NBA Gametime crew breaks NBA Finals Game 1: Mavericks vs. Celtics! Luka will expos Tatum at Boston?

NBA Gametime crew breaks NBA Finals Game 1: Mavericks vs. Celtics! Luka will expos Tatum at Boston?

[Music] wait for Thursday it’s not coming soon enough we have the Mavs taking on the Celtics for game one of the NBA Finals 2024 NBA Finals heading into it initial reactions what do you think the two best teams throughout the playoffs of Boston Celtics in the East the Dallas Mavericks who got hot after the All-Star break had the best defense Luca Don and Kyrie Irving are playing at a at a pace that we haven’t seen before and then Luca there’s a lot of talk that even though the Joker was MVP Luca may be the best play in the league by what he’s done thus far in the playoffs I know it’s been so much fun to watch we have to get into it right now let’s talk first about the one-on-one stars because this is a star studded lineup that we’re seeing go head-to-head but one-on-one Stars percentage of made field goals unassisted in the playoffs LCA donic at about 82% that’s unheard of Coach yeah it is when you look at these teams and you look at the Celtics Jaylen Brown and Tatum they get theirs done the more traditional way Boston is a good passing basketball team they W of the top teams the league and assist that’s what they do to get those three but when you look at Luca and Kyrie they do it all individually so we’re going to come down to this a lot of us sit up here at this des and we talk about come playoff time the team with the best one-on-one players have Advantage why because at any time they can create a shot for themselves or their teammate by breaking down the defense but when you look at tatlor m brown they do it different they do it more as a team they get their offense based on ball movement uh dribble penetration and then opportunity to knock down those three so it’s going to be interesting to see the two best oneon-one players against two of the best team players not to say tatlor MC Brown are not great one-on-one players but their systems are different the way the coaches use those two guys are different so it’s going to be a contrast of different styles in this series it definitely is but just watching Luca I want to focus on him for a second I mean he just went up against the best defense in the NBA this season in the Minnesota Timberwolves and averaged over 30 points per game in those games he played have you seen what is he doing right now that is so special and so Dynamic so different that’s allowed him to succeed laen is hard because he’s not a great athlete we used to seeing guys like LeBron Michael Jordan Cobe these great athletes also great basketball players and great schores but Luc is different he’s not a great athlete he’s a great basketball player and what he does he does everything with his mind he keeps you off balance his size he uses that big 68 body to keep you on his hip to keep those shoulders and to keep you off balance and the fact that he can shoot from anywhere that he has all these moves and creative shots that he can make hey we saw him in the playoffs in the finals in the in the playoffs shoot an underhand three to knock down so Luca right now is just playing at a level that we haven’t seen before from a point guard position and then the guy right next to him Kyrie Irving is is kind of doing the same thing but at a 1B level yeah before we get into Kyrie Irving on the other side you have a guy like Jason Tatum who’s really leading the Boston Celtics him and Jaylen Brown are the 1A onea tandem basic Al for this team but you look at these stats most playoff points before turning 27 he’s with uh some good company what do you think yeah and we’ve been hearing all playoffs that Jason Tatum is struggling Jason Tatum he may not be able to reach certain levels I don’t know if you’re number two by the time you’re a certain age and playoff scoring what does that tell you a couple things tells you this throughout his entire career even though he’s a young player he’s been deep into the playoffs since he been there second it tells you how great a player he is and third it tells you how great his team has been since he’s been in the finals so I laugh at the people who talk about Tatum can he take his team to a finals can he take his team to a championship he’s taken his team to the finals he’s won Eastern conference championships before the only thing lacking from his resume is a NBA championships and he’s going to have a great chance to do it no disrespect for the Dallas Mavericks but this Boston Celtics team has been the best team all year why should that change I know they’ve been wanting it all season long and I look at a guy like Tatum people say that he’s been struggling but he does lead the playoffs this year in cumulative plus minus as well which says something he’s doing it on the defensive side as well and then you look at a guy like Jaylen brown right he wins the Eastern Conference Final MVP he wasn’t expecting it but he was playing so well it really could have gone to either one of those guys and Lauren to look not to make light them anything that Tatum has done but one reason Tatum may not ever win an MVP because he’s playing with a guy just as good in jayen brown and so he has to share the RO think about them something 81% of Luca baskets are unassisted well you can’t play that way at Boston when you playing with another great player like Tatum that plays basically the same position and do the same thing as brown does it’s hard for you to dominate the basketball so they have to share the basketball oh by the way they also have the most complete starting five that we’ve ever seen on a basketball team when you look at the their others their others are not just good players they’re Allstar caliber players so it’s difficult for Tatum to put up the type of numbers that Luca does because has to share the ball but think about what he’s done with all that Talent around him he still has separated himself to be an all NBA first team player so for a guy that may not can reach certain Heights I don’t understand it but if your first team all NBA and your team is constantly deep in the playoffs or in the finals I think you’re doing something right yeah they’re definitely doing something right the Boston Celtics and they might be getting christops porzingis back we’re going to get to that in a second but first Kyrie Irving um the onew tandem you said maybe Brown is not putting up the numbers that Luca has or I mean Tatum’s not putting up the numbers that Luca has but Kyrie is a guy that really knows how to play alongside good players he fits into the role that he needs to when he needs to and he has a lot of experience playing with the Celtics in the playoffs and against the Celtics in the playoffs does that help at all coming into this series no through all that stuff the one thing that will help him that has helped him all year he’s used to playing with another d d the ball handler he played with LeBron James he won a championship with LeBron James and you look at at those numbers 24 points and 49% six assist those are not numbers that you sneeze at but consider the fact that he’s doing that with playing with a guy like Luca who’s putting up even bigger numbers who does it without anyone’s help so what Kyrie is doing to me is almost just as impressive because they don’t pass the ball to each other like the Boston celes and other teams do so they have two different ways of getting there Jason kid has done a great job because this team is built around Luca with a little splasher Kyrie a li splasher PJ Washington gford and other Lively and others but when we see these two teams meet finally THS at all anticipation it’s literally going to come down like we saw in the Western Conference Finals can your two best players outplay my two best players yeah we like the others I think Boston Al Horford and other Pingas and and white and and Drew holiday and PJ Washington all those others are important but at the end of the day it’s a reason why those two guys make what they make for the Celtics and those two guys make what they make for Dallas because they are the two best players on those two teams and it’s going to come down to that that’s simple it’s going to be a start start the lineup going head to-head but big news for the Boston Celtics they might be getting christops back a little bit earlier than they initially thought signs are pointing to him playing nothing official yet but he hasn’t played since training his left calf that was in game four of the first round against the Miami Heat on Saturday he participated in light five on five action I know he was supposed to go through some intense training on Sunday how much of an impact does he make even though he hasn’t played since game four of the playoffs huge anticipation the fact that you know because you’ve seen him play all year you know he can stand out there and knock threes when they run that high screen and roll and he pick and pop you know he can knock those threes down what has Dallas been great at protecting the paint Derek Lively when he’s been in the game he’s been great at blocking shots redirecting shots shut down the paint now this is the difference when Boston Celtics run that high screen Road Pingas and Al horf are going to pop they’re not going to roll like Rudy goar and Carl Anthony towns did most of the time they’re going to pop so for lively he’s got to have the discipline because when Tatum mbrown or Drew holiday or others drive that’s how Boston get their threes if he gets sucked in too far away helping going against his Natural Instincts then they’re going to kick it to Al Horford and Pingas and if those guys are knocking down threes it can be a long game in a long series for the Dallas Maverick so they got to figure out how are they going to guard Boston high screen Ro on their switches once their defense get broken down and the crazy thing is for the Boston Celtics they are 9 and one without porzingis in the playoffs how much scarier do they get first in the postseason in the NBA and sixth in terms of three-point percentage on the other side third fifth and fifth so coach the three ball is a very big deal especially for the Boston Celtics how crucial is it for them to make some of those here in game one very crucial we’ve seen look to a lot of criticism a lot of people have cr even in this building have criticized and Celtics for relying too much on the three-point shot when you look at Tatum and brown D holiday and white these guys are not only great scores but they’re good very good Shooters and some people think they you they don’t use their ability to get to the free throw line and get downhill and put pressure on the defense enough but they do do that they do it by dribble penetration and when the defense collaps they kick it out and that’s when they get their threes they don’t come down and take just threes off the pass and catch and shoot threes they normally to move the ball and pass the ball and break you down and get the threes so Boston is going to shoot threes Dallas the same way they get that’s a little different Luca take some of the toughest shots I’ve ever seen in the history of basketball but he makes them he and Kyrie Irvin they are great tough shot makers especially from that three-point line so both teams shoot a lot of Threes both team get some difference the only guys that really get stand still wide openen threes is Derek Jones and PJ Washington why because Luke and Kyrie tends to break that Defender down you tend to have to double those guys and they are such great passers at finding them guys especially once they get you into rotation so we do know this both of these teams are going to shoot a lot of three the question is one who can defend the other three-point Shooters and two who can make the most threes between these two teams because they’re both going to take them especially Celtics it may very well come down to who’s the best three-point Sho in team it’s going to be fun to watch the Celtics 47.4% of their shots this postseason have the so that’s basically half of their shots let’s get into coaching because I know you love talking about this right Jason Kid the last time that the Dallas Mavericks were in the NBA finals and won it was when Jason kid was the point guard and now guess what 14 13 years later my math cuz not correct but don’t worry about it shut down enemy double kill your tower has been destroyed on our base is under ATT attack defeat [Music] for e is got [Applause] Friend or Foe all serve their function First Blood this solar system is most peculiar get ready you have been defeated another beginning of infinite possibilities an ally has enemy ultimate an enemy has been defeated fight enemy onslaught your tower has been destroyed our base is under attack [Music] an enemy has been defeated it is the space around me that moves stick around shut down an ally has been defeated away of stunning you have been defeated enemy double kill an ally has been defeated our base is under attack Bas I am all enemy 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NBA Gametime crew breaks NBA Finals Game 1: Mavericks vs. Celtics! Luka will expos Tatum at Boston?