REACTION to NBA Finals Game 1: ‘The Celtics are just the BETTER TEAM!’ | Numbers on the Board

REACTION to NBA Finals Game 1: ‘The Celtics are just the BETTER TEAM!’ | Numbers on the Board

how do I phrase this it’s a good good game one for Boston’s sake a game one that I felt was kind of predictable and in in some in some ways uh we did the playback stream I was telling the guys that you know Tatum was going to guard Gafford and um you know the different matchups and they all checked out and it made it tough for the Mavericks and this is my point to people who pick the Mavericks the Celtics are just the better team and they’ve been the better team they’ve been the best team in the NBA and this is going to be one of those series that exposes all of that um and the other part that I was making I mean the other point that we talked about I think a couple months ago was that Tatum don’t have to have like these crazy I I think I posed that question y’all like how would y’all feel or do y’all think that they can win a championship without Jason Tatum having to you know do that and what y’all think the conversations would be I think we might have to start preparing ourselves for what is going to be discussed or you know people are going to try to use this against Tatum because he had a game where had 16 on 16 shots and didn’t play Bad didn’t play amazing and I mean Brown had 22 and had some outstanding blocks and defensive plays but the rockar was really Chris as Pingas as far as Showmanship and that could be the reality of the series where game two it could be drick white making a bunch of corner threes and now he’s the rock star and you know Jason Tatum and Jaylen Brown may not have to have a 30 or 40 point game and they win me and D Mills we was was just and you was right there too but we was just surprised when Drew holiday I think it was in the third or maybe even fourth he just backed down PJ Wasington and got like and then I’m right with you cuz anybody could take off at any given quarter and that’s what makes it just so hard to guard but I think a lot there’s a lot of things that Dallas has to fix to be better in this game too what’s the first thing that you would the first I mean this is first play of the game and this is the Al Horford dunk Gafford tries to close out on Orford and just jumps yeah stay on your feet there was and that’s not the only time he just jumped at the perimeter during the game but it’s like a lot of the defense is breaking down because somebody it’s just a mishaps on defense yeah none of their centers did anything about um and their Center position was one of the best things in their first couple series um and in this one they got neutralized there were zero lobs from the Dallas Mavericks in this one when they were like they threw like 40 throughout the 40 plus and and most of that not most of that um but Jason Tatum gets a lot of credit there because him guarding that that big man prevented all of that like you mentioned 16 points on 16 shots he think he also had six turnovers on top of that so statistically it was not a good game but I I kind of walked away with it impressed with the Tatum game I know that might s crazy to people on Twitter who just look at Tatum and see that the box score ain’t great cuz there were times of frustration I hit the group chat about fre possessors that was like what is he stripped and losing a ball um but other than that like him being able to guard that and prevent the lob was a great thing and him rebounding as if he was a center was huge because the Dallas Mavericks have been a team that kills the offensive glass and that was not the case even when it was a 6869 guy playing the big man position um also there’s a stat and I’m happy that the we get like a couple days in between because now you got the advanced stats guys going in and getting like the yeah I was able to rewatch The Game here here’s the staff from NBA University Jason Tatum passed out of 61% of the drives last night he only passed out on 25% of his drives all season long so it was very apparent if you watch the game that anytime Jason Tatum started to drive they collapse collapse collaps and that’s how you get to the point you shoot 42 threes if you’re the Boston Celtics because when you collapse it opens up the three-point shot that’s exactly what Joe moula wanted and again we mentioned the six turnovers for Jason tat but I thought in that aspect of the game he was phenomenal that he didn’t he didn’t feel rushed um in most cases again six turnovers is a few of those but he didn’t feel rushed um and he made the right play more times than not and those are the type of things of course he didn’t look like the top 10 player in basketball but if he has a game like this again um I feel kind of okay with it the circumstan honestly I think the Mavericks are still going to be like Kyrie’s going to hit more shots and you got to count on that and Luka probably hit more shots but his passing was infectious because the one more pass was probably like that was a big thing that was killing the Mavericks simple one morees like they did such a like they were trying to keep match up so much that they would again mess up their defense there was plays where it’s like wide open three cuz Jason Tatum I don’t not even like a screen but they just switched like simple movement and dri Jones trying to fight through and Luca is kind of like nowhere to be found and it’s just like you’re messing up the defense just stay in front of your man A lot of times they were getting stops and were just putting a hand up the back doors the simple stuff that killed him with the one more to the easy uh threes that’s what really hurt him it’s hard to stay in front of your man though because number one they’re they’re making Luca donic exert a lot of energy because jayen Brown is is is shading him the court not necessarily pressing him I mean he did get a couple of those turnovers in the back court but I don’t think that was the goal I think it’s just to make him work a little bit bringing it up they did the same thing defensively too where they tried to get the LCA Dona switch almost every possession and then he make him work that way I not only just for LCA I feel like everybody working I mean a lot of times we was talking about how like they were packing a paint on teams Gafford and Lively they’re all running out and trying to protect the three and again that’s a lot of energy that they weren’t exerting in other Series yeah because it that was the point I was making about staying in front of guys is like the Gap defense is there and it’s it’s a constant tilt and rotation of the defense because the Celtics are doing such a good job of passing and that was the most impressive part of the Tatum thing for me and I was telling these two dudes when we was doing the playback stream was like a lot of guys I feel like especially Tatum knowing to talk around his name I felt like he I thought he would have tried to come out impress a little bit more with his shot but those first possessions of not necessarily even like getting a assist but just making the right pass like he was alluding to out of the drive and it set up the team to make those extra passes and I don’t even know if you can call him hockey assist but it was just the necessary pass to get the one more the one more and then I love Jaylen Brown’s aggression of like when he got the one more he didn’t settle for the jump shot in the corners he was attacking which now makes the defense collapse even more and now somebody instead of having a good shot had a great shot which is a expression we’ve all heard in our basketball days of turning down a good shot to get a great one and that just came out firing D Mills as a guy who picked the maricks and there’s a lot of basketball left what are some of the issues that you seen or some things that you took away and said hey they should build on that for game two or down the line to to get some wins well one thing you can’t you can’t go into a basketball game and your defense is scrambling like that like there was no continuity there was no like you the Dallas Mavericks defense that we saw through the first three Series where they looked even killed locked in on a string and everybody was in rotation that defense looked scrambled lost there was guys getting be back door there was cuts it and I give a lot of credit to the Boston Celtics on that just because they do play a five out offense and the Dallas Mavericks haven’t played anyone like that so obviously game one it’s a big shock like you playing that heavy Gap because you did it all SE SE all season and now you got to go back you got to go to the drawing board thing for me is I think in some way some way shape or form they got to find a way to just stay in front of guys keep I know it’s it’s hard to say when you’re playing against Brown and Tatum obviously but you got to find a way to stay in front of guys keep the defense locked in to where you’re not scrambling and lost cuz like when that ball is moving man the Celtics it’s just so many weapons so many options and then porzingis when he played so good in that first quarter it was just like damn what do you do if porzingis is doing that and he’s punishing you like that like I know you said his way of punishing you isn’t getting to the basket he going to take his little 15 foot jump but when he making that it ain’t really nothing you could do the the the Deep threes is the ones that I can’t really speak on when he is hitting that shot there’s nothing to do but when you have him at the nail or on the elbow and Josh Green is over him that’s open jum he’s shooting that’s his punishment that’s the that’s how he punish Sho jum because we all know or should know by now at least people should know but I guess people don’t know porzingis is not going to take you to the block and drop step and dunk like Shaquille O’Neal that’s not what he’s going to do he’s going to catch the ball at the elbow or at at the top of the uh mid-range right in front of the free throw line and he’s going to have Josh Green Kyrie Irving um Jaden Hardy just too much switching and he’s going to shoot there’s a lot of switching that like when you switching on obviously I know as a defense when a seven three dude is taking a 16 foot contested jumper as a defense you kind of say we got to live with that but if he make but when he making it It’s just tough yeah I think he shot 47% from the field uh that that deep mid-range area aity he got it and live with that I I mean I guess in a way you might have to cuz you can’t you can’t take away everything [Music]

The Numbers on the Board crew give their full reaction to Game 1 of the 2024 NBA Finals between the Dallas Mavericks and Boston Celtics.

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