The Boston Celtics are heavy favorites against the Dallas Mavericks in the 2024 NBA Finals. That said, games aren't won on paper, and they'll need to continue playing elite basketball on both ends to defeat the best of the West.
Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown will have to outplay the Mavs' star tandem of Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving. The return of Kristaps Porzingis, who's been out since Game 4 of the first round with a calf injury, will also be crucial along with the play of All-Defensive guards Derrick White and Jrue Holiday.
There are several keys to victory for Boston, but C's great Cedric Maxwell narrowed it down to one key that will ultimately decide who wins the title.
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"I can give you one key: rebounding the basketball," Maxwell told Chris Forsberg on the latest episode of the Celtics Talk Podcast. "Not giving up second-chance opportunities. Because (Daniel) Gafford and (Dereck) Lively are around the rim all the time. You don't want to give a team that has these shooters extra opportunities. ...
"To me, it's going to be not giving up offensive rebounds. Because we've seen Lively, we've seen Gafford, those guys feast on the inside."
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Dallas presents by far Boston's toughest test yet in the 2024 playoffs. The Celtics steamrolled the Jimmy Butler-less Miami Heat, a Cleveland Cavaliers team that played without Donovan Mitchell and Jarrett Allen, and the Indiana Pacers without Tyrese Haliburton.
Some have scoffed at the Celtics' "easy" path to the championship, but Maxwell is sick of hearing that narrative.
"I get tired of people talking about, 'Well, they didn't really play anybody.' They played the teams that they had to play, who was sitting in front of them, and they played really well," he said. "I think they learned a lot of lessons, they learned who they were, you saw defensive responsibility, you saw Tatum, you saw Brown. I mean, it was good to watch those guys harness some of this stuff and man, Jrue Holiday was unreal. Jrue Holiday will be yet another key."
Also in this episode:
- How important is a healthy Kristaps Porzingis for Boston in this series?
- OK, fine, let’s talk about Kyrie.
- Maxwell shares his thoughts on the Jayson Tatum-Jaylen Brown relationship “drama."
- Who do you have winning this series?