Joe Mazzulla‘s pregame warning was prophetic and now it appears the NBA Finals could become a competitive series, writes Jared Weiss of The Athletic. With a chance to sweep and claim their 18th championship Friday night, the Celtics only managed to keep things close for a few minutes before being mauled by Dallas.
“The closer you are to beating someone, the closer you are to getting your ass kicked,” Mazzulla said in a session with reporters before the start of Game 4. “Tonight I expect the best out of Dallas, and we got to get ready for a fight.”
The fight was never close, as the Mavericks took control of the game midway through the first quarter and didn’t let up on their way to a 38-point victory. Dallas used a much more physical approach on defense, Weiss observes, finding success by challenging Boston’s ball-handlers and funneling them into Dereck Lively II. Offensively, the Mavs rediscovered the spacing that got them past their Western Conference opponents, effectively creating corner threes for the first time in the series.
“I think winning at any game is hard. But winning Game 4 of the NBA Finals is pretty damn hard,” Jrue Holiday said. “I think they came out desperate and I think they punched us in the mouth, and we couldn’t kind of recover the way we wanted to.”
There’s more on the Celtics:
- Kristaps Porzingis was upgraded to available for Game 4, but he never left the bench and it’s not clear if Mazzulla would have used him even if the game had been close, per Souichi Terada of MassLive. Porzingis sat out Wednesday night after suffering a posterior tibialis dislocation in his left leg late in Game 2, and Mazzulla said Friday that he would “only be used in specific instances, if necessary.” Terada notes that Porzingis didn’t take part in the pregame layup lines and remained in the locker room for about half of the third quarter. Terada describes the situation as “murky” heading into Monday’s Game 5.
- Veteran center Al Horford had a unique perspective on Friday’s loss, pointing out that it’s the first time the Celtics have really been challenged in the series, Terada adds in a separate story. “I’ve been in a lot of these, and usually by the second game, you’re making adjustments,” Horford said. “Third game, you’re making another adjustment, and that’s kind of how it is. And for us, we’ve had the first three games, we didn’t really make any adjustments. So today, they did something. We have to see how we can be better and prepare for it. That’s kind of where we’re at right now.”
- Eli Cloutier of The Boston Globe puts Game 4 into historical perspective, noting that it’s the third-largest margin of victory in the NBA Finals.
No offence this has to be one of the most boring NBA finals in a long time….
The Celtics have one of the most stacked teams with basically 5 all stars against the Mavs who have 2 elite guards and 2 centres who just operate inside 6 feet from the rim.
Tatum isn’t even a top 10 player, Jaylen Brown is better than him. Who cares if KP is injured they are winning the series regardless. The only thing I like about Boston is Derrick White and Payton Pritchard.
Then with Dallas, Luka is arguably the best offensive player in the league but possibly the worst defensive player. Kyrie is an unbelievable iso player but needs more help around him. PJ Washington has been a good addition but he’s not him. THJ is rocks and diamonds, DJJ is an overachieving role player, Green is mid, Hardy is raw, Kleber does do enough, and so on.
It’s just so who cares and it’s been that way since the conference finals unfortunately
Oh look, a Phlly fan thinks Boston winning is boring .
Tatum leads the Celtics in scoring, rebounding and assists this post season, he plays great defense and is consistently double and sometimes triple teamed nearly every time he touches the ball. There’s a reason for all that and that reason is that he’s Boston’s best player.
This post season he’s also the 4th worst from the field and his 29% from 3 is the 2nd worst on his team.
He’s the clear number 1 option who gets more shots than any body else, surrounded by 4 other all star teammates with a fantastic head coach. You could put about 10 other guys in his shoes and the Celtics would still win this series.
Why do people keep saying they have 5 all stars? They have 2. Are we seriously calling Horford and Porzingus “all stars” because of 2018?
Tatum is Top 10 player. KP playing would be wise to get this over in 5. Luka needs to get in shape. It he us amazing now just wonder what he will be when he is in shape!
Yeah a guy who is all nba 1st three years straight and best player in his position isn’t top 10 lol. What win percentage this guy have so far in his career?
Tatum is a great player and obviously a top 10 player but if I’m picking the top PF it’s Giannis.
He’s definitely not top 10, in no particular order
Jokic Embiid Luka Giannas Curry LeBron KD and if healthy Kawhi are all clearly better. That’s 8 and then for those last two spots you’ve got Tatum, Ja, Booker, Jimmy, AD and SGA.
So id have him top 15 sure but he ain’t top 10.
I’ll give you Jokìc, Doncìc, SGA, Embiid and Giannis but after that its all subjective. Kawhi’s availability has been questionable since he left Toronto so I’m eliminating him. I’d take Edwards over Ja as Edwards plays both ends of the court, but neither is on a top ten level yet. That leaves Tatum, Booker, KD, LeBron and AD and you could put those five in any order on any given night.
Ok, rereading my reply I forgot Curry, put him in the top 6. Every thing I said is true though.
Now that was a arewoooping ….
gm5 in Boston ……
Love how its acceptable that the Celtics can not make any adjustments during a game. That comment from Al is absurd.
Coach Mazzulla can’t coach. He’s only plays are shoot more 3’s and Iso/hero ball. Al Horford knows that. The weakness of the Celtics is, if they have bad luck in shooting 3’s. Warriors exposed them, after they won the first 2. I just hope Mazzulla can adjust their game play, or we will see another meltdown at the finals.