Here’s a closer look at the Boston Celtics and Dallas Mavericks in the NBA Finals

BOSTON — The matchup for the 2024 NBA Finals is set. It will be the Boston Celtics and the Dallas Mavericks battling for a championship when the series tips off next Thursday at TD Garden.

Get ready, Boston fans. Kyrie Irving is coming back to TD Garden to play for a title, and he’s bringing Luka Doncic and the rest of the Mavs with him. That should make for an interesting atmosphere at the Garden, where Irving isn’t particularly well-liked following his unceremonious departure from Boston five years ago.

That is just one of the storylines we’ll be hearing plenty about in the build-up to the 2024 NBA Finals. The Mavericks have plenty of flash and sizzle with Doncic and Irving, while the Celtics are (and have been) the best team in the league from top to bottom. 

Here’s a breakdown of the upcoming Celtics-Mavericks matchup.

How the Celtics and the Mavericks got to the NBA Finals

The Celtics are right where we thought they’d be for most of the regular season, when they rolled to a 64-18 record en route to the top seed in the NBA. The Celtics beat the Miami Heat and the Cleveland Cavaliers in five games in the first two rounds of the playoffs, before sweeping the Indiana Pacers out of the Eastern Conference Finals.

The Mavericks claimed the five-seed in the Western Conference with a 50-32 record in the regular season. They needed six games to beat the four-seeded L.A. Clippers in the first round, dropping Game 1 on the road and Game 4 at home before winning the final two games of the series. In the second round against the top-seeded Oklahoma City Thunder, the Mavs once again lost Game 1 on the road and Game 4 at home before winning the final two games to pull off the series upset.

Dallas matched up with the three-seeded Minnesota Timberwolves in the Western Conference Finals, but made quick work of them with a five-game gentleman’s sweep. The Mavs won the first three games of the series by a total of 13 points, before blowing the Wolves out by 21 points in Game 5 in Minnesota.

The Mavericks are looking to add their second NBA championship in franchise history, with their lone title coming back in 2011. The Celtics are going for the franchise’s 18th championship, but first since 2008.

Celtics vs. Mavericks by the numbers

The Celtics have averaged 111.4 points per game this postseason — second-best in the NBA after the Pacers’ 113.9 points per game — off 48 percent shooting overall and 36.8 percent from three-point range. The Boston defense is allowing just 101.3 points per game, good for third-best this postseason, and the C’s lead everyone with a plus-10 point differential in the playoffs. 

The Mavs have averaged 107.9 points over their 17 playoff games, hitting 47 percent overall and 37.2 percent from downtown. The Dallas defense has locked in and is allowing just 103.9 points per game, good for sixth-best this postseason, with opponents shooting 44.5 percent overall and 35.6 percent from three-point range. Dallas owns a plus-4 differential for the playoffs.

Luka is the most gifted scorer in the Finals, leading the charge for Dallas at 28.8 points per game off 43.8 percent shooting and 34.3 percent from downtown this postseason. He also adds at least 9.6 rebounds and 8.8 assists per game, with Doncic logging six triple-doubles so far in the playoffs. He had two against the Wolves in the Western Conference Finals, and logged three against the Thunder in the second round.

An offensive threat at all three levels, Irving is shooting 48.5 percent from the floor and 42.1 percent from three-point range in the playoffs, averaging 22.8 points per game. Irving has scored 30 or more points six times in the postseason, including three times against the Wolves.

The Celtics are led by their two Jays, with Jayson Tatum leading the way at 26 points per game to go with 10.4 rebounds and 5.9 assists. Tatum is shooting 44.2 percent overall but has struggled from deep, hitting his threes at just a 29 percent clip.

Jaylen Brown, on the other hand, has gone wild in the playoffs, shooting 54.1 percent overall and 36.8 percent from three. He’s giving Boston 25 points per game to go with 6.1 rebounds, 2.6 assists, and 1.1 steals per contest.

Boston’s backcourt of Jrue Holiday and Derrick White are going to be huge factors in this series on both ends of the floor. White is coming off his game-winning shot in Game 4 against the Pacers, and is averaging 17.8 points to go with 4.1 rebounds, 4.6 assists, 0.9 steals, and 1.3 blocks per game this postseason. Holiday’s numbers are pretty strong at 12.7 points, 5.6 rebounds, and 4.6 assists per game, but he does so much more than just put up numbers. His defense is going to be key to Boston’s efforts to keep Doncic and Irving in check.

Celtics vs. Mavericks during the regular season

The Celtics and the Mavs matched up twice in the regular season, and Boston won both of them.

The C’s won their Jan. 22 meeting with the Mavericks in Dallas, 119-110. Tatum and Brown both went off for Boston, with Tatum leading the way with 38 points (off 11-for-21 shooting and 15 made free throws) and 11 rebounds, while Brown had 34 points (13-for-22), four assists, three rebounds, and one absolutely filthy crossover on Doncic. Jrue Holiday scored 17 points and pulled down seven rebounds, while Al Horford got the start and went for 11 points and six boards. 

Kristaps Porzinigis did not play that night as it was the second leg of a back-to-back, and he had scored 32 points in a Celtics win over the Rockets in Houston the night before.

The Celtics overcame a triple-double by Doncic, who had 33 points, 18 rebounds, and 13 assists for Dallas. But he needed 30 shots to get those 33 points, while Irving added 23 points (going 9-for-20 from the floor) and six rebounds for the Mavs.

Boston got to square off against against former teammate Grant Williams for the first time that night, and Tatum greeted him with an emphatic rejection when Williams tried a heave at the buzzer before halftime.

The Celtics won by an even bigger margin when the Mavs came to Boston on March 1, finishing strong for a 138-110 victory. After the Mavs made it a two-point game in the third quarter, the Celtics embarked on a 21-11 run to pull away, and then outscored Dallas 36-20 in the fourth quarter.

Tatum and Brown led the way again, scoring 32 and 25 points, respectively, while Porzingis scored 24 points against his former team. He scored 10 of Boston’s first 15 points in the game, and shot 8-for-14 overall and 4-for-8 from downtown.

The Celtics had seven players score in double digits that game: Holiday (11 points, 7 assists), White (13 points, 8 assists, 7 rebounds), Horford (12 points, 8 rebounds off the bench) and Payton Pritchard (10 points). 

Doncic was a magician once again, finishing with a 37-point, 12-rebound, and 11-assists triple-double. Irving added 19 points but hit just one of his seven threes, as boos rained down on him any time he touched the ball.

Newcomer P.J. Washington scored 17 points for the Mavs to go with seven rebounds, but he was a game-worst minus-22 for Dallas. He’s since become a much bigger part of Dallas’ success, as has center Daniel Gafford, and both have helped the Mavs turn things around on defense. 

Celtics vs. Mavericks matchups

The Mavericks have an insanely talented offensive backcourt with Doncic and Irving, while the Celtics possess one of the best defensive backcourts in Holiday and White. Chances are Brown will be looking to shut down Doncic, while Holiday and White share duties on Irving. That will allow Tatum to roam and switch (he’ll likely be on Washington but will be ready to help with the Luka assignment), and if Porzingis returns, he’ll be looking to shut down any Dallas pick-and-rolls.

While the focus will be on Tatum and Brown’s abilities to match the production of Luka and Kryie, the difference could be what either team gets from other players throughout the series. The stars should cancel each other out, in theory, which will make the production from guys like Holiday, White, and even Al Horford (hopefully off the bench) all the more important for the Celtics. 

As for the defensive end of the floor, while Dallas isn’t usually known for thriving on that side of the ball, the Mavs became a much better defensive team after trading away Williams and picking up Washington and big man Daniel Gafford at the deadline. Even Doncic and Irving have ramped things up on defense, and with an emphasis on that end of the floor, Dallas won 16 of its final 20 games in the regular season. The Celtics blew out the Mavs shortly after the trade deadline, but the Mavs have become a much better team since that meeting.

As for containing Dallas’ stars, the Boston defense will have its hands full. Luka and Kyrie are going to get their points, but the Celtics need to make them really work for those points. Another 33-point effort from Doncic that requires 30 shots likely won’t cut it in the Finals.

The head-coaching matchup is also an intriguing one, with Joe Mazzulla coming off a great series against Rick Carlisle. Mazzulla has had a pretty solid postseason in general, and will now match wits with Jason Kidd, who will also be coaching in his first NBA Finals. Kidd won his only ring as a player with the Mavericks in 2011.

When will Kristaps Porzingis play?

It looks like Porzingis will be able to return to action at some point in the NBA Finals. Game 1 will be five weeks since he suffered his calf strain in the first half, and Mazzulla said Thursday that Porzingis hasn’t suffered any setbacks in his recovery. A Game 1 return would be wonderful, but the Celtics aren’t tipping their hand just yet.

The Celtics have won nine of their 10 games without Porzingis, but they’re going to need him for their matchup against the Mavs. And Porzingis will have a little extra juice when he takes the floor against his former team, as things didn’t work out between him and Doncic over the big man’s two-plus seasons in Dallas. 

Kyrie Irving vs. Boston

This is going to be the storyline. Boston fans really don’t like Kryie, and Kyrie really doesn’t like Boston fans. 

It’s been five years since Irving left Boston after saying he’d like to stay ahead of the 2019 season, but the disdain toward the ultra-talented guard remains. He stomped on Lucky at midcourt during the 2021 postseason, and Boston fans treat him to boos whenever he touches the ball at TD Garden. (With the occasional water bottle throw, which is a step too far.)

Irving went 7-1 against the Celtics during the 2020-21 season, including five-game win over Boston in the first round of the playoffs. That’s when he wiped his sneaker on the logo, and it’s gone downhill since for Irving.

Irving was 0-5 against the C’s in 2021-22, including Boston’s first-round sweep of the Nets on their way to the NBA Finals. He was 0-3 against the Celtics with the Nets in 2022-23 before being dealt to Dallas, and the went 0-2 against his former team this season. The abacus tells us that’s 10 straight losses for Kyrie against his former team.

You don’t poke a bear, or when it comes to facing the Celtics, don’t mess with the leprechaun.