment. That's in no way something I'm confident about, but when I try to put myself in Kidd's shoes it's a nagging thought in the back of my mind I can't totally dismiss. It's going to be truly fascinating to see which way he goes. A good Hardaway game (if there's any realistic chance of getting that, at this point) is something that could literally win a game for the Mavs. Obviously, a bad one could be a season ender.

One thing I'm sure of: while I'm ready to commit to a regular rotation role for Hardy next year (if he's on the roster) to get the ball rolling on his career, I'd be done with him in this series.

The issue with THJ has nothing to do with whether he's that guy who missed everything in game 3 or the guy who hit everything in game 4. Rather, it's that he's the only guy on roster who doesn't have to ability to play defense with the intensity which the Gafford/PJ trades brought to this franchise, and which has been their winning bread-and-butter ever since. I just don't know that the Mavs can afford to play 5 on 4 on defense in terms of their philosophy for any meaningful minutes in the finals, even if THJ becomes Steph on offense.

[Winter]

I think these are good points.  I think you HAVE to have either the same Exum or the same Hardaway from Game 4 show up to win Game 5.  Personally I would give the nod to Exum because I think his pace/defense (if playing well) is sorely needed and seemed to be part of the key to the Mavs' only win in this series, but if he struggles like he has before Game 4 I would put Hardaway in to see if he can continue the shooting from the last game.  If Hardaway struggles then go back to Exum and stay there.

I think Exum sees minutes for sure, but that doesn't preclude Hardaway from seeing minutes. The downside of Hardway hitting those 3's was that they were transition buckets in garbage time for the most part. I doubt there's any duplication of that against their starting five.

Still, the one thing that seemed to happen in game 5 was that Luka and Exum both pushed the ball down the court in a hurry... hoping for a bucket before the Celtics were set. They need to keep that up, not just for someone like Thj who thrives more in transition, but I thought the entire team really moved well to gain an advantage. There are more opportunities for lobs and easy baskets.