GAME 2 NBA FINALS 2024: Dallas Mavericks (0-1) vs. Boston Celtics (1-0)

[MaxiThreeba]

I never thought I’d say this…but put THJ out there for 15 minutes. I know better and I know hope isn’t a strategy but hoping he finds a hot streak is probably the best bet at finding some bench scoring.

Hardy has had some moments these playoffs but I don’t see it against this team. The Aussie boys are what they are, reluctant shooters that are out there to hustle and maybe pick up a garbage bucket or hit an open 3 or two. Maxi is hurt and relying on him for scoring even when he’s healthy is foolish. Celtics are shutting down the lob game so Lively’s scoring isn’t there.

Timmy is irrationally confident. He will take dumb shots. He will also probably bust defensive rotations. He will likely have a stupid turnover. But I’m ready to take the chance that he can hit 3 or 4 shots and create a little different dynamic.

Since I’m at this point I guess my confidence level in beating the C’s must be totally shot.

[hakeemfaan]

At the end of the day it comes to your stars vs theirs. If Kyrie doesn’t get going the other changes will be moot. However I would still go with Hardy and THJ in this series much more than Green and Exum. You need scoring against Boston even if both Kyrie and Luka are playing well. Pick your poison and the poison I would pick is sacrificing defense a bit.

[GATA]

Start Green and Lively the rest of the way

[nicholasthefan]

Sucks to lose the first two. Obviously I want the Mavs to win but I’m also still shocked we made it to the finals. This is icing at this point

[ThisIStheYear]

What play?  The dunk?

The attempted dunk against two elite defenders that had no chance of success.  It was sort of like any number of DJJ drive and blocks from the previous game. When will they learn? The Mavs have a lot of bravado. Big balls. But that doesn’t work against a team like Boston. A Boston player would have passed that out for a three point shot, what the Mavs actually needed there down five.  Hopefully, the home court will allow the Mavs to play higher IQ basketball. Maybe they’ll run an actual offense. Zinger’s injury might give them a chance if they do.

[ThisIStheYear]

Start Green and Lively the rest of the way

Lively was the worst player in the rotation tonight.  That’s what my eye test said, and when I checked, it was backed up by a big on court minus number. He’s been great in the playoffs. I love him on the Mavs and he may one day make an all star team.  But this hasn’t been his series. He’s been thrown off by the physicality and relentlessness of the Celtics, and the stakes of the game, getting beat and out worked in the paint by smaller players. Obviously, I’m not really a fan of anyone’s performance tonight. Gafford did show some grit in the 4th quarter though. Mostly, it was a team that went into hyperactive mode, made a slew of mistakes and ill advised decisions, and did a bad job dealing with the pressure.  Home games will help.  I expect a big win Wednesday, and then we’ll see what they’re made of Friday

[HoosierDaddyKid]

Start Green and Lively the rest of the way

Green? He's a non factor in this series. Or any series from my viewpoint.

[JamesConway912]

Green’s athleticism has been neutralized so far. Can’t say I’m surprised, Tatum and Brown are both quick but jmuch bigger, Jrue is just a tank and White plays very physical as well. Then you got Horford under the rim making few mistakes and it gets tough for everyone of our guys who mostly live by their athleticism right now (DJJ, Gafford, partially PJ and Lively)

Right now we really could use a glue guy type from the forward positions. Someone who can shoot + move the ball and attack closeouts. Maybe Kleber to some extent but he’s clearly very rusty / has still issues with his shoulder.

[Chicagojk]

The attempted dunk against two elite defenders that had no chance of success.  It was sort of like any number of DJJ drive and blocks from the previous game. When will they learn? The Mavs have a lot of bravado. Big balls. But that doesn’t work against a team like Boston. A Boston player would have passed that out for a three point shot, what the Mavs actually needed there down five.  Hopefully, the home court will allow the Mavs to play higher IQ basketball. Maybe they’ll run an actual offense. Zinger’s injury might give them a chance if they do.

I guess I don’t undestand what you would want him to do.  It was a fast break and he had a direct line to the rim.  There were defenders chasing him.  Just a fantastic play by the Boston defenders..although probably a foul.

Would you rather he don’t go strong?  Pull out and set up an offense.  I think he defiantly made the right decision.  The defense was just better.

Just my thoughts.

[BigDirk41]

It might be time to try Morris at the 5. He can shoot, he's tough and can defend pretty well. We can play 5 out with him. He should be able to guard Horford and keep Lively on KP, assuming KP is able to play.

[HoosierDaddyKidd]

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5553076...mavericks/



Bad shooting by both teams, but Boston prevails.

[HoosierDaddyKidd]

https://x.com/BasketNews_com/status/1800050944669065725


Kyrie's record after stomping on the lucky leprechaun

[BigDirk41]

https://x.com/BasketNews_com/status/1800050944669065725


Kyrie's record after stomping on the lucky leprechaun

That's wild to lose 12 in a row to a team as great as he is.

[ThisIStheYear]

I guess I don’t undestand what you would want him to do.  It was a fast break and he had a direct line to the rim.  There were defenders chasing him.  Just a fantastic play by the Boston defenders..although probably a foul.

Would you rather he don’t go strong?  Pull out and set up an offense.  I think he defiantly made the right decision.  The defense was just better.

Just my thoughts.

I’ve watched the play again and changed my mind. That was on Kyrie. The pass was the bad decision. There was little chance PJ would beat Brown and White at the rim. If he was confident, Kyrie would have accepted responsibility to make that play. It was a shitshow of an opening.  So many mistakes.  Hopefully we see better, more realistic decisions in Dallas. The series isn’t over until Dallas loses at home (or in game 7).

[dirkfansince1998]

"Mavs need to have the two best players in the series". Turns out they have the best but I would argue that the next five are Celtics. As stated before the series. They have 4-5 allstar caliber players and at least 2-3 will produce in any given game.
Can only hope that Kyrie shows up for game three. Right now it is one man against a five-headed monster.

[Chicagojk]

"Mavs need to have the two best players in the series". Turns out they have the best but I would argue that the next five are Celtics. As stated before the series. They have 4-5 allstar caliber players and at least 2-3 will produce in any given game.
Can only hope that Kyrie shows up for game three. Right now it is a one man against a five-headed monster.

We will see what being home will do, but I would seriously consider giving Exum some of Green's minutes.  Moment may be too big for Exum too.   

I like how he pushes the pace though and having another ball handler may open things back up a little.    Right now the Celtics have a real good understanding of what they need to do on defense.   I would like to see at least 20 minutes from Exum.

[dirkfansince1998]

We will see what being home will do, but I would seriously consider giving Exum some of Green's minutes.  Moment may be too big for Exum too.   

I like how he pushes the pace though and having another ball handler may open things back up a little.    Right now the Celtics have a real good understanding of what they need to do on defense.   I would like to see at least 20 minutes from Exum.

Not sure if it counts as a positive but some of the players that I expected to be non factors in the series are more playable than guys that I expected to be crucial for the Mavs. Gafford had some really good moments and showed that he can punish Tatum if he gets deep post catches. And considering that Lively isn't looking any better on defense he should get more minutes.
Exum and Kleber are able to slow down any given matchup 1v1. Both need more minutes but it is hard to find lineup combinations that work because the Mavs lack shooting/scoring to make up for their short comings.

[Chicagojk]

Not sure if it counts as a positive but some of the players that I expected to be non factors in the series are more playable than guys that I expected to be crucial for the Mavs. Gafford had some really good moments and showed that he can punish Tatum if he gets deep post catches. And considering that Lively isn't looking any better on defense he should get more minutes.
Exum and Kleber are able to slow down any given matchup 1v1. Both need more minutes but it is hard to find lineup combinations that work because the Mavs lack shooting/scoring to make up for their short comings.

I wasn't expecting big numbers for Lively and thought he would be really pushed in this series.  I did expect him to do Lively things though and find a way to make an impact.  So far over two games he has been almost completely eliminated.   I thought he would be doing the things KP has been doing on defense.

[SwisherPrice]

The Mavs playing checkers has gotten them this far. But the Celtics are clearly playing chess and the Mavs don't have an answer. Their simplistic offense just isn't working against a Celtics team that knows how to play great team defense while also having great individual defenders.

The iso-centric Luka/Kyrie offense just won't work against this team. And the Mavs role players are all programmed to run to their spots and wait for Luka/Kyrie to create something in a half court setting. When you don't have an offense based on ball movement and no one is in a rhythm to shoot then the Celtics can afford to leave them open. There's really nothing the Mavs can do...this is their system and it worked against the LA, OKC, and Minnesota. Maybe it would work fine against any other team in the East. But the Celtics are just too good and experienced to handle what the Mavs try to do.

[omahen]

The Mavs playing checkers has gotten them this far. But the Celtics are clearly playing chess and the Mavs don't have an answer. Their simplistic offense just isn't working against a Celtics team that knows how to play great team defense while also having great individual defenders.

The iso-centric Luka/Kyrie offense just won't work against this team. And the Mavs role players are all programmed to run to their spots and wait for Luka/Kyrie to create something in a half court setting. When you don't have an offense based on ball movement and no one is in a rhythm to shoot then the Celtics can afford to leave them open. There's really nothing the Mavs can do...this is their system and it worked against the LA, OKC, and Minnesota. Maybe it would work fine against any other team in the East. But the Celtics are just too good and experienced to handle what the Mavs try to do.

I would argue that Celtics run basically same system as Mavs. Tatum or Brown were hunting missmatches every single time in halfcourt, mostly attacking Luka and sometimes Kyrie or center. They than distributed the ball to teammates who are all great players and know what to do with it, not just shoot it or pass it back. As Dirkfan said, Mavs have the best player, but Boston has next 4 or 5. I think you are underestimating how much better JRue and White are on offense compared to DJJ and PJ.

On the other end, Boston doesn't really have a weak link on defense as long as they are able to successfuly hide their centers, mostly on DJJ - connected to being able to successfuly play Tatum on our centers without giving up easy baskets or offensive rebounds. As Gobert has often been neutralized by 5-out offense, so will be our centers. Mavs will imho also need to find a way to hide Luka a bit. He can't be expected to guard Tatum one on one on every possession and then be the whole offense on the other end.