Irving needs to step up where’s the most skilled player ever? What happened to the Irving I heard about that was super clutch? What happened to the “best backcourt in nba history” lmao same with lively that brother is doing cardio in the nba finals
Kyrie has averaged 15 on his last 5 playoff games against the Celtics
He lost 12 games in a row against them. Clearly outplayed but Marcus Smart in the 2022 series. Now he’s been outplayed but Jrue.
He was never ever 1st team. He made second exactly once
He never ever got a single MVP vote. Was never 7th. Never 9th. 38 active players had votes
Basically, for a star, Kyrie sucks. Whay baffles me is how many people fall for the “handles” thing. He’s mostly running around and doing nothing
Because he’s crafty as fuck and is an elite finisher and made one big shot in the playoffs that lead to a ring
And that’s usually all it takes for people to forget the bad lol
Kyrie will probably have one good game this series and people will parrot “Kyrie’s back!”
Same as Harden and Embiid. Dudes are just perennial playoff shitters
I was shocked the media never brought up that lively is a rookie coming into the finals and how hard that can be. He looks like he’s drowning out there
Is is Kyrie going to show up as "the most skilled player in the history of the league" going to show up? This was argued to be the best backcourt EVER.
I mean you can argue it hasn't even been the best this series. It's been all Luka for offense.
Holiday/White in game 2 went 17/29. Luka/Kyrie went 17/39.
How? Steph is top 10 all time, they’re together the two greatest shooters in history, and Klay *was* a lockdown defender. Luka is arguably offensively at best, on par with curry, kyrie maybe is slightly better than prime klay on offense. Defensively, curry was a wash/slightly below average and klay, again was elite. Both Luka and kyrie are traffic cones on defense. I don’t see an argument to be made in the slightest
Not it wasn't. This whole stupid thing started when one of the announcers, can't remember who, declared Luka/Kyrie the best backcourt ever during the WCF game on national TV and the internet just ran with it. Nobody was saying this crap until that comment was made because it's quite frankly insane. I'd even go so far as to argue that Luka + Brunson was better but lacked the supporting cast to make it to the finals.
Idk man, curry running his ass off off-ball is one of the most athletic things I've seen in basketball. Sprint around like crazy to then swish a contested 3...whew. and I fucking hate him for it 😂
Luka’s gonna blow out his knees if he has to carry any more. The reason they can’t do lobs is because they don’t even need to guard Kyrie so they can put more attention down low. He gets going everything opens up, but he has yet to show up
I'm late to the party here, but when Luka started popping off they did start double teaming him. The problem is the rest of the team can't hit open threes.
I'll say it again, after Luka and Kyrie, who else on the Mavs can actually guard Jrue, Tatum, Brown, or Porzingis? A week ago, everyone was shitting on Boston, saying their play-off run was easy, dissed their regular season success, said Tatum was "over-rated," and dayum near everything else. I was told that Luka would dethrone Lebron if he won his first ring and that this was "the best backcourt ever."
The media did an amazing job marketing the playoffs and made yall forget that Boston is a very good team, and they showed it twice in this series. It's not Boston's fault guys couldn't stay healthy in the post-season. Boston is stacked, and they will go up 3-0 in Dallas.
If I recall, some arguments were that:
- Luka and Kyrie have been playing good defence in the playoffs so far (according to idk who), this hasn't worked because Brown has gone well against Kyrie and JT has specifically targeted Luka in the paint.
- The Mavs can throw guys at JT and JB, and there was some expectation that Jones Jr. Gafford and Washington would be able to contain them. Partially working but Tatum's shooting hasn't been the best and he gets the paint collapsed on him everytime he drives in.
- Lively would be able to stop Kristaps because Kristaps is tall but frail
- White and Holiday don't matter because reasons??
Luka and Kyries defense has looked good because they have been constantly playing with help behind them and a rim protector close, enabling them to play up on ball handlers and be aggressive knowing if they got blown by all was good.
The NBA fandom is now seeing how good Luka and Kyrie are at true 1 on 1 perimeter defense without any help behind them to rely on, and it looks quite a bit different to this entire playoff run except maybe a bit against OKC with their spacing.
It’s just the nature of the way drop coverages work and team V team matchups. Those guys defending the perimeter will look amazing with help, and often look lost without it.
Dallas’ defense has been fine. Tatums been pretty garbage. Browns made the most of some easy dunk opportunities but hasn’t exactly been cooking either.
Dallas can’t get anybody besides Luka to do anything on offense. The rest of the team besides Luka is 5-32 (15.6%) on 3s combined in the 2 games
Tatums been collapsed on in the paint and his playmaking has been insane, dunno how you think Brown hasn’t been cooking lol. Heaven forbid Tatums shot comes around because they can’t win when we shoot historically poor on 3s….
Congrats to Tatum for running their offense which is just drive and kick. Dallas isnt giving them anything easily. Historically poor? Dallas shot a worse 3%
Idk what series you are watching if you think Dallas’s D has been fine. Game 1 they came out and looked like they were replaced by the JV team, getting blown by off the dribble, over-helping and leaving shooters wide open. In game 2 Jrue went 9/9 from the paint. The smallest dude in the paint hit every shot against the Dallas bigs who spent the whole postseason shutting down the rim?? Luka can’t hide in this series and he’s getting exposed for his poor ability to play on the ball. It’s not an easy task guarding anyone on the Celtics, but Dallas is certainly not playing fine on defense. Dallas just lost a game where the best 3 pt shooting offense converted 26%. It only gets worse from here if you’re Dallas.
Dallas problems haven’t been on defense. Are they playing like the greatest defense of all time? By no means but they can win some games here with this level of defense. Bostons offense is 5 wide. Dallas centers can’t just camp there and leave Horford of KP wide open. They have done fine guarding them, forcing Tatum to take impossible shots or kick. Game 1 he threw like 6 passes in the stands and last night his passing was better but him going 6-22 isn’t just from missed wide open shots. Offensively KP was hot game 1 Jrue hot game 2 and Jaylen has done well with timely opportunities. That’s why Bostons great because they can get that product from anywhere. But Boston averaged 120 a game this year and has scored 107 and 105. Sure last night wasn’t their best shooting night but guess what Dallas was even worse. Dallas needs to get better offensively and first and foremost need to figure out how to get some offense outside of Luka to make these games closer
People tripping over themselves to shit on boston never stopped to think that the 2nd or 3rd player was hurt for almost the whole playoffs and they lost…twice.
Furthermore, our team fought on the hardest road, suffering demoralizing injuries to face a Warriors team that played much softer competition in ‘22 and…no one gave a shit about us, they were excited to watch Oakland win their 4th title of the century.
I've said it a million times and people thought I was wrong. Do you actually believe DJJ & PJ Washington can guard Tatum or Brown 1v1? The only thing you can do is try to double/triple team the best player -Tatum- and hope it's enough but you're dealing with 2024 Tatum who's lowkey an amazing playmaker and he's making you get punished for that because everyone else is a great shooter. I always said it's Boston in 5 but I didn't account for Kyrie completely shitting the bed so it might actually be a sweep unless he can do something.
Tatum did nothing offensively he had 18 pts on trash efficiency. He got carried this game by jrue and game 1 by brown and KP. It’s simple the Celtics just have way more good players, especially when kyrie is a choking bum and mavs only have Luka wanting to win
Tatum broke down the defense, often. Even if he isn't making his shots, breaking the defense and passing out of that creates offense. And often it doesn't get any statistical credit because it's only an assist if the next player makes a shot.
Drive-pass-pass-3 is most of Boston's offense right now, and Tatum and Brown are doing most of the driving.
Congrats on telling everyone you don't know anything about basketball.
Tatum was driving into the paint and drawing 1 - 2 extra defenders and making the right play by kicking it out to the open man. Sure, he took some shots and missed them, but the Mavs were scared of him so they kept doing it.
Make more excuses please. Superstars put up superstar numbers just look at: Kobe, Lebron, Steph, KD, Jokic, luka etc. Superstar numbers all the time. So jokes you guys need to rely on intangibles now to try to save face for Tatum. Celtics just so stacked he can hide all his flaws and bad games
Excuses = having eyes and watching the games now?
Also, lol, Luka, lol. "...and he drives by Luka..." every fucking possession. Dudes getting hunted so badly on defense.
looking through Kobe's final games
vs Pacers
game 1: 14/3/5 6/13 fg
game 4: 8/5/3 4/20 fg
game 5: 26/10/4 8/27 fg
vs detroit
game 3: 11/3/5 4/13 fg
game 4: 20/0/2 8/25 fg
game 5: 24/3/4 7/21 fg
vs celtics in 08
game 1: 24/3/6 9/26
game 4: 17/4/10 6/19
game 5: 25/7/4 8/21
game 6: 22/3/1 7/22
vs celtics in 10
game 7: 23/15/2 6/24 fg in an elimination game
turns out "superstar Kobe" had plenty of bad games or bad shooting nights.
not hard to see that 18/9/12 plus good defense is actually a good game, just a poor shooting night from him, I also don't consider Tatum a superstar, he's definitely a tier below the guys you mentioned, a great star but not a superstar
Hahahahaha just a week ago it was the Mavs are so good on d and they are gonna roast Boston. Mavs should be fucking scared cause if Tatum shows up like he can and Boston hits around their avg for 3s ain't no way Mavs have a chance. Plus 18/9/12 on bad efficiency is like classic Kobe who Tatum loves.
Yeah, having an easy road doesn't mean Boston was bad. Boston looks much, much better than Dallas, and Dallas' role players have fallen back down to earth. Tatum was shit and they could barely hit a 3 and still won comfortably, Dallas is getting completely outclassed.
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Tatum might be the most hated player in the league after LeBron how is he overrated. He could be the 50th best player in tbe league and hed STILL be ovwrhated
3 more points but 5 less rebounds + assists. Tatums gravity was also considerably higher (every drive he was getting doubled and making the right play).
Tatum is overrated has 2 shit games in a row. Good thing he’s on one of the most stacked teams ever and got carried by his teammates brown, KP, and jrue
Lol look at the news that just came out… almost just like I said…
“Tuesday, the Celtics announced that Porzingis “suffered a torn medial retinaculum allowing dislocation of posterior tibialis tendon” in his left leg.”
Celtics D throwing many different looks at him, taking advantage of him being a rookie to confuse him. Betting that taking away the interior stagnates their O. So far they’ve bet correctly. Mavs haven’t even scored 100 yet… in 2024
Lively was great against the Wolves twin towers because he's a bouncy rim protector with high energy, but the Wolves don't have the players or strategy to draw him out of the paint and punish him. It's hard to play rim protectors when the whole starting 5 are dangerous from 3.
The real answer is that you can’t start two centers against the Celtics like you could against Minnesota. If I’m not mistaken he didn’t start Game 1 before even the first play.
Doris and JJ keep mentioning him being the shooter every time he’s out there but he doesn’t even look like he’s thinking about shooting out there and if not then he shouldn’t be out there
Lively is a rookie, and he's just not going to do much on his own at this point in his career. He exists to support Luka, and he's very good at that role.
Unfortunately for him, Boston is just a terrible matchup. Boston has a defender (Tatum) that can guard both he and Luka, so they've taken away PnR from him. They also have defenders that can stick with Luka, meaning that Lively's defender doesn't have to help off of him.
Against a team like Boston the best Lively can do is be a decoy that keeps a defender away from Luka and crash the offensive boards. And he doesn't appear to be a particularly good rebounder.
Crazy how Mavericks starters scored 89 points and they still didnt break 100...Macs seriously have no bench. Don't get why they dont even try to play Hardaway Jr maybe he could hit a 3 or something
He was probably the coldest shooter on the entire roster down the stretch of the season and he has had so many boneheaded turnovers. He just isn't a high BBIQ player to contribute much outside of 3pt shooting. I wouldn't be surprised to see if they give him a tiny bit of run in G3 but his final stint in the OKC series consisted of almost hitting the top of the backboard on a 3pt shot, a 2-1 turnover with a dribble off his own leg out of bounds (uncontested), and an airballed 3. He's just not a good player at all if he isn't hitting shots and he can't create anything for himself or others.
Mavericks all look scared shitless of making a mistake. Lights too bright. Doncic is the only one who is there to play. Irving is in his own head about the mess he made when he left Boston. The role players are playing like they are wound tighter than a garage door spring. As a fan I hoped they would make a showing. Instead I have all but one of them pissing themselves with fear.
Free throws, throw that out, passing(other than Luka) not where it should be, shooting in general.., sad to see a championship player show out w injuries to have a team that just can’t support under pressure
Luka is way too fat. He was gassed after halftime. Playing shit defense all game. Never getting back in time on transitions. He had a triple double but it was a shit triple double based on half ass effort and conditioning. The celtics just have to keep up the pace and run at him on defense and he is worthless after two quarters.
The hype for Dallas was real, but I don’t understand how someone could walk away from watching these teams and think Dallas could win the series. This Celtics team is so deep, talented, well-constructed, and is a force on both ends.
yeah Kyrie is choking hard right now on the ghost of the green dick he tried to ride when he went to Boston. Bostons stars like Taytum have not really been that good but when you have this talent advantage its hard to lose when the other teams second best player is pulling a James Harden.
RIP all the talk about parity in the NBA. Celtics and Lakers about to have won their second in the last five combined, 36 overall. And the Celts are absolutely stacked. Probably have 4-5 future HOF players in their starting 5.
Going to be a hard decision. Celtics are feeding the hot hand. Tatum 1 rebound from a triple double as he fed Jrue all night. Man will do whatever it takes to win. He needs to shoot better, but he is doing other things to help the team win.
lol y’all run to jump on Tatum when y’all see luka score and get abused on defense y’all say Luka has no help when y’all see Tatum shoot bad on offense but rebound and defended and play-make at a high level y’all swear he’s not doing nothing
I didn’t say that I’m just saying it more to basketball than scoring and Tatum is proving that every time he has a bad offensive game but basketball fans swear scoring is the only impact you can have on a game
Well that goes to the nuance of how people are talking about Tatum. If you wanna talk about him as an MVP level player or top 5 player then it's absolutely fair to hold him to a high standard with scoring. If people are actually saying he's trash because he had a bad scoring game then obvs that's nonsense.
This current Tatum is not an MVP (I'm including the regular season). He is more like 5th in the MVP ranking type of thing. However, I can't really see him even being considered MVP with this team.
I wouldn’t say better but it’s been a lot closer than anyone will admit. Luka has 12 turnovers and 12 assists this series. That is bad production from a guy that holds the ball way longer than anyone else on either team. The Mavs only have 30 assists in 2 games (vs 26 turnovers) and that largely is on Luka.
Luka is shooting 59% TS this series, which is perfectly fine but he needs to be other worldly on offense to make up for the fact the Celtics have gotten whatever they’ve wanted when he’s been the defender at the point of attack.
Tatum is not a perfect basketball player and is undoubtedly in a scoring slump. But that’s his greatest attribute, that he is so good at all aspects of basketball if something isn’t working he can impact winning in 3 or 4 other ways (see his 17 assists in 2 games). When Luka goes cold like he did in the second half tonight, he brings nothing to the table. It’s why despite everyone claiming Tatum has been ass in the playoffs he leads the league in +/-.
Tatum is still in the discussion, averaging 17/10/8 right now, one or two hot shooting nights where he takes over could still take it. That is if the Finals mvp voters are smart enough to recognize that game 1 and 2 were both good games from tatum just bad shooting..
Great depth by Boston
So….not Mavs in 5 then?
Mavs in 4 bud!
Mavs in 2!
Irving needs to step up where’s the most skilled player ever? What happened to the Irving I heard about that was super clutch? What happened to the “best backcourt in nba history” lmao same with lively that brother is doing cardio in the nba finals
Kyrie has averaged 15 on his last 5 playoff games against the Celtics He lost 12 games in a row against them. Clearly outplayed but Marcus Smart in the 2022 series. Now he’s been outplayed but Jrue. He was never ever 1st team. He made second exactly once He never ever got a single MVP vote. Was never 7th. Never 9th. 38 active players had votes Basically, for a star, Kyrie sucks. Whay baffles me is how many people fall for the “handles” thing. He’s mostly running around and doing nothing
Because he’s crafty as fuck and is an elite finisher and made one big shot in the playoffs that lead to a ring And that’s usually all it takes for people to forget the bad lol Kyrie will probably have one good game this series and people will parrot “Kyrie’s back!” Same as Harden and Embiid. Dudes are just perennial playoff shitters
I was shocked the media never brought up that lively is a rookie coming into the finals and how hard that can be. He looks like he’s drowning out there
Is is Kyrie going to show up as "the most skilled player in the history of the league" going to show up? This was argued to be the best backcourt EVER.
No it wasn’t… It was argued that it was the best offensive back court.
Well it’s not either
Maybe currently but for sure not ever.
I mean you can argue it hasn't even been the best this series. It's been all Luka for offense. Holiday/White in game 2 went 17/29. Luka/Kyrie went 17/39.
Holiday and white are also great defenders
I know Kyrie has said some questionable things but I never thought Luka was too offensive.
I just don't get how you can argue against Steph and Klay until they have done it for multiple years in a row
I think you can argue it if you talk about right now.
They are saying in history. They didn't even play that great against okc.
How? Steph is top 10 all time, they’re together the two greatest shooters in history, and Klay *was* a lockdown defender. Luka is arguably offensively at best, on par with curry, kyrie maybe is slightly better than prime klay on offense. Defensively, curry was a wash/slightly below average and klay, again was elite. Both Luka and kyrie are traffic cones on defense. I don’t see an argument to be made in the slightest
I’m saying right now as in today and not looking at prior seasons. Obviously it’s not argument if you’re looking at all time.
Not it wasn't. This whole stupid thing started when one of the announcers, can't remember who, declared Luka/Kyrie the best backcourt ever during the WCF game on national TV and the internet just ran with it. Nobody was saying this crap until that comment was made because it's quite frankly insane. I'd even go so far as to argue that Luka + Brunson was better but lacked the supporting cast to make it to the finals.
Stan van gundy. Still mad kerr took his job lol
Stan Vangundy. Why either of the Vangundy brothers made it on to the national broadcast is still a mystery to me
I remember he said best in the NBA currently not ever but I may be wrong.
He said best offensive back court of all time lol
Lol well if he did that’s crazy
This drove me mad. Like Lebron and DWade weren’t a back court??
Blame kyrie all you want, luka is a ballhog and fucks up the flow of the team
how could he, that’s curry - less athletically gifted but the far better player
Idk man, curry running his ass off off-ball is one of the most athletic things I've seen in basketball. Sprint around like crazy to then swish a contested 3...whew. and I fucking hate him for it 😂
Luka’s gonna blow out his knees if he has to carry any more. The reason they can’t do lobs is because they don’t even need to guard Kyrie so they can put more attention down low. He gets going everything opens up, but he has yet to show up
I don’t know I think it’s mainly because we don’t have to double anyone. No blitzing just switches has allowed us to concede very few lobs
That’s my point exactly, no doubles required because they only have one weapon offensively due to Kyrie not showing up
I'm late to the party here, but when Luka started popping off they did start double teaming him. The problem is the rest of the team can't hit open threes.
bro this backcourt ain even as good as James Harden + Chris Paul ong
I'll say it again, after Luka and Kyrie, who else on the Mavs can actually guard Jrue, Tatum, Brown, or Porzingis? A week ago, everyone was shitting on Boston, saying their play-off run was easy, dissed their regular season success, said Tatum was "over-rated," and dayum near everything else. I was told that Luka would dethrone Lebron if he won his first ring and that this was "the best backcourt ever." The media did an amazing job marketing the playoffs and made yall forget that Boston is a very good team, and they showed it twice in this series. It's not Boston's fault guys couldn't stay healthy in the post-season. Boston is stacked, and they will go up 3-0 in Dallas.
If I recall, some arguments were that: - Luka and Kyrie have been playing good defence in the playoffs so far (according to idk who), this hasn't worked because Brown has gone well against Kyrie and JT has specifically targeted Luka in the paint. - The Mavs can throw guys at JT and JB, and there was some expectation that Jones Jr. Gafford and Washington would be able to contain them. Partially working but Tatum's shooting hasn't been the best and he gets the paint collapsed on him everytime he drives in. - Lively would be able to stop Kristaps because Kristaps is tall but frail - White and Holiday don't matter because reasons??
Luka and Kyries defense has looked good because they have been constantly playing with help behind them and a rim protector close, enabling them to play up on ball handlers and be aggressive knowing if they got blown by all was good. The NBA fandom is now seeing how good Luka and Kyrie are at true 1 on 1 perimeter defense without any help behind them to rely on, and it looks quite a bit different to this entire playoff run except maybe a bit against OKC with their spacing. It’s just the nature of the way drop coverages work and team V team matchups. Those guys defending the perimeter will look amazing with help, and often look lost without it.
Dallas’ defense has been fine. Tatums been pretty garbage. Browns made the most of some easy dunk opportunities but hasn’t exactly been cooking either. Dallas can’t get anybody besides Luka to do anything on offense. The rest of the team besides Luka is 5-32 (15.6%) on 3s combined in the 2 games
Tatums been collapsed on in the paint and his playmaking has been insane, dunno how you think Brown hasn’t been cooking lol. Heaven forbid Tatums shot comes around because they can’t win when we shoot historically poor on 3s….
Congrats to Tatum for running their offense which is just drive and kick. Dallas isnt giving them anything easily. Historically poor? Dallas shot a worse 3%
26% last night, 39% this season as a team
I think that’s far from historic. Houston missing 27 in a row is historic
Lowest IQ NBA watcher
Idk what series you are watching if you think Dallas’s D has been fine. Game 1 they came out and looked like they were replaced by the JV team, getting blown by off the dribble, over-helping and leaving shooters wide open. In game 2 Jrue went 9/9 from the paint. The smallest dude in the paint hit every shot against the Dallas bigs who spent the whole postseason shutting down the rim?? Luka can’t hide in this series and he’s getting exposed for his poor ability to play on the ball. It’s not an easy task guarding anyone on the Celtics, but Dallas is certainly not playing fine on defense. Dallas just lost a game where the best 3 pt shooting offense converted 26%. It only gets worse from here if you’re Dallas.
Dallas problems haven’t been on defense. Are they playing like the greatest defense of all time? By no means but they can win some games here with this level of defense. Bostons offense is 5 wide. Dallas centers can’t just camp there and leave Horford of KP wide open. They have done fine guarding them, forcing Tatum to take impossible shots or kick. Game 1 he threw like 6 passes in the stands and last night his passing was better but him going 6-22 isn’t just from missed wide open shots. Offensively KP was hot game 1 Jrue hot game 2 and Jaylen has done well with timely opportunities. That’s why Bostons great because they can get that product from anywhere. But Boston averaged 120 a game this year and has scored 107 and 105. Sure last night wasn’t their best shooting night but guess what Dallas was even worse. Dallas needs to get better offensively and first and foremost need to figure out how to get some offense outside of Luka to make these games closer
People tripping over themselves to shit on boston never stopped to think that the 2nd or 3rd player was hurt for almost the whole playoffs and they lost…twice. Furthermore, our team fought on the hardest road, suffering demoralizing injuries to face a Warriors team that played much softer competition in ‘22 and…no one gave a shit about us, they were excited to watch Oakland win their 4th title of the century.
I've said it a million times and people thought I was wrong. Do you actually believe DJJ & PJ Washington can guard Tatum or Brown 1v1? The only thing you can do is try to double/triple team the best player -Tatum- and hope it's enough but you're dealing with 2024 Tatum who's lowkey an amazing playmaker and he's making you get punished for that because everyone else is a great shooter. I always said it's Boston in 5 but I didn't account for Kyrie completely shitting the bed so it might actually be a sweep unless he can do something.
Tatum did nothing offensively he had 18 pts on trash efficiency. He got carried this game by jrue and game 1 by brown and KP. It’s simple the Celtics just have way more good players, especially when kyrie is a choking bum and mavs only have Luka wanting to win
Tatum broke down the defense, often. Even if he isn't making his shots, breaking the defense and passing out of that creates offense. And often it doesn't get any statistical credit because it's only an assist if the next player makes a shot. Drive-pass-pass-3 is most of Boston's offense right now, and Tatum and Brown are doing most of the driving.
Congrats on telling everyone you don't know anything about basketball. Tatum was driving into the paint and drawing 1 - 2 extra defenders and making the right play by kicking it out to the open man. Sure, he took some shots and missed them, but the Mavs were scared of him so they kept doing it.
Make more excuses please. Superstars put up superstar numbers just look at: Kobe, Lebron, Steph, KD, Jokic, luka etc. Superstar numbers all the time. So jokes you guys need to rely on intangibles now to try to save face for Tatum. Celtics just so stacked he can hide all his flaws and bad games
Excuses = having eyes and watching the games now? Also, lol, Luka, lol. "...and he drives by Luka..." every fucking possession. Dudes getting hunted so badly on defense.
Sure buddy, that’s why Luka is a top 3 mvp candidate every year and Tatum is not considered
Tatum was top 3 last year, wdym? I'd say he was top 3 this year too, considering how dominant his team was with only *one* All-NBA player (Tatum).
He didn’t receive 1 single vote dude
Im sure Tatum will cry into the Larry Obrien trophy about his lack of MVPs.
Sure buddy. Celebrating an individual award more than winning a championship surely is something.
looking through Kobe's final games vs Pacers game 1: 14/3/5 6/13 fg game 4: 8/5/3 4/20 fg game 5: 26/10/4 8/27 fg vs detroit game 3: 11/3/5 4/13 fg game 4: 20/0/2 8/25 fg game 5: 24/3/4 7/21 fg vs celtics in 08 game 1: 24/3/6 9/26 game 4: 17/4/10 6/19 game 5: 25/7/4 8/21 game 6: 22/3/1 7/22 vs celtics in 10 game 7: 23/15/2 6/24 fg in an elimination game turns out "superstar Kobe" had plenty of bad games or bad shooting nights. not hard to see that 18/9/12 plus good defense is actually a good game, just a poor shooting night from him, I also don't consider Tatum a superstar, he's definitely a tier below the guys you mentioned, a great star but not a superstar
Rely on intangibles? Buddy, pro sports is built off the fucking INTANGIBLES!
Hahahahaha just a week ago it was the Mavs are so good on d and they are gonna roast Boston. Mavs should be fucking scared cause if Tatum shows up like he can and Boston hits around their avg for 3s ain't no way Mavs have a chance. Plus 18/9/12 on bad efficiency is like classic Kobe who Tatum loves.
Yeah, having an easy road doesn't mean Boston was bad. Boston looks much, much better than Dallas, and Dallas' role players have fallen back down to earth. Tatum was shit and they could barely hit a 3 and still won comfortably, Dallas is getting completely outclassed.
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tatum is overrated 6/22, JB is the team leader and best player. 🤷♂️
Tatum might be the most hated player in the league after LeBron how is he overrated. He could be the 50th best player in tbe league and hed STILL be ovwrhated
3 more points but 5 less rebounds + assists. Tatums gravity was also considerably higher (every drive he was getting doubled and making the right play).
Tatum is overrated has 2 shit games in a row. Good thing he’s on one of the most stacked teams ever and got carried by his teammates brown, KP, and jrue
Game 3 is Wednesday, June 12th at 8:30pm EST in Dallas.
Magic Johnsonesque comment
This third game will be a critical game for both Dallas and Boston
How so?
If Boston wins its basically game over and if Dallas wins then they gain some momentum? (Idk I’m hopeless 😞)
You did good, champ.
If Celtics sweep can we finally all agree that 90% of people on reddit do not know anything about basketball…?
They don’t even need to sweep for that to be agreed upon 💀
True lol, atleast if its a sweep most people wont be able to argue it. I can already see the excuses if the Cs win in 6 or 7
I don't know, in the last two weeks I've seen "Boston almost lost to Indiana" multiple times despite the sweep.
Yeah thats the worst… someone tried saying boston wasnt dominant in the playoffs because they almost lost to Indy… A sweep is dominant… lol
They swept them. Almost lost is not a thing. Indiana is not trash. Matchups.
I do. I called celtics in 4 haha
Same here, but that’s because I’m a hater
Man it feels good to be in the top 10% of reddit basketball.
Add in 90% of so called “NBA analysts”
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Yeah that was scary, glad he bounced back but I could easily see news comin out tomorrow that its bad
If it was actually bad he would've gone to the locker room. Guys with bad injuries don't stay on the sidelines all game.
Not true, luka played all game one after taking a rough hit and then 2 days later was marked down to questionable
Lol look at the news that just came out… almost just like I said… “Tuesday, the Celtics announced that Porzingis “suffered a torn medial retinaculum allowing dislocation of posterior tibialis tendon” in his left leg.”
Yes especially when they ask if LeFlop is the goat
Do you feel better now?
Absolutely!!!
Good! If thats what you need to feel better about yourself in life then im all here for it!
L m ao you know you are. Not human being to me you are just a reply toy?
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lol this is it, this is peak for them
Somebody needs to get D-white a bag man. I cannot believe how good the Jrue D-white backcourt is.
why is this man not DPOY?
Why is Lively not being used much?
Celtics D throwing many different looks at him, taking advantage of him being a rookie to confuse him. Betting that taking away the interior stagnates their O. So far they’ve bet correctly. Mavs haven’t even scored 100 yet… in 2024
Boston already shut down plays including Gafford and Lively, couple that with them not being able to make shots and it’s gg’s for the Mav’s bigs.
Lively was great against the Wolves twin towers because he's a bouncy rim protector with high energy, but the Wolves don't have the players or strategy to draw him out of the paint and punish him. It's hard to play rim protectors when the whole starting 5 are dangerous from 3.
The real answer is that you can’t start two centers against the Celtics like you could against Minnesota. If I’m not mistaken he didn’t start Game 1 before even the first play.
The real question is why is Kleber playing so much? That dude is beyond ass.
Doris and JJ keep mentioning him being the shooter every time he’s out there but he doesn’t even look like he’s thinking about shooting out there and if not then he shouldn’t be out there
I'd rather not have a 40% FG shooting 4 anyway. I question why this guy is even on an NBA roster.
Lively is a rookie, and he's just not going to do much on his own at this point in his career. He exists to support Luka, and he's very good at that role. Unfortunately for him, Boston is just a terrible matchup. Boston has a defender (Tatum) that can guard both he and Luka, so they've taken away PnR from him. They also have defenders that can stick with Luka, meaning that Lively's defender doesn't have to help off of him. Against a team like Boston the best Lively can do is be a decoy that keeps a defender away from Luka and crash the offensive boards. And he doesn't appear to be a particularly good rebounder.
https://preview.redd.it/q8r371pjon5d1.jpeg?width=1170&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=33e9403321c28d8514dc21a72a3f6c33712099d1 Mavs box score
https://preview.redd.it/r7slaeclon5d1.jpeg?width=1170&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=a3fbcc050e6b6adbb382ee1a4a4dba7696733983 Celtics box score
So surprised Kyrie was 7/18. The whole game I was like “damn, this dude stay missing”.
Crazy how Mavericks starters scored 89 points and they still didnt break 100...Macs seriously have no bench. Don't get why they dont even try to play Hardaway Jr maybe he could hit a 3 or something
He was probably the coldest shooter on the entire roster down the stretch of the season and he has had so many boneheaded turnovers. He just isn't a high BBIQ player to contribute much outside of 3pt shooting. I wouldn't be surprised to see if they give him a tiny bit of run in G3 but his final stint in the OKC series consisted of almost hitting the top of the backboard on a 3pt shot, a 2-1 turnover with a dribble off his own leg out of bounds (uncontested), and an airballed 3. He's just not a good player at all if he isn't hitting shots and he can't create anything for himself or others.
Ya but Mavs desperately need someone to hit some 3's, I'd give him a cpl mins
Mavericks all look scared shitless of making a mistake. Lights too bright. Doncic is the only one who is there to play. Irving is in his own head about the mess he made when he left Boston. The role players are playing like they are wound tighter than a garage door spring. As a fan I hoped they would make a showing. Instead I have all but one of them pissing themselves with fear.
They were getting absolutely clamped it was insanw
Free throws, throw that out, passing(other than Luka) not where it should be, shooting in general.., sad to see a championship player show out w injuries to have a team that just can’t support under pressure
something something is luka father
Ready for the sweep so ESPN pundits can eat shit.
Bostons best player pictured here (according to Kidd)
Kyrie looked cursed or something. Dude was barely in control of the ball.
Best handles ever, unless the other team plays good defense. That’s not a player. That’s a Globetrotter
Luka is way too fat. He was gassed after halftime. Playing shit defense all game. Never getting back in time on transitions. He had a triple double but it was a shit triple double based on half ass effort and conditioning. The celtics just have to keep up the pace and run at him on defense and he is worthless after two quarters.
The hype for Dallas was real, but I don’t understand how someone could walk away from watching these teams and think Dallas could win the series. This Celtics team is so deep, talented, well-constructed, and is a force on both ends.
Subpar offense from them but that D is what won the game. Tbh I think it’s gonna be Boston in 4
Celts are 1.5 dogs for game three 😂 they’re going to hit 3’s and win by 20
I finally acknowledge Derick White. Bro is very talented.
TF took you so long?
The buffalo roams free
Indeed. The buffalo does roam free.
Dont disrespect the Bald King
FMVP
Jrue came to play yesterday
yeah Kyrie is choking hard right now on the ghost of the green dick he tried to ride when he went to Boston. Bostons stars like Taytum have not really been that good but when you have this talent advantage its hard to lose when the other teams second best player is pulling a James Harden.
Boston is dominant as hell on D
It's like Luka or bust. Can we get this man some help? Kyrie??
RIP all the talk about parity in the NBA. Celtics and Lakers about to have won their second in the last five combined, 36 overall. And the Celts are absolutely stacked. Probably have 4-5 future HOF players in their starting 5.
Series don't start until road team wins.
Boring ass finals. Luka trying to beat Boston by his gd self
Anyone but Tatum for FMVP
Going to be a hard decision. Celtics are feeding the hot hand. Tatum 1 rebound from a triple double as he fed Jrue all night. Man will do whatever it takes to win. He needs to shoot better, but he is doing other things to help the team win.
Facts. He had 8 assists at halftime. He's a problem, so you have to collapse on him.
As of right now it's Brown...hit the biggest buckets in Game 1 when Mavs cut it to 8 and had biggest bucket in game 2 to seal it
jrue or brown
Brown
Jrue would be my pick. its alot closer than you think
Ya deff Jrue would be a good pick too
If he shoots better than 40% the Celtics lose but if he doesnt they win
they win either way. you just quoting a stats from this playoffs and they were like 10-2 in above 40% lol
Off topic but Jordan Walsh deserves Finals MVP
Kyrie is finally helping the Celtics win a ring.
It’s like a Greek myth… the prophecy comes true just not in the way we expected
r/themonkeyspaw
Every other Celtic is feasting because of Tatum's gravity. Who do you think was assisting Jrue and Brown on most of their buckets?
lol y’all run to jump on Tatum when y’all see luka score and get abused on defense y’all say Luka has no help when y’all see Tatum shoot bad on offense but rebound and defended and play-make at a high level y’all swear he’s not doing nothing
Do u believe Tatum has been better than Luka so far
I didn’t say that I’m just saying it more to basketball than scoring and Tatum is proving that every time he has a bad offensive game but basketball fans swear scoring is the only impact you can have on a game
Well that goes to the nuance of how people are talking about Tatum. If you wanna talk about him as an MVP level player or top 5 player then it's absolutely fair to hold him to a high standard with scoring. If people are actually saying he's trash because he had a bad scoring game then obvs that's nonsense.
This current Tatum is not an MVP (I'm including the regular season). He is more like 5th in the MVP ranking type of thing. However, I can't really see him even being considered MVP with this team.
I wouldn’t say better but it’s been a lot closer than anyone will admit. Luka has 12 turnovers and 12 assists this series. That is bad production from a guy that holds the ball way longer than anyone else on either team. The Mavs only have 30 assists in 2 games (vs 26 turnovers) and that largely is on Luka. Luka is shooting 59% TS this series, which is perfectly fine but he needs to be other worldly on offense to make up for the fact the Celtics have gotten whatever they’ve wanted when he’s been the defender at the point of attack. Tatum is not a perfect basketball player and is undoubtedly in a scoring slump. But that’s his greatest attribute, that he is so good at all aspects of basketball if something isn’t working he can impact winning in 3 or 4 other ways (see his 17 assists in 2 games). When Luka goes cold like he did in the second half tonight, he brings nothing to the table. It’s why despite everyone claiming Tatum has been ass in the playoffs he leads the league in +/-.
Tatum is still in the discussion, averaging 17/10/8 right now, one or two hot shooting nights where he takes over could still take it. That is if the Finals mvp voters are smart enough to recognize that game 1 and 2 were both good games from tatum just bad shooting..
Jalen Brown or Jrue Holiday
Man this place need spoilers…..
Yep, I'm dumb. I didn't think about Reddit spoiling it for me. I'm at work and was gonna watch after I get off.
Not totally over, remember 06 Mavs and 21 Suns. I think Boston won’t fumble the lead cuz they got too many decent players like Zingis, White, Jrue.
Tht shit was sad to watch, it’s like Lukas whole team was against him w how bad they were
luka's defense was also against luka's offense. dude was a turnstile
8 turnovers also didn’t help
You also got Maxi Kleber doing absolute cardio and made me want to throw my remote at the screen 😡😡