The performances of superstars Luka Doncic and Jayson Tatum will play a big role in determining the fate of the 2024 NBA Finals.
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Boston – Questions about the 2024 NBA Finals have been popping up ever since Boston and Dallas were set to play each other last week. The answers, real answers, will likely come on the court in the coming weeks.
But here are 10 placeholders for what we'll know about the Celtics, Mavericks and their legacy and their battle for the trophy, beginning with Game 1 on Thursday.8:30 p.m. ET, ABC).
1. Are playground-style rankings meaningful?
For some reason, this is an increasingly popular tactic used by studio shows and media outlets to fill time while people wait for their league's championship series to begin, a system that was like a short-lived All-Star draft that traumatized a lot of kids who were selected last, and that might have pissed off Denver's three-time NBA MVP Nikola Jokic if it happened to him.
It may be a clumsy and completely unscientific way to measure the relative strength of teams based on how many players are selected in the first X rounds of picks, but a quick look at this year's Celtics and Mavericks rosters might look something like this:
- Luka Doncic
- Jayson Tatum
- Jaylen Brown
- Kyrie Irving
- Jrue Holiday
- Derrick White
- Derek Lively II
etc. This doesn't tell us much about how they compete with each other, share responsibilities, get through the down times, etc. It certainly didn't help that the last time Dallas made it to this round, the 2011 Miami Heat had three of the top four talents in the Finals, including LeBron James at the peak of his career, and still lost, so the answer is no.
2. Will Tatum and Brown work together? If not, will Boston fail?
It's the kind of gossip question that comes out of a high school cafeteria, and it's even sillier than the much more substantial question: “Does Kyrie Irving regret stomping on the Boston Celtics logo with mascot Lucky at TD Garden three years ago?”
The Celtics wings have been teammates for seven years, with a wealth of accomplishments including five conference finals appearances, two Finals appearances and eight All-Star selections. Brown became the NBA's highest-paid player last summer and Tatum is set to surpass him with his next contract. Together, the pair have robbed opposing defenses of their options and energy while leading Boston to a 76-20 record since the season began in October.
Answering a question with a question isn't ideal, but it can be effective. Are you best friends with everyone you work with? Is someone holding you back from doing your best work?
3. What does this series mean for you as a coach?
There's a trivia aspect to having Boston's Joe Mazzulla and Dallas' Jason Kidd working the sidelines in the Finals featuring two Black head coaches for the first time since Golden State's Al Attles and Washington's KC Jones pitted wits against each other in 1975.
“That doesn't mean as much as coming here and having one of them win here,” Mazzulla said. Mazzulla, who was suddenly thrust into the role vacated by Ime Udoka in 2022-23, has had an eventful first season. Kidd will be with his third team in eight seasons as a head coach.
Both have learned while staying true to their beliefs and their systems: Mazzulla's depth and chemistry with newcomer Holiday stood out this season, while Kidd adjusted to mid-season acquisitions, tightened up defensively and managed the big egos of Doncic and Irving.
One coach will win. Both have been verified.
4. Who is Luke’s keeper?
Television graphics suggest that each team will line up five players at each position and play that way every series. Of course, actual NBA games are far from that.
Holiday and White will likely be isolated by Doncic at times, but Holiday's strengths make him a good fit for this matchup. But the pick-and-rolls and switches will force Boston to rotate out a number of players. Brown may be the most prepared at this point, and he looked ready for the challenge when the two teams met on March 1 (the Celtics won 138-110).
Team defense is also important, which in this case means eliminating Doncic's lob targets, Lively and Daniel Gafford, as much as possible, rather than the goal of turning the Slovenian multi-threat into a shooter/scorer.
5. What do you think about Kyrie moving back to Boston?
Irving's two seasons with the Celtics (2017-2019) will be the backdrop for this series, with Boston fans still frustrated with the point guard's lack of commitment and leadership. He committed to re-sign with the Celtics before moving to Brooklyn and has struggled at TD Garden ever since.
We'll pay attention to the sideshow that will come with it, but it won't have much to do with the outcome. Fans won't blame Irving, the player with the most Finals experience in this series, and he's probably already as motivated and focused as ever.
6. Will Kristaps Porzingis play in Boston?
The good answer is yes, but as far as the Celtics are concerned, the better answer is soon. The 7-foot center had been reported to start the series with the rest of the team in Game 1, their first game since April 29.
It was Game 4 against Miami when Porzingis strained his right calf, suggesting significant rust but also giving him nearly seven weeks of rest and rehab from an injury that had recently frightened NBA medical staff and, after all, was a direct precursor to Kevin Durant's ruptured Achilles in the 2019 Finals.
Porzingis is unlikely to play without a minutes restriction, which could disrupt the Celtics' 9-1 run since his injury, but the team will welcome his return, especially as a defensive presence in the pick-and-pop and in the paint.
7. Who is the X-factor on each team?
White to the Celtics, P.J. Williams to the Mavericks. White can make amends for his disappointing experience in the 2022 Finals. He scored 21 points in the opener but was just 38 points and minus-87 in his final five games against Golden State. That was his first postseason with Boston, but now he's entrenched and often the most quietly valuable performer in the playoffs.
Washington will have to blink in the bright lights, because all 17 of his playoff appearances have come this spring, but he's scored in double figures in 15 of them and has the size (6-foot-7, 230 pounds) to physically match up with Boston's wings.
8. How did Dallas make the Doncic-Irving pairing work?
In a sport played with just one ball, teaming up the NBA's two most ball-dominant guards seemed like sheer folly to many. Irving comes into February 2023 dragging an unreliable reputation and a stubborn off-court history, so the trade seemed like a big-name acquisition to prove the franchise wasn't alone in Doncic.
But Irving began to thrive away from Brooklyn and COVID-19, he seemed more willing to show his love for baseball and, most importantly, he and Doncic were talking, building mutual respect and giving each other space.
He seems in better shape now, physically and mentally, he's more energetic defensively, and together he and Doncic are just as formidable to opponents as Irving and his past star teammates were for their respective teams.
9. Will Boston's “easy” path to a title be a blemish?
It's true that each of the Celtics' past three East round opponents were without star players for all or some of the games: Miami was without Jimmy Butters, Cleveland was without Donovan Mitchell for the final two games and Indiana's Tyrese Haliburton missed both games of the conference finals.
No big deal. If the Celtics win the Larry O'Brien Championship Trophy this year, time will answer any questions. Are we really going to remember an NBA championship won thanks to the absence of a star player any time soon?
And if the Celtics don't win, the result will undermine and define their season in a big way, but it doesn't really matter who they did or didn't have to face in the playoffs.
10. Win or lose for Boston?
The short answer is yes. With six trips to the Eastern Finals in eight years and a Finals appearance against Golden State in 2022 to whet their appetite for this one, it's a pretty good opportunity. Tatum (26) and Brown (27) are still young enough to be the two pillars of this team, and there's no problem tactically using them.
But that belief, for fans and maybe even for players, may not be there: 38-year-old Al Horford could be overwhelmed, and losing to Dallas' hotshot prospect would be as hard to swallow as, say, losing to defending champion Denver.
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Steve Ashburner has been writing about the NBA since 1980. You can email us here. You can view the archives here. Follow him on X.
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