Four teams are four wins away from a chance at glory.
The top-seeded Boston Celtics became the first team to reach the conference finals, defeating the fourth-place Cleveland Cavaliers in five games.
Next, the Dallas Mavericks, ranked fifth in the West, defeated the top-seeded Oklahoma City Thunder in six games.
Game 7 pairs then determined the final two teams. First, the No. 6 Indiana Pacers defeated the No. 2 New York Knicks, then the No. 3 Minnesota Timberwolves made a stunning comeback to defeat the No. 2 seed and defending champion Denver Nuggets. Broke it.
So which of the four matchups will we see in the 2024 NBA Finals? Let's rank them in order of most intriguing to least interesting.
4. Indiana Pacers vs. Minnesota Timberwolves
No, the two lowest seeded units do not form the worst matchup. If Indiana pulls off the upset against Boston, they will once again face an elite defense in Minnesota. The Timberwolves ranked No. 1 in defensive rating during the regular season and proved why in the playoffs, ultimately defeating Nikola Jokic and co.
Without the added offensive power of Benedict Mathurin, it will take valiant efforts from Pascal Siakam, Tyrese Haliburton, Myles Turner and others to drop four games, enough to win the series against Minnesota. Minnesota, on the other hand, will have more quality in this series, with Anthony Edwards, Karl-Anthony Towns, and Rudy Gobert leading the way.
3. Indiana Pacers vs. Dallas Mavericks
Things will be a little more even if Indiana plays Dallas in the finals. Indiana won both regular season games by lopsided scores, the first 133-111 on February 25th and the second 137-120 on March 5th. But it will be more interesting to see how things play out now that both teams have moved up in the standings. Little has changed since then.
From Dallas' perspective, Luka Doncic finally has a strong supporting cast in addition to Kyrie Irving, including Derek Lively II, PJ Washington, and Derrick Jones Jr. Both teams have star power that can trade hits, and Indiana has plenty of role players who can pick up some of their own. It could go either way, but the overall quality is lacking.
2. Boston Celtics vs. Dallas Mavericks
There's no question that the Celtics are the best team remaining, considering how they did in the regular season and the way they fielded the team in the short playoff series, and they have a slot in a potential top-two matchup. is occupying. If healthy, Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, Jrue Holiday, Derrick White, Al Horford and Kristaps Porzingis would be an attractive combination to play against Doncic, Irving and others.
The Celtics would likely have an advantage in this scenario considering they comfortably beat Dallas in both regular season battles, but the overall star power here is better than what the Indiana series could offer, respectively. Excellent.
1. Boston Celtics vs. Minnesota Timberwolves
The best possible opponents would be Boston and Minnesota. With Jokic and the Nuggets out, both the Celtics and Timberwolves will be playing some of the best defenses in the league with Edwards and Tatum as key pieces.
Boston has better top-end talent, while Minnesota has more depth thanks to players like Naz Reid, Jaden McDaniels, and Nickell-Alexander-Walker. This could go either way, but the quality of both teams makes them the most appealing, especially since the Timberwolves will be the Celtics' toughest playoff series yet.
Can the Celtics erase Minnesota's momentum heading into No. 18, or can the Timberwolves win their first NBA championship against the league's most star-studded team? It's a fascinating watch.
