Where Celtics Attacked Mavericks During Season Series, NBA Finals Preview

The Boston Celtics are closing in on the 24-hour clock before Game 1 of the 2024 NBA Finals against the Dallas Mavericks. Boston enters with the momentum of a 12-2 postseason record and two telling performances against their opponents during the regular season.

The Celtics swept the season series 2-0 against the Mavericks this year. Those performances found a few similarities that could recirculate as both teams draw up game plans with the Larry O’Brien trophy on the line.

Here are three areas the Celtics benefited from during the season series with the Mavericks.

Defend The Perimeter
The Celtics live and die by the three-point shot when it comes to their offense.

It also marked a weakness for the Mavericks when creating offense against a more-than-capable Celtics defense. Dallas shot just 23-of-74 from distance (31%) in the two games against Boston.

Jrue Holiday and Derrick White excel in their dynamic ability to contest shots as the leaders of Boston’s defensive efforts. Keeping Dallas at bay with outside shooting should be an area to watch from Game 1.

Elevate Stars
Boston gets production across the board, though the Celtics need impact efforts from their stars to set the tone for the series.

Kyrie Irving will make plays and Luka Doncic tallied a 30-point triple-double the last time he stepped foot on the parquet at TD Garden. The Mavericks will get scoring from their stars. The Celtics got the same from theirs during the season series.

Jayson Tatum poured in 39 points in Dallas while Jaylen Brown scored after a show-stopping move that put Doncic on the ground.

Jaylen drops Luka. pic.twitter.com/d5tu7mjKbQ

— Chris Forsberg (@ChrisForsberg_) January 23, 2024

Tatum and Brown went to work again in Boston when the Celtics racked up 138 points in a victorious effort to start the month of March.

Share The Basketball
The Celtics play at their best when each night dictates the hot hand of the offense. Kristaps Porzingis returns to restore the full starting lineup for Boston.

The scoring threats go beyond Tatum and Brown. White and Holiday each posted 25+ points in various spots of the postseason while Porzingis provides the counter that Boston lacked in previous playoff runs.

The Celtics had a +15 assist advantage in the two previous matchups against Dallas. Quality ball movement can set the tone for Boston once again.