The Celtics will enter the NBA Finals as the favored team, but that won’t stop the Mavericks from taking basketball’s biggest stage with a great deal of confidence.
Derrick Jones Jr. vocalized Dallas’ belief in itself Sunday when he met with the media. The veteran forward explained why he doesn’t care for the “underdog” label being attached to the Mavericks, and in doing so, he shared a very confident claim.
“We believe that we can beat anybody,” Jones told reporters, per a video from Bally Sports Southwest’s Abby Jones. “That ‘underdog’ — I don’t like that, really, but everyone is going to keep putting that narrative on us. If we go out there and play the game the way we’re supposed to play, I don’t think anybody can beat us in a seven-game series.”
Jones and company have every right to be riding high, as they dispatched three quality opponents en route to the Western Conference crown. But the Celtics, the NBA’s best team in the regular season that only dropped two games before the Finals, are a different beast. Even Dallas’ best basketball might not be enough to take down Boston, which might be on the verge of welcoming back a true game-changer in Kristaps Porzingis.
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Nonetheless, the Mavericks will try to throw the first punch Thursday night when the Finals kick off at TD Garden. Tipoff for Game 1 is scheduled for 8:30 p.m. ET.
Featured image via Andrew Dieb/USA TODAY Sports Images
