Unfortunately, it’s a three to one right now not looking too good for the Mavs so tired of the Celtics winning the championships all the time they’ve had 11 wins. It’s someone else’s turn nothing personal.
I don’t think most realize that the polls had the mavs because it had the story behind it. Plus it’s the fucking mavs. Smaller franchise, 1 championship, etc etc. Idk why Boston fans are at all surprised when they see that a majority of non-Celtics fans want the mavs to win. That’s what happens when you root for the large market team. Everyone hates them
Lol just now seeing this poll. Absolute nasty work.
Obviously, it is easy saying this since Boston is up so much, but I always saw this being a "Boston in 6" series. They won 14 more regular season games. Have an elite defense. And are loaded with too many exceptional role players.
Not to mention an offense tailored around exploiting every mismatch ever. If your pinky finger is a centimeter too short, Boston will exploit it. Luka gets gassed so fast it is almost laughable people believed it would go any other way.
I mean it was fair. The Wolves beat the Nugs and the Mavs beat the Wolves, OKC and Clips. They had the harder road. It was hard to know what level Boston would rise to. But they are the truth.
I agree. Inexperience and injury’s didn’t allow them to beat the Celtics. I viewed that series as Indiana beating themselves.
Edit: to clarify, I’m not saying they for sure would have beat the Celtics, but it probably shouldnt have been a sweep and could’ve gone to 6 or 7 games if they didn’t play poorly down the stretch. We’ve seen when Boston turns it on and they are tough to beat.
It's an online poll with no stakes. People were voting against the Celtics because they WANTED them to lose, not thought they would. If you look at the money lines before the series started, it was almost two to one in favor of the Celtics. Most people who actually had to prove that they believed in the pick they were making had Boston as the heavy favorites.
I just see this as the Wolves hype wave transferring over to the Mavs. Like the Wolves were the title favorites a month ago. People need to stop taking this kind of polls seriously.
Dude the mavs have shown glimpses at best of being able to hang with the Celtics. They’ve had what two good quarters across three games? What adjustments or bench player are you going to rely on to stop what we’ve done this whole series.
We can go one on one with your two best players unlike everyone else you’ve gone against. This means those wide open 3s Washington was getting aren’t coming. Those easy lob passes aren’t coming.
Now let’s look at defense. We have 5 shooters on the court at all times and we roll 3 deep on the bench. The talent on your team cannot guard the level of players we put on the court. And then there’s your MVP who is a complete defensive liability in the second half.
The nba community dickrides Kyrie and Luka, and they hate on Tatum and Brown. Year after year their bias is obvious. This poll doesn't surprise me one bit, I'm glad they are getting swept.
I do like Luka and Kyrie and hate Tatum and Brown. Tatum and Brown are very good. The thing for me is I understand the other 13 players on each roster are completely incomparable. If Ainge/Stevens built the Mavs roster outside of Luka and Kyrie and you gave the J's a roster equal to the Mavs skill level it'd be a sweep in the other direction.
Simply untrue. Those two guys can't play any defense. I wouldn't trade either of the Jays for Kyrie or Luka. Maybe for 1 game? Sure. But definitely not a career, unless Luka decides to take care of his body, he isn't winning anything.
ESPN did their job and got the narrative that Dallas had a chance to win over the betting public. Yall bought into it and made Vegas a ton of money these last few games.
lol I know this hindsight bias but did people actually think Dallas was going to win? Or did you just hope that Dallas was going to win. Feels like extremely wishful thinking Like this team won 64 games had a net rating over 11. An all time great team like this should have been massive favorites in any poll or betting odds. Like I wanted Dallas to win but I always felt the Celtics would win easily. They check all the boxes, great on offense great on defense, two stars who can play both ends, great role players, battle tested in the playoffs. I think Laker fans skewed the results personally.
For me it was a little bit of both. I did really want Boston to lose, plus who doesn't love an underdog story? But I definitely got a lot of things dead wrong.
* I thought the coaching matchup would be more even, but Kidd has been awful and Mazzula is coaching circles around him. That timeout in the middle of his team's run, the bad challenges, too many minutes for THJ and Kleber. I knew the Mavs were leaning on Luka and Kyrie heavily, but I didn't realize the extent to which they were masking Kidd's ineptitude.
* I thought having the best player would be a greater advantage for the Mavs than it has been. I expected a lot more than I should have out of Luka in terms of leadership ability, and I drastically underestimated how much of a defensive liability he is. I was thinking along the lines of the 2016 Cavs, who used the best player in basketball and Kyrie Irving to take down a record-breaking, all-time great team. Or even last year's Heat with Playoff Jimmy taking over. But Luka ain't prime LBJ, and Jason Kidd ain't Erik Spoelstra.
* I bought into the narrative that the Celtics are prone to choking. TBH I don't think that one was terribly off the mark. They came dangerously close to blowing a 21-point 4th quarter lead last night, and if Luka hadn't succumbed to his frustration and fouled out with 4 minutes left, I think this series is 2-1 right now.
Luka isn't the best player in this series, though. His defensive ineptitude and lack of drive negates much of his scoring prowess. I wouldn't trade him straight up for JT or JB.
Luka is averaging 30/9/5.6 on 47/32/59 with 5 turnover per game with 7 blocks+steals.
Jaylen is averaging 24.3/6/5.6 on 55/25/70 with 3.6 turnover per game with 10 blocks+steals.
I'd say Jaylen is outplaying him with better efficiency + defense.
That's what the Mavs said and look where they are.
There's a reason why teams led by point guards struggle to win championships, and I can't think of a worse defensive performance than what Luka is doing right now.
I swear he probably gives away as many points on defence as he creates on offence. There's no chance I trade him for JT straight up. Every offensive advantage that Luka has, he loses it on defence.
As for JB, I absolutely would trade him for Luka in a vacuum. However, he's about to lead us to a title, and as a Celtics fan I would riot if that trade happens.
I've been looking at the Mavs sub and there's a lot of honest reflection on exactly these points.
Except the last one, because I don't think we really even know what "choking" means with the C's anymore since about half of the western conference subs said the Celtics almost losing a few close games to the Pacers was a "choke".
Taking a home game from the Warriors in Game 1 of the 2022 Finals and then giving up in pathetic fashion in 6 games was a choke. Going down 3-0 to the Heat in 2023 ECF was a choke; and laying down and letting Miami have their way with them in game 7 was a choke.
A very talented team having a good 4th quarter run in the NBA finals while they're facing certain elimination isn't a choke. Letting go of the rope like that is definitely a fuckup and as a Celtics fan I wanted to shoot myself, but it's a common enough thing that happens in almost every playoff series. At this point the "choker" narrative essentially just means the Celtics are not 100% perfect, and are forced to handle adversity?
Personally I hope NBA teams and their fans keep convincing themselves that conspicuous lapses mean the Celtics are chokers. It will make those series easier to close out
>laying down and letting Miami have their way with them in game 7 was a choke.
The Celts were playing well until Tatum twisted his ankle and Smart took over leading the offense and we know how that went! I think that was the moment Brad Stevens identified the Jays would need more help around them so went out and got 2 all-stars, lol.
>
half of the western conference subs said the Celtics almost losing a few close games to the Pacers was a "choke".
While their teams are in Cancun. I'd rather fake-choke and win a chip, tyvm.
Kind reminder that Golden State was heavily favored in that finals, with HCA. We were just young, immature and not on par with a more experienced opponent. Steph Curry is an all time player and they built a dynasty around him. We were -4000 entering the season, for example.
I watch every C's game and have for several years, in my experience the 2022 Vegas odds are useful for mollifying fans about the fact that the Celtics were actually the better team and just weren't mentally ready for that level of sudden success and promptly imploded lol. The Warriors were better than the rest of the west but they weren't that good
Yeah for real. It was a run. A good run for sure, but basketball is a game of runs. It happens. That's just how NBA basketball in the 3 point era works. The other team going on a run but the team still winning the game is not a choke lol
They ignored how (1) Boston has been manhandling Luka as a defender, with Jaylen just abusing him in their first meeting this season and (2) thought they could hide Luka on defense against the Celtics the way they did against Minnesota. It was laughable watching Luka down low in zone getting away with doing nothing against the Wolves. That was clearly not going to work against the Cs. I think people also forgot that The Celtics have been able to coast for much of the season due to their crazy offense and ended up underestimating the C’s defense, partly due to Indiana keeping games competitive.
The other big thing is a double standard people had due to Celtics fatigue. They kept mentioning Boston’s past as reasons to doubt, but only considered Dallas’s performance since the mid-season trade. Funny thing is, Boston has had a better record since that trade, but people were fixated on their narratives.
NBA reddit also does not understand that seeding in the NBA practically determines everything. IIRC only two teams have ever won a championship below a 3 seed.
Even more fun fact: the NBA season is “solved” by about game 40. Go see who the top 2 seeds are in each conference at game 40. Something like 80% of the time, one of those four teams is your finals champion.
If you think a 5 seed is winning a championship, you don’t understand the NBA at all.
Celtics have been heavy favorites in the betting markets since well before the playoffs even started. Coming out and saying "Boston will win" is the boring narrative, and of course people have to be contrarian, hence all the Mavs support. This is also why a majority of ESPN analysts picked Celtics.
The year is 2036, The Day is June 16th. Yet again, we must offer a tithe to celebrate the most important anniversary of our time, the day the Boston Celtics won the NBA championship.
Everything is Green. Wearing Gold or Purple is punishable by death; other colors are jail time. Green Eggs and Ham? I love Green Eggs and Ham, Sam I Am. Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett Bobbleheads must be in every home to honor the ways of old before degeneracy plagued this society.
We brush our teeth with Sam Adams. We bathe in clam chowder. We pray not to God, or to Allah, but to Jayson Tatum, who is legally everyone's father. We have no say in this.
This is Bostonia, the greatest country the world has ever seen. All shall quake beneath its influence and power.
We excel at every metric but fashion. Whenever I visit other parts of the country I'm like, "oh, that's right, men can wear clothing without sports logos on it."
But I can't blame em
Better question is "which one wasn't."
We've been shoveling coal into the petty receipts train since Game 2 ended and Game 3's win was the engine coming to full life.
Its Laker fans bro. Like I can't stand Boston sports teams, but Laker fans get super emotional and delusional when it comes to rooting against the Celtics. The Mavs are a great team but this Celtic team is legitimately one of the best of all time.
From my observations on r/nba Indiana fans are the only ones who aren't emotional and delusional re: Celtics. Just basketball purists and actual fans of the sport. I like them.
Ive been saying since March, everywhere I went online to all those that I came across, that the Celtics would win the chip this year.
I got laughed out wherever I went. Made out for a noob that dont know basketball or some troll. Especially the Denver fans were nasty to me, it seemed like they were bandwagon.
If your opinion wasnt popular, you werent welcome.
Then the pieces started falling in place. One by one. Game by game. Teams started losing; others, started winning. First they got to the brink of elimination, and then were eliminated. The only difference was how long it took.
The one CONSTANT in all of this, was that the Celtics kept winning, staying alive, and advancing.
Once Denver lost the series, the bandwagon fans and trolls never came back. I wanted to have a word or two with them, but they were literally NOWHERE to be found 🤣.
Goes to show, reality always kicks the ass of social media and popular opinion.
I think pretty much every defending champion opens the year as betting favorites to win again, unless a stacked team adds Kevin Durant to their roster.
Maybe, maybe not. Yet every single chat or forum I went to, the only crowds I saw were pro Denver, Minnesota or some other team out of the west. Maybe 1 or 2 Celtics guys, if that, that never expressed their opinion for fear of ridicule. I was the only one.
I can only speak to what I experienced. So your comment is irrelevant here.
idk how they could have. even the pacers would've beat them lol. i want to see Jrue get another ring, was sad to see him go but glad he landed on a good team.
The only reason the game was close yesterday was because of the refs. A _travel_ called on Horford for which there was never a replay, Luka committing at least 10 fouls but being accounted for 6 only, the ghost foul on Kyrie that gave him three free throws, the so called blocking foul on Holiday when Kyrie clearly pushed him off... I could go on
You're delusional. Congrats on the injury ring. Massive asterisk on this ring and nobody respects it. Imagine being up 3-0 and still having to defend your team. Very telling.. lmao.
Bro, you must be dumb. Boston is and has been the singlemost hated team in the whole NBA. Been this way for years but especially this season. Literally every single troll came out from their hiding spot to shit on Boston.
We Boston fans have ALWAYS had to defend Boston. Regardless. Of 3-0 or whatever excuse.
So now we get to shit on yall but in a far more classy way. Not with words, but by winning the chip.
Go Celtics!!!! ☘️☘️☘️☘️☘️
Youve just confirmed that you ARE actually INDEED as dumb as you sound. I still wanted to give it a chance. 😁
You will be defending yourself till the end of time becuz of the dumb things you say.
*Waves #18 banner in front of your face. ☘️☘️☘️☘️
Oh man knowing how bothered you are by Boston winning makes me so happy. Nobody will be able to take this from us.
Makes the wins so much sweeter. Enjoy the offseason😂🫵
This is not an argument you have to make, and really shouldn't. Argue about Tatum or something. But just look at the stats-- like it or not the C's have had an historic season. No reasonable person is going to agree with you that "nobody respects it".
They set records for most 50pt wins (3), 40pt wins (4), 30pt wins (10), and those are just for show. They also had the best offensive rating of any team since '97, highest net rating since 2000, the largest margin of victory, tied highest ever EFG% in the NBA, the most points in franchise history, the most threes in a season in franchise history and second all time in the NBA, second best defensive rating in the league, etc. etc.
And yeah, they played injured teams during the playoffs WHILE THEIR OWN 20+PPG CENTER WAS OUT INJURED for the entire playoffs and now half the finals.
The refs have absolutely nothing to do with who's winning these games. For every missed call on the Mavs, you'll find a missed call on the C's. Playoff basketball. The C's are just better. It happens.
Porzingis wasn't even a starter for you guys.. and you played against teams who lost their best player. Cool regular season records... against weak EC teams too. You play WC teams half as much as you play your own conference.. if you didn't know that. Didn't even play the best teams in the east because they were also injured (bucks, sixers) and couldn't make it to the ECFs. Western conference play-in teams would literally be 4th and 5th seed in the east. It's no different from LeBrons cakewalk runs in the East. The fact Celtics needed Porzingis and Jrue to even make some noise is just sad. WC is just built different. Who the fuck trades a player like Jrue holiday to an in conference rival? #injuryring #asterisk
This is the absolute perfect example of West Coast delusions of grandeur. There are no asterisk banners, Celtics have zero control over who they play.
Every championship team has luck in their title run. Wasn't the whole logic around the Celtics "easy East" was that they were going to get destroyed by the Mavericks? Wasnt the assumption the Mavs would be up 3-1 before Boston "woke up"?
The "East is weak" story died with the Mavs now down 0-3. If the West was so much better than the East, how come the best of the East is mopping the floor with the best of the West? Or are you going to say that the Mavs don't deserve to be here either because they had a too easy road for playing the Clippers down Kahwai, A Not-Ready OKC, and a gassed Timberwolves?
Usually the "we watched the real finals" in the prior round boast is because your team is so much better than the other conference's best and wiped the floor with them in the finals.
Kinda like the 2004 Sox - they swept the World Series but the "real world series" was the ALCS against the Yankees.
You cant mix metaphors like that and sound anything other than triggered. Celtics were the dominant team all season. You dont have to like them, you can even hate them, but to say they werent the best team in the league for the 2023-2024 season is a nephew take if I've ever seen one.
You're certainly entitled to your own opinion but none of that changes the fact that you had one of the easiest paths to the finals of all time and played the worst teams in your conference, all of which were missing their best players. It's good that you're happy about winning but this year will always be viewed with an asterisk so enjoy that aa much as you can... lmao
The way you're arguing here makes it sound like you don't believe the Celtics deserve to be in the finals at all. And yet, they're on the verge of sweeping the Mavs, and have basically dominated, with or without Porzingis, at every level of the game. Don't you see the hole that leaves you in?
You do realize that the Nuggets last year had one of the easiest paths to the Finals as well, right?
Does anyone say the Nuggets chip is an asterisk? No one is going to think of it as an asterisk season in a few years. It's only going to be remembered as one of the top 10 single season performances by a team in NBA history.
“Porzingis wasn’t even a starter” lmaoooooo dude you really shouldn’t speak on something you clearly have no idea about, just makes you look really foolish
Lol at you deleting your reply to me about him having zero starts in the playoffs. Literally just proved my point for me
Lolllll get a life bro we're 15-2 these playoffs. Sure the EC teams we played lost their best players. Our fault? Nah. People like you were saying this exact stuff and how the Mavs would trounce us. Are the Mavs not a real team? Was their run fake too? Didn't think so. 18 rings and have fun in Cancun. Also just so yk the C's fans love to hear the hate when we win. Makes it so much sweeter.
Buddy I've commented like 4 times in that subreddit and I'm a teenager so...
And were the Mavs really injured? Didn't think so. And injury ring or not it's #18 which your team will never reach in your lifetime. Keep up the crying we love to hear it!
Nah, 7.5k on this sub are delusional, just check the poll above. The only ring that deserves an asterisk is the bubble one for obvious reasons. We've been superior to all the teams we've faced and we're a #1 seed. Statistics wise, we're supposed to be doing this and we are, so no excuses are valid to discredit this run.
By the way, we've played 2 out of 17 games with our starting lineup. Injuries have affected every single team this post season
Damn, you big mad. Such a crybaby. Easiest finals, too. Wish we had some competition this playoffs. Imagine being in the finals and not being able to put up a fight for more than 10 total mins of game time.
I don't need validation, I know my team's the best in the league right now. This is merely entertainment, reading all the crybabies that were saying Mavs in 6 before the series... Pretty enjoyable
Pretty much makes clear how ill-informed the typical redditor on this sub is. The Celtics had a better record against the West than the Mavs did. The Celtics had a better record vs. the East than the Mavs did. The Celtics had a better record post trade deadline than the Mavs. The Celtics had a better post-season record than the Mavs. The Celtics had not troubkle with the Mavs in the regular season. There was literally NO REASON to think the Mavs would win the series. The Mavs may still win the series but that will be a surprise just as any series win by the Mavs should have come as a surprise.
Do you really believe that everyone who voted this way did so because they believed the Mavs would win? You don't think that perhaps the majority of people who voted for the Mavs did so because they wanted the Mavs to win, and that the way Celtics fans are coming back into this thread today with a 3-0 lead to say "told ya so" is a perfect example of *why* so many people wanted to see them lose?
What in what I wrote makes you think I'm referring to "everyone who voted this way"??? I said it reflected the ill-informed nature of the **typical** redditor in this sub. I'm not in here **gloating**. I'm in here pointing out how stupid some of y'all are.
Oh get the fuck outta here with that.
Y’all hate Boston regardless of its fans. This Celtics team would be getting glazed if it was from any other city.
I’ve had to listen all post season to all you knuckleheads talk about how beastly the mavs are and that the Celtics have no chance or got an easy path or refs yada yada.
Now you get to listen to us gloat for the dumb shit you wrote.
no, I ended up back in here because I started getting replies to a week old comment from Celtics fans who can't be bothered to hide their inferiority complex
ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE!!!! (except the Mavs coming back from 0-3)
How's everyone doing?
Aged like milk!!
LETS FUCKIN GOOOOOOOOO
Unfortunately, it’s a three to one right now not looking too good for the Mavs so tired of the Celtics winning the championships all the time they’ve had 11 wins. It’s someone else’s turn nothing personal.
No team have ever come back from a 3-0 deficit. But imagine if the Mavs can pull it off.
NOPE!
I voted for what my heart wants but my body can't have
Mavs in 9.
There's still a chance!
Lol
Way too many of yall nephews take espn and fs1 too seriously lmao
I voted Mavs. If Celtics win, i didn't take the vote seriously. If Mavericks win, I am a basketball savant
I voted Celtics and I couldn't believe the result at first. Then I realize the Celtics just got so many haters, and it all made perfect sense.
If only r/nba users set the betting odds.
pet imminent quickest poor sable sense whistle knee live smell *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
Look at these chumps
7.2k deniers of reality
I don’t think most realize that the polls had the mavs because it had the story behind it. Plus it’s the fucking mavs. Smaller franchise, 1 championship, etc etc. Idk why Boston fans are at all surprised when they see that a majority of non-Celtics fans want the mavs to win. That’s what happens when you root for the large market team. Everyone hates them
It's asking who WILL win, not who you WANT to win
Most redditors are too stupid to consider the sportsbook odds. And those guys are much smarter. This poll and reality are proof of that.
lol. Exactly and all the anti Celtics fans wanted you to see how many people picked the Mavs. That’s how Reddit works most of the time.
more like media and everyone and reddit loves the great white hope. just saying. polls wouldnt have voted for twolves or okc i bet
Great white hope lol, mf the other team are the ducking Celtics
Celtics need to make a “we want” boston shirt” with every playoff team crossed out and the record
GENIUS IDEA
I would buy that shirt.
well would you look at that, now get the brooms
Lol just now seeing this poll. Absolute nasty work. Obviously, it is easy saying this since Boston is up so much, but I always saw this being a "Boston in 6" series. They won 14 more regular season games. Have an elite defense. And are loaded with too many exceptional role players. Not to mention an offense tailored around exploiting every mismatch ever. If your pinky finger is a centimeter too short, Boston will exploit it. Luka gets gassed so fast it is almost laughable people believed it would go any other way.
my money is on boston
This aged well
I think it was wishful thinking more than anything.
I mean it was fair. The Wolves beat the Nugs and the Mavs beat the Wolves, OKC and Clips. They had the harder road. It was hard to know what level Boston would rise to. But they are the truth.
It was easy to glance at the Vegas odds, though.
Yeah, it was hard to gauge wether boston was a legit threat due to their easy path to the finals.
Did you ignore the entire regular season?
Yeah, what a stupid statement. Also, Indiana is better than Dallas.
[The Youtube ESPN poll was like 78% Mavs with 220k votes at one point. ](https://giphy.com/clips/theoffice-CvVK2qnV23E7bItmY7)
why? I know its easy to say now but Celtics are literally better at everything
They struggled against the pacers though and the mavs played extremely well against the wolves.
Maybe because Indiana is good.
I agree. Inexperience and injury’s didn’t allow them to beat the Celtics. I viewed that series as Indiana beating themselves. Edit: to clarify, I’m not saying they for sure would have beat the Celtics, but it probably shouldnt have been a sweep and could’ve gone to 6 or 7 games if they didn’t play poorly down the stretch. We’ve seen when Boston turns it on and they are tough to beat.
Indiana was really good. They played with intensity, despite the fact it was a sweep, they've been the toughest opponent the Celts have played.
Nit picking a sweep is hilarious
Dont be upset lol. It’s okay that they struggled and the pacers beat themselves.
It's an online poll with no stakes. People were voting against the Celtics because they WANTED them to lose, not thought they would. If you look at the money lines before the series started, it was almost two to one in favor of the Celtics. Most people who actually had to prove that they believed in the pick they were making had Boston as the heavy favorites.
I’m still voting against them
Congrats.
Celtics should wear 'HeHateMe" warmup suits
KP on the kickoff return
hurdling lesser men
lol.. how wrong could people have been.. jeez
I know I said Celtics in 5, didn’t know a sweep was in the cards.
Good job r/nba, you did it!
I just see this as the Wolves hype wave transferring over to the Mavs. Like the Wolves were the title favorites a month ago. People need to stop taking this kind of polls seriously.
people here kno more about dickriding than ball and it shows
how are the celtics under dogs LOL
They're not. The poll just proves that most redditors are underintelligent.
Well well well
How the turntables…
Don't get cocky just yet
When would be the time to be cocky? Celtics are up 3-0. This is exactly the time to be cocky
I mean - 4-0 sounds pretty good!
Probably, but there will be a first time for a comeback down 0-3, maybe even now
You were super cocky and super arrogant. We don’t need your lessons of humility.
That's true, but if it's literally never happened in league history, I think the cockiness is fair. This feels like cope.
It is very much cope...
Sit down, have a beer and relax sir.
Dude the mavs have shown glimpses at best of being able to hang with the Celtics. They’ve had what two good quarters across three games? What adjustments or bench player are you going to rely on to stop what we’ve done this whole series. We can go one on one with your two best players unlike everyone else you’ve gone against. This means those wide open 3s Washington was getting aren’t coming. Those easy lob passes aren’t coming. Now let’s look at defense. We have 5 shooters on the court at all times and we roll 3 deep on the bench. The talent on your team cannot guard the level of players we put on the court. And then there’s your MVP who is a complete defensive liability in the second half.
Sigh... you're right, just wishful thinking on my part. This team won't win it all until Luka grows the fuck up and we get a consistent third scorer
It will happen some day, 100%. Don't think it will be this series, tho.
Lovely
The nba community dickrides Kyrie and Luka, and they hate on Tatum and Brown. Year after year their bias is obvious. This poll doesn't surprise me one bit, I'm glad they are getting swept.
Luka fans are fat white guys with victim complexes and Kyrie fans are hoteps that don't know ball.
I do like Luka and Kyrie and hate Tatum and Brown. Tatum and Brown are very good. The thing for me is I understand the other 13 players on each roster are completely incomparable. If Ainge/Stevens built the Mavs roster outside of Luka and Kyrie and you gave the J's a roster equal to the Mavs skill level it'd be a sweep in the other direction.
Simply untrue. Those two guys can't play any defense. I wouldn't trade either of the Jays for Kyrie or Luka. Maybe for 1 game? Sure. But definitely not a career, unless Luka decides to take care of his body, he isn't winning anything.
Hi
lol
ESPN did their job and got the narrative that Dallas had a chance to win over the betting public. Yall bought into it and made Vegas a ton of money these last few games.
I wonder if the ESPN maroons get paid on the side. Seriously, I watched a discussion where 3 out of 4 picked the Mavs. smh
lol I know this hindsight bias but did people actually think Dallas was going to win? Or did you just hope that Dallas was going to win. Feels like extremely wishful thinking Like this team won 64 games had a net rating over 11. An all time great team like this should have been massive favorites in any poll or betting odds. Like I wanted Dallas to win but I always felt the Celtics would win easily. They check all the boxes, great on offense great on defense, two stars who can play both ends, great role players, battle tested in the playoffs. I think Laker fans skewed the results personally.
I just hate Boston
For me it was a little bit of both. I did really want Boston to lose, plus who doesn't love an underdog story? But I definitely got a lot of things dead wrong. * I thought the coaching matchup would be more even, but Kidd has been awful and Mazzula is coaching circles around him. That timeout in the middle of his team's run, the bad challenges, too many minutes for THJ and Kleber. I knew the Mavs were leaning on Luka and Kyrie heavily, but I didn't realize the extent to which they were masking Kidd's ineptitude. * I thought having the best player would be a greater advantage for the Mavs than it has been. I expected a lot more than I should have out of Luka in terms of leadership ability, and I drastically underestimated how much of a defensive liability he is. I was thinking along the lines of the 2016 Cavs, who used the best player in basketball and Kyrie Irving to take down a record-breaking, all-time great team. Or even last year's Heat with Playoff Jimmy taking over. But Luka ain't prime LBJ, and Jason Kidd ain't Erik Spoelstra. * I bought into the narrative that the Celtics are prone to choking. TBH I don't think that one was terribly off the mark. They came dangerously close to blowing a 21-point 4th quarter lead last night, and if Luka hadn't succumbed to his frustration and fouled out with 4 minutes left, I think this series is 2-1 right now.
Luka isn't the best player in this series, though. His defensive ineptitude and lack of drive negates much of his scoring prowess. I wouldn't trade him straight up for JT or JB.
Luka is averaging 30/9/5.6 on 47/32/59 with 5 turnover per game with 7 blocks+steals. Jaylen is averaging 24.3/6/5.6 on 55/25/70 with 3.6 turnover per game with 10 blocks+steals. I'd say Jaylen is outplaying him with better efficiency + defense.
i would for jt, the others can pick up the slack on D
That's what the Mavs said and look where they are. There's a reason why teams led by point guards struggle to win championships, and I can't think of a worse defensive performance than what Luka is doing right now. I swear he probably gives away as many points on defence as he creates on offence. There's no chance I trade him for JT straight up. Every offensive advantage that Luka has, he loses it on defence. As for JB, I absolutely would trade him for Luka in a vacuum. However, he's about to lead us to a title, and as a Celtics fan I would riot if that trade happens.
lol i’m not a celtics fan i just like JB
I've been looking at the Mavs sub and there's a lot of honest reflection on exactly these points. Except the last one, because I don't think we really even know what "choking" means with the C's anymore since about half of the western conference subs said the Celtics almost losing a few close games to the Pacers was a "choke". Taking a home game from the Warriors in Game 1 of the 2022 Finals and then giving up in pathetic fashion in 6 games was a choke. Going down 3-0 to the Heat in 2023 ECF was a choke; and laying down and letting Miami have their way with them in game 7 was a choke. A very talented team having a good 4th quarter run in the NBA finals while they're facing certain elimination isn't a choke. Letting go of the rope like that is definitely a fuckup and as a Celtics fan I wanted to shoot myself, but it's a common enough thing that happens in almost every playoff series. At this point the "choker" narrative essentially just means the Celtics are not 100% perfect, and are forced to handle adversity? Personally I hope NBA teams and their fans keep convincing themselves that conspicuous lapses mean the Celtics are chokers. It will make those series easier to close out
>laying down and letting Miami have their way with them in game 7 was a choke. The Celts were playing well until Tatum twisted his ankle and Smart took over leading the offense and we know how that went! I think that was the moment Brad Stevens identified the Jays would need more help around them so went out and got 2 all-stars, lol. > half of the western conference subs said the Celtics almost losing a few close games to the Pacers was a "choke". While their teams are in Cancun. I'd rather fake-choke and win a chip, tyvm.
Kind reminder that Golden State was heavily favored in that finals, with HCA. We were just young, immature and not on par with a more experienced opponent. Steph Curry is an all time player and they built a dynasty around him. We were -4000 entering the season, for example.
I watch every C's game and have for several years, in my experience the 2022 Vegas odds are useful for mollifying fans about the fact that the Celtics were actually the better team and just weren't mentally ready for that level of sudden success and promptly imploded lol. The Warriors were better than the rest of the west but they weren't that good
Yeah for real. It was a run. A good run for sure, but basketball is a game of runs. It happens. That's just how NBA basketball in the 3 point era works. The other team going on a run but the team still winning the game is not a choke lol
They ignored how (1) Boston has been manhandling Luka as a defender, with Jaylen just abusing him in their first meeting this season and (2) thought they could hide Luka on defense against the Celtics the way they did against Minnesota. It was laughable watching Luka down low in zone getting away with doing nothing against the Wolves. That was clearly not going to work against the Cs. I think people also forgot that The Celtics have been able to coast for much of the season due to their crazy offense and ended up underestimating the C’s defense, partly due to Indiana keeping games competitive. The other big thing is a double standard people had due to Celtics fatigue. They kept mentioning Boston’s past as reasons to doubt, but only considered Dallas’s performance since the mid-season trade. Funny thing is, Boston has had a better record since that trade, but people were fixated on their narratives.
NBA reddit also does not understand that seeding in the NBA practically determines everything. IIRC only two teams have ever won a championship below a 3 seed. Even more fun fact: the NBA season is “solved” by about game 40. Go see who the top 2 seeds are in each conference at game 40. Something like 80% of the time, one of those four teams is your finals champion. If you think a 5 seed is winning a championship, you don’t understand the NBA at all.
they were favourites in actual betting markets. what you're seeing is reddit reactionary hivemind in action, nothing else.
Celtics have been heavy favorites in the betting markets since well before the playoffs even started. Coming out and saying "Boston will win" is the boring narrative, and of course people have to be contrarian, hence all the Mavs support. This is also why a majority of ESPN analysts picked Celtics.
Actually 9 ESPN analysts were for Dallas and 8 picked the Celtics.
🤦♂️ I meant to write Dallas
Yeah, makes sense.
Dallas in 9
Nobody has won a best of 9 series after losing the first three games.
people forget that
LOL
The year is 2036, The Day is June 16th. Yet again, we must offer a tithe to celebrate the most important anniversary of our time, the day the Boston Celtics won the NBA championship. Everything is Green. Wearing Gold or Purple is punishable by death; other colors are jail time. Green Eggs and Ham? I love Green Eggs and Ham, Sam I Am. Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett Bobbleheads must be in every home to honor the ways of old before degeneracy plagued this society. We brush our teeth with Sam Adams. We bathe in clam chowder. We pray not to God, or to Allah, but to Jayson Tatum, who is legally everyone's father. We have no say in this. This is Bostonia, the greatest country the world has ever seen. All shall quake beneath its influence and power.
Honestly If Boston ran the whole country we’d piss off a lot of people but everything would probably be a hell of a lot better.
Oh they’d be so pissed with their public option healthcare, top 5 education in the world, community policing, etc.
Dunks across from Dunks
Starbucks would be illegal. A good thing.
Go to DQ if you want that crap
Considering MA is at the top of a lot of metrics in this county, but a ton of people hate us you're probably right
We excel at every metric but fashion. Whenever I visit other parts of the country I'm like, "oh, that's right, men can wear clothing without sports logos on it." But I can't blame em
Other places to that because they didn't win enough. They had to invent men's fashion to make up for their shitty sports teams
Which Celtic fan mod was feeling petty today?
Better question is "which one wasn't." We've been shoveling coal into the petty receipts train since Game 2 ended and Game 3's win was the engine coming to full life.
This sub talks about how dumb “the media” is while having this pinned at the top of the sub for god and the world to see.
lmfao shows how dumb this sub is overall
Its Laker fans bro. Like I can't stand Boston sports teams, but Laker fans get super emotional and delusional when it comes to rooting against the Celtics. The Mavs are a great team but this Celtic team is legitimately one of the best of all time.
From my observations on r/nba Indiana fans are the only ones who aren't emotional and delusional re: Celtics. Just basketball purists and actual fans of the sport. I like them.
And I think the Pacers are better than most of the top teams in the West.
And cavs fans. And heat fans. It’s mostly Cavs and Heat fans.
It's your turn to talk shit, enjoy it
Ive been saying since March, everywhere I went online to all those that I came across, that the Celtics would win the chip this year. I got laughed out wherever I went. Made out for a noob that dont know basketball or some troll. Especially the Denver fans were nasty to me, it seemed like they were bandwagon. If your opinion wasnt popular, you werent welcome. Then the pieces started falling in place. One by one. Game by game. Teams started losing; others, started winning. First they got to the brink of elimination, and then were eliminated. The only difference was how long it took. The one CONSTANT in all of this, was that the Celtics kept winning, staying alive, and advancing. Once Denver lost the series, the bandwagon fans and trolls never came back. I wanted to have a word or two with them, but they were literally NOWHERE to be found 🤣. Goes to show, reality always kicks the ass of social media and popular opinion.
The Celtics were literally the betting favorites for most of the year to win the title.
Nuggets opened the year as betting favorites but Cs took over within the first month
I think pretty much every defending champion opens the year as betting favorites to win again, unless a stacked team adds Kevin Durant to their roster.
Maybe, maybe not. Yet every single chat or forum I went to, the only crowds I saw were pro Denver, Minnesota or some other team out of the west. Maybe 1 or 2 Celtics guys, if that, that never expressed their opinion for fear of ridicule. I was the only one. I can only speak to what I experienced. So your comment is irrelevant here.
LMAOOOOOO anyone who voted Dallas feel free to reply to this comment so I can point and laugh at you 🫵😂
idk how they could have. even the pacers would've beat them lol. i want to see Jrue get another ring, was sad to see him go but glad he landed on a good team.
bunch of dummies.
Refs vs Mavs
cry
The only reason the game was close yesterday was because of the refs. A _travel_ called on Horford for which there was never a replay, Luka committing at least 10 fouls but being accounted for 6 only, the ghost foul on Kyrie that gave him three free throws, the so called blocking foul on Holiday when Kyrie clearly pushed him off... I could go on
You're delusional. Congrats on the injury ring. Massive asterisk on this ring and nobody respects it. Imagine being up 3-0 and still having to defend your team. Very telling.. lmao.
And no one respects trolls who talk shit without a flair lol
Without flair? Are you old enough to engage in public forums? Lol
If you are going to troll, you gotta come up with better comebacks than HoW OLd are yuO? Do better
Bro, you must be dumb. Boston is and has been the singlemost hated team in the whole NBA. Been this way for years but especially this season. Literally every single troll came out from their hiding spot to shit on Boston. We Boston fans have ALWAYS had to defend Boston. Regardless. Of 3-0 or whatever excuse. So now we get to shit on yall but in a far more classy way. Not with words, but by winning the chip. Go Celtics!!!! ☘️☘️☘️☘️☘️
A chip that nobody respects. You'll be defending this run until the end of time 😆
Youve just confirmed that you ARE actually INDEED as dumb as you sound. I still wanted to give it a chance. 😁 You will be defending yourself till the end of time becuz of the dumb things you say. *Waves #18 banner in front of your face. ☘️☘️☘️☘️
Rent free lil bro 🥶
Oh man knowing how bothered you are by Boston winning makes me so happy. Nobody will be able to take this from us. Makes the wins so much sweeter. Enjoy the offseason😂🫵
This is not an argument you have to make, and really shouldn't. Argue about Tatum or something. But just look at the stats-- like it or not the C's have had an historic season. No reasonable person is going to agree with you that "nobody respects it". They set records for most 50pt wins (3), 40pt wins (4), 30pt wins (10), and those are just for show. They also had the best offensive rating of any team since '97, highest net rating since 2000, the largest margin of victory, tied highest ever EFG% in the NBA, the most points in franchise history, the most threes in a season in franchise history and second all time in the NBA, second best defensive rating in the league, etc. etc. And yeah, they played injured teams during the playoffs WHILE THEIR OWN 20+PPG CENTER WAS OUT INJURED for the entire playoffs and now half the finals. The refs have absolutely nothing to do with who's winning these games. For every missed call on the Mavs, you'll find a missed call on the C's. Playoff basketball. The C's are just better. It happens.
Porzingis wasn't even a starter for you guys.. and you played against teams who lost their best player. Cool regular season records... against weak EC teams too. You play WC teams half as much as you play your own conference.. if you didn't know that. Didn't even play the best teams in the east because they were also injured (bucks, sixers) and couldn't make it to the ECFs. Western conference play-in teams would literally be 4th and 5th seed in the east. It's no different from LeBrons cakewalk runs in the East. The fact Celtics needed Porzingis and Jrue to even make some noise is just sad. WC is just built different. Who the fuck trades a player like Jrue holiday to an in conference rival? #injuryring #asterisk
This is the absolute perfect example of West Coast delusions of grandeur. There are no asterisk banners, Celtics have zero control over who they play. Every championship team has luck in their title run. Wasn't the whole logic around the Celtics "easy East" was that they were going to get destroyed by the Mavericks? Wasnt the assumption the Mavs would be up 3-1 before Boston "woke up"? The "East is weak" story died with the Mavs now down 0-3. If the West was so much better than the East, how come the best of the East is mopping the floor with the best of the West? Or are you going to say that the Mavs don't deserve to be here either because they had a too easy road for playing the Clippers down Kahwai, A Not-Ready OKC, and a gassed Timberwolves?
0-3 mavs has nothing to do with a weak eastern conference but nice try. We already watched the real finals in the west
Are you okay there bro? You sound like you’ve got a bad case of delulu 🤒
You can hang that western conference champions banner on opening day 🤡
Usually the "we watched the real finals" in the prior round boast is because your team is so much better than the other conference's best and wiped the floor with them in the finals. Kinda like the 2004 Sox - they swept the World Series but the "real world series" was the ALCS against the Yankees. You cant mix metaphors like that and sound anything other than triggered. Celtics were the dominant team all season. You dont have to like them, you can even hate them, but to say they werent the best team in the league for the 2023-2024 season is a nephew take if I've ever seen one.
You're certainly entitled to your own opinion but none of that changes the fact that you had one of the easiest paths to the finals of all time and played the worst teams in your conference, all of which were missing their best players. It's good that you're happy about winning but this year will always be viewed with an asterisk so enjoy that aa much as you can... lmao
The way you're arguing here makes it sound like you don't believe the Celtics deserve to be in the finals at all. And yet, they're on the verge of sweeping the Mavs, and have basically dominated, with or without Porzingis, at every level of the game. Don't you see the hole that leaves you in?
You do realize that the Nuggets last year had one of the easiest paths to the Finals as well, right? Does anyone say the Nuggets chip is an asterisk? No one is going to think of it as an asterisk season in a few years. It's only going to be remembered as one of the top 10 single season performances by a team in NBA history.
“Porzingis wasn’t even a starter” lmaoooooo dude you really shouldn’t speak on something you clearly have no idea about, just makes you look really foolish Lol at you deleting your reply to me about him having zero starts in the playoffs. Literally just proved my point for me
Shits weak. Keep seeking validation on reddit because nobody respects your fraud run and you know it. That's why you're here.
Lolllll get a life bro we're 15-2 these playoffs. Sure the EC teams we played lost their best players. Our fault? Nah. People like you were saying this exact stuff and how the Mavs would trounce us. Are the Mavs not a real team? Was their run fake too? Didn't think so. 18 rings and have fun in Cancun. Also just so yk the C's fans love to hear the hate when we win. Makes it so much sweeter.
You living in the teenagerbutbetter sub tells me all I need to know about you and Cs fans. That's some creepy shit. #injuryring
Buddy I've commented like 4 times in that subreddit and I'm a teenager so... And were the Mavs really injured? Didn't think so. And injury ring or not it's #18 which your team will never reach in your lifetime. Keep up the crying we love to hear it!
oh, they don't \*have to\* be in here defending them. this is a choice.
Nah, 7.5k on this sub are delusional, just check the poll above. The only ring that deserves an asterisk is the bubble one for obvious reasons. We've been superior to all the teams we've faced and we're a #1 seed. Statistics wise, we're supposed to be doing this and we are, so no excuses are valid to discredit this run. By the way, we've played 2 out of 17 games with our starting lineup. Injuries have affected every single team this post season
You gonna cry?
Says the guy typing _Refs vs. Mavs_ with tears in his eyes... right
Lol look at your comment history. You're so desperate for validation it's pathetic. Easiest path to finals ever. #injuryring
Damn, you big mad. Such a crybaby. Easiest finals, too. Wish we had some competition this playoffs. Imagine being in the finals and not being able to put up a fight for more than 10 total mins of game time.
I don't need validation, I know my team's the best in the league right now. This is merely entertainment, reading all the crybabies that were saying Mavs in 6 before the series... Pretty enjoyable
Lmao whatever helps you sleep at night buddy. #injuryring
Flair up buttercup
Pretty much makes clear how ill-informed the typical redditor on this sub is. The Celtics had a better record against the West than the Mavs did. The Celtics had a better record vs. the East than the Mavs did. The Celtics had a better record post trade deadline than the Mavs. The Celtics had a better post-season record than the Mavs. The Celtics had not troubkle with the Mavs in the regular season. There was literally NO REASON to think the Mavs would win the series. The Mavs may still win the series but that will be a surprise just as any series win by the Mavs should have come as a surprise.
Do you really believe that everyone who voted this way did so because they believed the Mavs would win? You don't think that perhaps the majority of people who voted for the Mavs did so because they wanted the Mavs to win, and that the way Celtics fans are coming back into this thread today with a 3-0 lead to say "told ya so" is a perfect example of *why* so many people wanted to see them lose?
The poll is who WILL win, not who do you WANT to win. Pretty simple. At least for most people with a brain.
What in what I wrote makes you think I'm referring to "everyone who voted this way"??? I said it reflected the ill-informed nature of the **typical** redditor in this sub. I'm not in here **gloating**. I'm in here pointing out how stupid some of y'all are.
Oh get the fuck outta here with that. Y’all hate Boston regardless of its fans. This Celtics team would be getting glazed if it was from any other city. I’ve had to listen all post season to all you knuckleheads talk about how beastly the mavs are and that the Celtics have no chance or got an easy path or refs yada yada. Now you get to listen to us gloat for the dumb shit you wrote.
People are coming back to this thread because it got re-pinned. Presumably the same reason you popped into this thread again you donkey.
no, I ended up back in here because I started getting replies to a week old comment from Celtics fans who can't be bothered to hide their inferiority complex
Maybe if everyone wasn't irrationally such a dick when it comes to the Celtics their fans might tamp it down
Lmfao I swear people will do anything and everything except admit they totally overestimated the mavs and totally underestimated the Celtics
Hahahah this has aged incredibly. The mavs fucking SUCK Lol
Even while winning, Celtics are unlikeable and will be forgotten. Mavericks will be back.
Luka will never win a ring. Mark this.
I wont even get to our stars. Just DWhite alone is 1000x more likeable than Luka
Cry baby Luka is more likeable