Table of Contents
BOSTON- Was Game 4 an aberration or the start of a trend?
Through three games, the Boston Celtics were clearly the best team in the 2024 NBA Finals; Even when their shots were wrong in Game 2, the Celtics found a way to win.
The fourth game was very, very different. a 38-point landslide victory for Dallas to force a Game 5 in Boston.
Was it something unique? A big night for Luka Doncic and the Mavericks on a night the Celtics mailed it? Or has Dallas found something they can hold?
Let’s look at Game 5 of the 2024 NBA Finals and try to determine if there will be a Game 6.
Betting Odds for Game 5 of the NBA Finals
Dallas Mavericks (+205) vs Boston Celtics (-250)
Spread: Celtics -6.5 | Out/of: 209.5
Injury news, updates
• Kristaps Porzingis is once again officially questionable for Game 5 due to his ankle and foot issue. This will probably end up like Game 4, where she was technically available in a “break the glass in case of emergency” situation, or as Joe Mazzulla said, “we’ll only use it in very specific cases if necessary.” Xavier Tillman (who has some KP minutes and has played well) says it still appears Porzingis is in some pain when she moves abruptly, but ultimately the doctors will make the decision.
• Luka Doncic is probable. He has had a painkiller injection in his bruised chest and that could happen again, and he continues to play with leg and ankle problems.
“At this point in the season, there’s a lot going on. If I play, I’m fine,” Doncic said.
Three things to keep in mind in Game 5
1) Now there is pressure on Boston
The Celtics denied feeling it, but the pressure is on them to win Game 5 and end this series.
“We really want to win the next game, but if we don’t, it’s not the end of the world,” Payton Pritchard said. “We have three more rounds left, at most. But the most important game is the next one, and doing it in front of the home fans would be special.”
The pressure is there because if the Celtics lose on Monday the Mavericks can see a path to the ring: the series moves to Dallas on Thursday, and if the Mavericks can stay home suddenly there’s a Game 7 and anything can happen.
The Celtics almost did that to the Heat a season ago in the Eastern Conference Finals (and if Jayson Tatum didn’t do it
sprains his ankle on the first play of that Game 7, who knows what happens). That gives the Celtics a little urgency.
“I think we understand that they’re a desperate team and they’re probably playing a little freer. We know what that mentality is like,” Al Horford said, recalling the experience from a year ago. “For us, it’s really about controlling what we can control and making sure we’re solid in the things we need to do.”
2) Dallas has to defend like it did in Game 4
Dallas has figured out a few things.
“I wouldn’t say we solved the puzzle,” Derrick Lively said. “I feel like we definitely have a couple pieces, but we don’t have the complete set.”
The Mavericks turned things around in the second half of Game 3 (and that sparked their return that night). For the first two games, the Mavericks kept their bigs higher up the floor, away from the paint, out of respect for Boston’s three-point shooter and Porzingis. That opened up driving lanes and Boston got into the paint to make baskets or, if the defense collapsed on the driver, throw passes for open 3-pointers.
Dallas went back to what got them to the Finals, keeping one of their centers (Daniel Gafford or Derrick Lively) near the rim for easy baskets and then rotating to shooters at the arc. It worked, the Celtics went 13 of 33 in the paint in Game 4.
“That’s my job this whole season, to protect the rim,” Lively said, admitting that he felt most comfortable in this role. “Every time they try to get me out from under the rim, that’s when they get their buckets in the paint. So what I’m trying to do is just make sure I have the support of my defense, making sure that we’re in rotations, and making sure that that we don’t need to rotate, making sure we’re not rotating, making sure we’re just playing like men, making sure we’re just squared up and just playing straight defense.”
Boston will adjust in Game 5, which could mean more three-pointers (this is where the Celtics miss Porzingis and his shooting). If the Celtics can make the Mavericks pay for keeping a man at depth, the party in Boston on Monday will go well into the night.
3) How does Kyrie Irving respond in Boston?
Luka Doncic played his best game of the series in Game 4 and will do so in Game 5. Jaylen Brown is the favorite for Finals MVP. and Jayson Tatum is second on that list. Expect big nights from them.
What about Kyrie Irving?
The lightning rod for Celtics fans’ frustration, booed every time he touched the ball, Irving struggled in the first two games in Boston, averaging 14 points a night on 35.1% shooting. (For comparison, in Games 3 and 4 in Dallas he doubled that number to 28 points a night.)
“I mean, let’s call it what it is. When fans cheer, ‘Kyrie sucks,’ they feel like they have a psychological advantage, and that’s fair,” Irving said. “Of course, if I don’t make shots or turn the ball over, that makes it an even more pressing issue that they can stick with me about.
“I think to silence even the doubts, let alone the doubts of the public, but the doubts when you make or miss shots, that is just as important as making sure that I am leading the team the right way and being humane through this experience too and telling them how I feel.”
Irving has been open about his two seasons in Boston during this series, admitting mistakes and the personal problems he was going through at the time. That is
without earning him any sympathy from Boston fans.
If there’s going to be a Game 6, if Dallas is going to make this a real series, it’s going to take a big night from Irving on the road. He will be the center of attention again, one way or another.
