What Went Wrong in the NBA Finals Against the Boston Celtics for the Dallas Mavericks?

Now that it's been a couple of months, what did Dallas learn from their championship series loss to the Celtics?

Keenan Womack | Aug 17, 2024

Jun 17, 2024; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Dallas Mavericks guard Luka Doncic (77) dribbles the ball against Boston Celtics guard Jaylen Brown (7) during the second quarter in game five of the 2024 NBA Finals at TD Garden. Mandatory Credit: Peter Casey-USA TODAY Sports / Peter Casey-USA TODAY Sports

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The Dallas Mavericks lost to the Boston Celtics 4-1 in the NBA Finals last season in a series that felt like a mismatch from Game 1, where Boston held a blazing-hot offense to 89 points, well below Dallas' season and playoff average. The Mavs won Game 4 by a decent margin, but other than that, they were mostly overmatched by a team that has so many defensive options, options that other teams simply don't have to guard Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving.

The Mavericks' offense scorched the Minnesota Timberwolves in the Western Conference Finals to the tune of a 121.0 offensive rating – there was simply nothing the Wolves could do to slow down Dallas' pick-and-roll proficiency.

Luka Doncic ate four-time Defensive Player of the Year Rudy Gobert alive for the entire series, a microcosm of which was his shot over the French center to win Game 2. This dissection of what was an excellent regular-season defense happened for a few reasons, most of which were due to Doncic's ability to create mismatches for the Mavericks on the offensive end.

Gobert played in drop coverage with Jaden McDaniels as the primary defender on Doncic, who attacked this by putting McDaniels on his back hip using his size and consistent pace. This allowed him enough room to operate around the free-throw line unbothered.

The number of lob threats Dallas had around the rim prevented Gobert from playing up and guarding the ball handler himself, which gave Doncic a ton of space to shoot from the midrange. Furthermore, the additional baseline defender for Minnesota was often caught between trying to guard these rim passes to bigs as well as making sure Kyrie Irving or another shooter didn't get an open look from the corner.

Even when the Timberwolves decided to blitz the pick-and-roll, Doncic found easy passes to the middle of the floor or on short rolls that ended up being hockey assists to other players in space. When Minnesota hedged on the ball screen, it created a similar problem faced by the baseline defender when Gobert was in drop coverage: this time, whoever played the power forward spot was stuck guarding the roll man as well as the corner three-point shooter.

Doncic had a blistering 35.3% assist rate in the Minnesota series due to his impeccable reads on the offensive end, something that Boston was able to counter with their roster and game plan.

Boston's positional versatility was the difference maker in the series against Dallas – they had so many more options to guard the pick-and-roll, amongst other offensive actions. Having Jayson Tatum play the power forward spot was especially effective given his ability to switch onto Doncic.

Additionally, having an elite perimeter defender in Jrue Holiday to harass Irving the second he got the ball took the Dallas shooting guard out of his rhythm, forcing him into tough looks off the bounce, a far cry from the assisted baskets that Mavericks players were getting seemingly at will against Minnesota.

Jaylen Brown's defense on Luka Doncic was also extremely impressive, as he used his length and athletic ability to pick up the Dallas' top offensive option at half court, forcing him into tough off-the-dribble jumper attempts as well.

Players like Al Horford and Kristaps Porzingis (when healthy) played major roles in defending the rim, not allowing for layup attempts, but also preventing easy lob looks. Even when the Mavericks decided to try to use a pick-and-pop setup with players like Derrick Jones Jr. and P.J. Washington, the Celtics just allowed them to shoot, not adjusting the defensive coverage to compensate because of their poor percentages (the two players shot a combined 9-for-34 from deep).

For the series, the Mavericks shot just 31.6% from beyond the arc, well below their season average of 36.0%. As hard as this may have been to read for the Dallas faithful, the positives come when analyzing the roster adds this offseason – Klay Thompson, Naji Marshall, and Quentin Grimes all add catch-and-shoot ability to a team that desperately needed it.

Considering the Mavericks shot below league average from three last season anyway, these three additions make a lot of sense from an offensive standpoint. Throw in the defensive pluses these players bring, and these roster moves, though maybe not appealing to the national media, make a ton of sense.

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Published Aug 17, 2024

KEENAN WOMACK

Keenan Womack is a sportswriter native to Dallas, Texas, who has spent the last 12 years in Austin, the home of his alma mater, the University of Texas. Keenan has covered sports for SB Nation, Bleacher Report, Rivals/Orangebloods, a host of his own sites and now, Fan Nation. Focusing on basketball, Keenan was on the beat for the Longhorns hoops team for the last two-and-a-half years before moving on to pursue other opportunities. He is married and lives with his wife close to the Moody Center, so they can continue to catch games together.