We already basically know the Boston Celtics are our 2024 NBA Champions. (Excuse me while I choke down the vomit threatening to rise up the back of my throat.) NBA teams who go up 3-0 in a seven-game series are 151-0. Teams that go up 3-0 in the Finals are 12-0, and have completed the sweep seven out of 12 times. It would take something literally unprecedented in the history of the league for Boston to not emerge the victor. And we’re looking at about even money that the season ends tonight, which current betting lines agree with, as DraftKings lists the Dallas Mavericks as just one-point favorites in tonight’s Game 4.
The question remains as to how the Celtics will be crowned champions. Will they complete the sweep tonight, capping an incredibly efficient regular season and dominant postseason run, after which we’ll have to have a reckoning about their place among the better teams of all time? They were a star-studded superteam completely unselfish with the ball offensively and terrorizing at the point of attack on defense. I, for one, sure hope not. Or can Dallas fight back, winning a game or maybe even two? We can then return to thinking in the back of our minds, ‘Sure, Boston was a good team, but they had a super easy path laid out in front of them and we don’t know how they would have responded to a real challenge.’ That would be a nice, cozy place to go back to heading into the offseason.
On one final note, I don’t understand all the backlash towards Luka Doncic. Are there areas of his game he could improve upon? Sure. But the Mavericks fought through a tremendously talented Western Conference to reach the Finals with him as the centerpiece. The young man is getting pain-killing injections to go out there and play and his teammates largely haven’t stepped up against Boston like we saw in prior rounds. There’s really no shame in losing to a better team, and the fact that everyone wants to bury him for fouling out in Game 3 just seems a little misguided. Yeah, some of those fouls were really poor decisions on his part, but I also felt he got a rough whistle (perhaps because the refs are sick of him chirping at them), he’s playing hurt and soaking up a ton of usage, and Boston always seems to have some answer for what the Mavs throw at them. It’s understandable if Luka is getting a little frustrated during these games. It’ll be a good learning experience for him.
We’ll see what happens tonight and whether we’ll have a Game 5.
Game Details
Who: Boston Celtics vs. Dallas Mavericks
When: 8:30 p.m. ET
Where: American Airlines Center, Dallas, TX
Watch: ABC
Follow: @LibertyBallers
