Dallas Mavericks have NO SHOT vs. Boston Celtics in 2024 NBA Finals | Colin Cowherd + Jason Timpf

Dallas Mavericks have NO SHOT vs. Boston Celtics in 2024 NBA Finals | Colin Cowherd + Jason Timpf

welcome to the official YouTube channel for the Colin coward podcast go on hit the Subscribe button there you go right down there if you want to be among the first to hear my weekly takes NFL college football more right there there there is talk that you can’t flip a switch but when I think there’s a disparity between teams like I think Boston will be much more engaged uh in the in the in finals also uh I think the last game of the NBA Finals is scheduled for like you know late June I don’t know what they’re going to do with this I mean I are they gonna start the finals Saturday night if Dallas closes it out I mean they may just get you I looked tonight I’m like how are they gonna how are they going to stretch this out that’s baseball makes that mistake sometimes where people get into these series and baseball is an everyday game and then you get into a playoff series and there’s three days off well it’s in the football season it’s October you lose me if you you know if I want watch the Braves and the Dodgers in the NLCS you can’t go three days off you lose me so I don’t know what the NBA is going to do with their final schedule but I do think Boston’s a team this is a team now you go Marcus Mar to Drew holiday uh you know a little more of a legacy player for zingus has made some BigTime money been viewed as a unicorn a star so I think it it’s hard when these guys look at Indiana and they’re like they’re terrible defensively they’re awfully young they probably wouldn’t be here without some injuries to the Knicks so I think you know I I was thinking about this Jason the two easiest ways to win a championship it’s to be part of a dynasty those are hard to construct but once you have it you have lots of players usually a great coach you know dynasties get rolling play with confidence so um you know once you win your first or second with the bulls the third feels like it’s easier the second way is as an underdog that comes out of nowhere with no pressure derking the Mavericks over the heat the hardest way to win a championship is when you don’t have one yet we’re expecting one for years and you go in as a favorite and I look at this Boston team Dallas I thinking we just put this thing together we just Shuffle the cards threw it on the table I think Boston’s gonna have a lot of pressure in the finals what there is going to be a lot of pressure and they’re not going to they in all likelihood Luca is the best player going into that series too which is another interesting element you know one of the things one of the biggest lessons I’ve learn learned from this Dallas Minnesota series is that we got to stop looking at the championship picture within the context of individual teams but rather look at it through matchups because you go out of the second round and you’re like oh man Minnesota look at what they did to Denver they they have everyone’s number clearly they’re the best team in the league and it’s like well actually they have a very specific weakness which is Rim protection because Anthony Edwards loves to get downhill and attack the rim right you go against Denver who can’t protect the rim and you go against Phoenix with Yousef nkit who can’t protect the rim ants just slicing and dicing him all series long all of a sudden Dallas has a freaky athlete and Derrick Jones Jr to put on the ball and an elite couple of Rim protectors and Derrick Lively and Daniel Gafford and they look flumix they look like they don’t know what to do when the game really slows down and so I have to kind of take that into the finals as well and as we look into the finals you know if it ends up being Dallas Boston you know Luca is going to be the best player in the series one of the biggest issu for Boston and it’s a big part of why Indiana scored on them as effectively as they did Boston has been the worst pick and roll defense in the playoffs to this point and a lot of that has to do with porzingis being out but what do we know that Luca is gonna do Luca is gonna pick on Al Horford every single opportunity he gets just like you’re seeing Indiana do so often over the course of the series picking on him uh whenever they have an opportunity opportunity to in ball screens and so honestly like there’s a lot of advantages that Dallas brings to the table that said Boston does just have a ton of talent and they have one specific thing that I think is super fascinating Jason Tatum is one of the few athletes in the league who’s actually big and strong enough to cause some issues for Luca and so I think that’s kind of an interesting matchup piece going into that series and so like I don’t I don’t necessarily think that uh that Boston’s Talent or Dallas having survived the West means anything we got to look at this in a vacuum and Boston has has a lot of advantages Dallas has a lot of advantages it’s going to be really interesting to to dig into but you’re right Boston is going to go into that series a substantial favorite I think they’re over I think right now on DraftKings are already something like minus 220 to win the title like there’s a ton of pressure again if Jason Tatum does get badly outplayed by Luca in that series after what happened with Steph in 2022 that would be a disaster so I do think pressure will play a role but I think Boston being at home to start helps and the big time off helps a lot too because you were talking about the finals schedule it’s set they’re not playing game one till June 6th so if Dallas wins Tomorrow there’s going to be eight is that true June there’s going to be eight consecutive days off if Dall Dallas wins tomorrow couple things there luc’s got a bad knee that’s really good for his knee chrisop porzingis a little bit extra time to get back from that calf injury so we could be seeing very different versions of both of these teams when we get to that point I you know for what could have been a much more entertaining Conference Finals Dallas Boston feels like a pretty damn good NBA final aren’t you excited about that no I think it I said this today on FS1 I worked today and I I said this is as good as it gets I have a huge brand in the Celtics with two stars who have played together for years so people know the story um I’ve got Mark Cuban and Dirk nitzki made the Mavericks they punch above their weight that’s a real brand it’s not the Lakers Warrior Celtics but it’s a real brand you have two stars one of them controversial Kyrie Irving you have the boston Kyrie Factor you have the pressure on the Celtics to finally come on guys you’ve been to a final so you’re gonna have a favorite this is as good as the NBA can do I mean I I love watching Denver play but I don’t think they break through nationally I don’t think Minnesota does I don’t think OKC does I think the Knicks will if they could get a Paul George or one more highly effective Wing player but this is really good there’s there’s I think it’s going to be a great final I didn’t know um I I was just sitting here looking tonight so you’re right isn’t that crazy that’s a long break that’s a whole playoff series you’re well you’re lucky that um you know because baseball’s had long breaks and it’s just a killer in October because there’s a college football pro football I mean Fox is now running college football games on Friday you just can’t do that in football season you can do it now um it’s funny I my takeaway I said this on the air today if porzingis plays I like Boston barely but I do think I’ll I’ll tell you a series it reminds me of 2000 Blazers Lakers the Celtics of the Blazers Blazers had arvus Steve Smith and Scotty Pippen and bony Wells and damid stanmire Rasheed Wallace they had more quality players than the Lakers did the Lakers had Kobe and sha and a really experienced coach multiple times in that series the Blazers gave them fits Lakers couldn’t stop Rasheed Wallace there were m multiple matchup issues for the Lakers but they had Shaq and Kobe and I kind of feel like the League’s never been this gifted offensively ever that’s never looked like this and increasingly in these series you know it’s just like who’s going to get the shots I mean Minnesota is the best defensive team in the league people were targeting Rudy goar it’s like that’s the best defensive player go after him it’s a different ball game you when you got seven Footers that have to come and defend the perimeter it’s a different world and I could just see this series you know aggressive teams win they went and got I mean they first of all they hired Nico Harrison from Nike then they get Kyrie then the trade deadline I mean they took big swings and sports reward so I there’s an aggressive culture with this team and don’t you feel a little bit like Dallas with Kyrie’s temperament feels like we should take advantage of the opportunity we have this this may not be in the this might be one year one or two well yeah I mean don’t you think Jason there there is a sense with Dallas like let’s get this this is the time you know that Maverick Dirk team it was a jumalia it was it was a bunch of stuff thrown together that the tarmac wasn’t very long on it so I the more I think about this I’m like man it feels like seven and it feels like Luca is going to hit a shot it really does like I just it’s so hard for me I that Blazer Lakers series I felt six games hell I felt going into the fourth quarter the Blazers were the better team in the series and then Kobe and sha do their thing and do you have a strong feeling either way yeah so I I find the dynamic to be super fascinating in the sense that Boston is this super talented team they have four guys that make over 30 million and they all deserve to if they all were free agents tomorrow they’d all make over 30 million and then Chris uh excuse me Derek white is the one guy who doesn’t he makes like 18 and if he was a free agent tomorrow he’d make 30 35 million because he’s so he’s yeah he’d have a huge Mark he’s arguably their third their second or third best player I’d say probably their third best player right and so like they have an absurd amount of talent it’s very equal opportunity We’ve joked on the show it’s like Vibes it’s like you take this possession you take that possession it’s like when they won game three it’s like Drew holiday just decides to randomly attack Pascal sakam at the end of the game and get a bucket Jason even Al Horford has Knights I mean Al Horford could drop 23 you’d never be shocked yeah they they look they almost look like a different version of themselves every night whereas like Dallas it’s like every single Dallas Mavericks basketball game I’ve watched since luuka got drafted has looked more or less the same you know what I mean where it’s like there’s a corner three-point shooter there’s a corner three-point shooter there’s a lob threat and then there’s a guy on the opposite wing and then there’s usually a secondary Creator whether it’s Jaylen Brunson or it’s you know Kyrie Irving or it’s Spencer dwy right and so like and so what I find fascinating about the build is like this to me is the maximized version of the Luca Dallas Mavericks construction right you’ve got Luca playing the best basketball he’s ever played in his life you’ve got the best number two he’s ever played with Kyrie Irving who’s playing who’s playing the best basketball he’s played in a long time right and he’s also defending at a much higher level than he has in in recent Seasons you’ve got they’ve got legitimate Wing Defenders Derrick Jones Jr was a veteran minimum contract who’s been one of the best perimeter guys in the league he’s done an awesome job Anthony Edwards in this playoff series PJ Washington has been Super Value valuable for them in all three rounds and then they’ve got two vertical spacers right and so in Gafford and Lively and both of them have been big-time defensive threats for them at various points during the season and so what I find fascinating is it’s very much like a a star driven con construct with guys playing Super focused roles guard the other team’s best player hit a corner three you know protect the screen and roll hard with Luca like they have super focused roles versus Boston where it’s like everyone’s kind of a Swiss army knife doing something different on any given night even defensively they’ll have Tatum guard a center they’ll have drew holiday guard a center they’ll put Al Horford on Pascal seak because that’s archetype he has success with so it’s like I find it really fascinating that they’re two very very different team constructs that said like one of the things that I worry about for Dallas in the series is they can they have the ability to put some more size and strength on Luca than Minnesota does what I found really interesting in the Thunder series Lou Dort built like a linebacker caused Luca some problems Jaden McDaniels a more highly regarded perimeter Defender is getting bullied by Luca because he’s skinny and gangly and Luca can just shove him off and get wherever he wants Tatum’s got some real size and strength Jaylen Brown is a more strong and stout lower uh like base than a guy like Jen McDaniels Drew holiday is a famous like fir truck built like really low strong kind of Base so they have a lot of big strong bodies to throw at LCA and then the second piece of it is one of the big reasons why Minnesota’s offense is struggling so bad in this series is they’re really struggling to get the ball to the weak side and Anthony Edwards is struggling to like dissect their defense with their aggressive coverages Boston is awesome at getting the ball moving around to Shooters and like they will get you in space and one of the things they did until halberton got hurt they literally every single time down the floor were targeting halberton every single time whether it was through Tatum and brown or or Tatum and drick white or whether it was through Jaylen Brown and and Drew holiday they were attacking him every single time they will do the same to Luca and they will try to wear him down and so I I would say that I lean towards Boston as well but I do believe that this Dallas defense is really good and if they can play Boston into some poor shooting performances if a guy like a PJ Washington or Derrick Jones Jr can have a similar effect on Tatum that uh uh that some other guys have had in the past like like Andrew Wiggins did in the 2022 finals if they have some success there I think they have a shot but I I would lean Boston at this point yeah I mean even getting the kid out of Duke Lively who was viewed just you don’t get many players out a college basketball that can play not only in the NBA can play but play for a really good team and get minutes so it’s like they they even Dallas even throws that at you where they got a college kid now he I don’t know how much you know again the finals are different like it it feels really different the finals even feel different than the Conference Finals there’s much more tension uh I don’t think Boston has played with even I they feel like they’re playing at about 80% like this game was a great example where I’m like oh God if I have to have another TJ McConnell shot give me a break and I just felt like okay this this seven-point lead is gonna evaporate and all of a sudden you could just sense it was like okay Boston started getting a couple of really nice defensive sets then they hit Derek white from the corner and you’re like okay Boston really picked their spots to be engaged and they were good enough I don’t think that’s what we’ll see I think they know what they’re in for I’ll I’ll say this again the most fascinating part of it is Tatum will sign a big so Jaylen Brown got his money porzingis has his uh Derek white has some but Jason Tatum’s gonna sign his max when the season’s over so you’ll be fine if they don’t win it this year for one more Year’s run but if you lost to Dallas this year last year next year would be so pressurized for Boston like this is it fellas so I kind of feel like you want to get it now not later because once Tatum signs it’s like okay guys this is it we got no bench you can forget your bench it’s over Connie that’s I’ll I’ll Circle back again I think that’s the one thing about Boston I could see him getting really tight really tight in this series well and to your point the as you get into the future there’s also the second apron rules that come into effect too where Boston could be very handicapped in terms of what they’re or handcuffed I should say in terms of what they’re allowed to do to to do things to supplement the roster uh like you can’t even use the taxpayer mid-level exception when you’re in the second apron like you can’t even sign anybody unless it’s a veteran minimum contract over the summer like there’s a lot of of restrictions that come into play when you have that type of salary on your roster I think like the big key to watch is Jason Tatum like if they lose and it’s a competitive six 67 game series and you feel like Tatum goes toe-to-toe with Luca you’re fine but the one the one thing that I think would actually be real crisis for Boston is what if they go in and they lose in games uh in the NBA finals in Tatum’s bad because if that happens it’s like oh wait this whole construct is flawed because our best guy can’t go toe-to-toe with the other best guys that would be that would be the cont catastrophe and if because at this point it’s like man we are two whole years removed from that Steph Curry incident in in 2022 when he was amazing for three rounds and then just completely fell apart in the NBA Finals right and so like I think that’s the one thing that would that would cause me to like really press the panic button if I was Boston but even if they lost if Tatum can looks like he kind of met the level and kind of met the moment then it’s like man next year we’re definitely going to get it done like that that’s where you start to feel really confident and by the way you know Tatum has been frustrating offensively in this playoff run but we do not talk nearly enough about what an impactful defensive athlete he is he’s big he’s strong he’s faster than most of the guys he’s long he can he can guard centers he can like it’s so funny watching how like anytime anybody tries to isolate or do something against Tatum on an island it’s just hopeless like he just swallows them up because he’s and I’m really really EXC that’s one of the biggest things I’m looking forward to in the next series is like how many times are they going to watch Luca you know bully Drew holiday bully Derek white bully Jaylen Brown before you know Joe Missoula goes like all right Jason Tatum you’re guarding him and and I really want to see that specific match up but like yeah I I’m I’m more on the uh the the patient route with Boston because they are still so much younger than people think like Tatum is what is he 26 now he’s barely get he’s barely entering in the phase where we expect great players to win he’s barely there think about let’s just rank the top 10 players in this final MAV Celtics so Luca one tat two I’d probably go Jaylen Brown three right what about you so would I okay I I think just a sturdier athlete a little bit more consistent I would probably go Kyrie 4 I mean because of porzingis his health God do I go Derek white dere I’d go Dereck white five yeah okay Derek white five if poring is is healthy I’d go por Zinga six Drew holiday is probably seven seven then I’d go PJ Washington yeah yeah probably probably PJ Washington okay so that’s eight Gaff I go Lively probably I I think Liv I think Liv’s a better defensive player and a better passer than Gafford I gafford’s really good and he gets slandered but I think Lively is a little better than him okay and who’s our 10th best player you probably go like you probably go i i i in Horford’s got to be somewhere in there like Horford hit six or seven threes in a game the other night like I mean I know I know listen you give him that corner three dude he he finds himself like you can say what you want about Al Horford he’s had a more than redeemable career really good veteran hits open shots tends to play Above his weight in big spots like never an anxiety player like he’s always ready to play sometimes with SE AUM he’s just not quick enough like you can get eaten up with him sometimes boy that’s a lot of talent we we had to get to like eight or nine so I mean it’s it’s I mean one of the things Dallas doesn’t deal with is getting all they don’t have a lot of bad halfcourt offensive possessions like Minnesota does like they’re just awful looking uh Indiana’s got some clunky ones Boston doesn’t and Dallas doesn’t it will be aesthetically a really attractive series it will be like fun good ball movement great I mean the degree of difficulty with Luke is insane I mean he he hit shot because you know he’s not a big jumper he’s not Twitchy fast so almost everything he’s dealing with a hand in his face he is the great tough they always said Phil Mickelson was the great tough shot maker in golf Luc is the great tough shot maker he makes more things he he even turns to the sometimes the wrong side like and he’ll shoot a fallway and I’m like God why why’d you make that so hard a 14-footer I think it’s going to be aesthetically a lot like the warrior Celtic Series where you can’t take your eyes off it it’s just really good yeah I you know Luca Luca’s I I did a film session on him this morning because the the end of that game I thought was super fascinating how like it was 104 104 and I don’t think anybody thought Minnesota was gonna win that game you know and and it starts with a big mistake Anthony Edwards leaves PJ Washington wide open in the corner it’s a 3 it’s 107 104 but from there down the stretch of the game Luca and Kyrie made three tough contested pullup jump shots Minnesota didn’t get a bucket until Anthony Edwards had this like this like uh garbage time layup but I I want to just zero in really quickly on on the Luca shot over Jaden McDaniels it was the last shot he hit because he had a fade away over Nas Reed and then he hit one over Jaden McDaniels and Jaden McDaniels by the way I I think he’s the best perimeter defender in the league he doesn’t match up well with Luca because he’s not very strong but in terms of all the little things that make a perimeter Defender great I think he’s got the full package and he Luca hits this like you said a funky kind of release he hit a shot in the first half against nikel Alexander Walker where he did awkward kind of reverse footwork where he took like a a leaning forward kind of floating jump shot in the lane he faked that shot against Jaden on that final possession and Jaden left his feet and got out of position and then Luca immediately spun out of it over his right shoulder into a fadeaway and barely got it off and hit it and I was literally sitting there thinking like he’s going against the best defender in the world the best perimeter defender in my opinion and he literally has to get a shot off in this situation and he actually gets him to leave his feet and it’s just enough to barely get the shot it’s like literally a game of inches and it was based on a fake I went through my film session today and I showed the the shot that he takes and then I showed the fake and then I went into the shot that he took and I was like this guy is he is the most improvisational shot maker I’ve ever seen he can TW tweak the Ang he hit a step back three over Carl Anthony towns in the right corner in the fourth quarter where he jab stepped and then and went a step back Carl towns almost blocked it so he just shot it way up in the air just shot a moonball and it just went way up in the air and it came down and I was like so he just tweaked his whole release and changed the geometry of his shot to get this shot off and it went in like he is the most creative and audacious basketball player I can’t remember watching like like I I don’t love everything about Luka he can complain sometimes I hate the way he talks to the refs all the times like there are some things with Luka that drive me crazy but as a basketball fan the the the shot making is it’s like art it’s like art with LCA it’s so much fun to watch yeah I always felt Kobe didn’t have as many stock moves as Michael and Kobe went down and the canvas was pretty bare sometimes and you know you spill a lot of paint there’s some bad Kobe stretches whereas Michael always went back to two or three like standard mid-range moves which he just owned and Kobe was willing to be a little bit more of an artist he had spots in the floor he like but and so does Luca all great basketball players have spots and comfort levels um but Jesus there’s just nothing like him in the planet there’s just nothing like Luca all right Jason T Hoops tonight can’t wait I think I think we’re gonna have sorry Minnesota we’re already counting you out but I I think it’s going to be I think it’s going to be one of the most dramatic pressurized finals and one of the most beautiful offensive finals we’ve seen in a long time totally agree can’t wait it’s goingon to be fun [Music]

Colin Cowherd & ‘Hoops Tonight’ host Jason Timpf give their NBA playoff predictions and discuss why the Boston Celtics are a whole different beast than the Minnesota Timberwolves for the Dallas Mavericks. Do Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving have a shot against Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown in the NBA Finals?

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