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

[dirkfansince1998]

There's a world in which Porzingis falls on his face, offensively and the Mavs' first, go-to defensive strategy crushes Boston's offense. We know that world exists, because we just watched Holmgren not reach a PPP on open shots sufficient to pull the Mavs' bigs out of the paint. I so hope that's the world we're about to live in, and being the "Porzingis sucks" truther that I am, I kind of find it likely, even, at least to start the series. 

But, I might have to eat those words after game 1, and if I still had the respect for KP that some of you have maintained for years, I would be pretty scared about the first game or two of this series.

I'm even less confident Gafford can hang while Horford is out there. I know he's old, but spreading teams out and hitting big shots is something he has been doing for over a decade, and why he's going to have a job for literally as long as he wants one.

The flip side is that neither of those guys are tough enough to be ready for what's coming for them with Gafford and Lively rolling to the rim. I just can't predict which will advantage will be more impactful. It might come down to which is more impactful in important moments, in which case...*gulp*...I actually think Kidd might be the better coach (can't believe I just typed that) and that might be advantage: Dallas.

If the Celtics switch as much as I expect them to do (at least early in the series, trying not to double/blitz Luka) there probably won't be as much rim running.
As far as coaching goes I think this one could really favor the Mavs because as dominant as Boston was all season long (including the playoffs) they never faced adversity and never had a reason to make adjustments or come up with a backup plan.
Can they adjust on the fly if Luka is cooking Brown or Holiday 1v1. Can they adjust the offense if KP or Horford aren't hitting their 3s. Mavs had to come up with lots of different things over the last three series. Luka has seen and dissected any defensive scheme known to mankind. Not sure if Tatum and Holiday can do the same.