The Boston Celtics have reached the NBA Finals for the second time in the past three seasons. This year, the Celtics were powered by major offseason acquisitions in Jrue Holiday and Kristaps Porzingis. They received good news on the injury front as Porzingis is expected to be ready for Game 1. As the Celtics come into the NBA Finals against the Dallas Mavericks, they face pressure of being the favorite, a feeling known all too well by Los Angeles Lakers star and former rival LeBron James.
On a recent episode of LeBron James' and JJ Redick's podcast, ‘Mind the Game,' James spoke about the pressures that come with being considered the favorite in the NBA Finals.
“I know what Boston is going through, you know being a favorite and having the weight on their shoulders, and you know like you said the expectation because they've been there so many times it's like okay how many times you're going to climb this mountain to where now you keep sliding back down it and not actually getting to the top and going back down the other way,” James said. “So they're definitely feeling it but you know up until this point listen, it don't matter who is put in front of you, we're all NBA players and they're taking care of business right now.”
LeBron James has reached the NBA Finals ten times in his career. He's won four championships during those appearances. When he was playing for the Miami Heat, his teams were definitely favorites heading into each Finals series.
Celtics have been the NBA's elite team this season
The Celtics came into the NBA playoffs as the favorite to win the title. They finished the regular season with a record of 64-18 and homecourt advantage throughout the entire postseason. Throughout the playoffs so far, they've looked like a team on a mission.
Sure they may have faced teams with a few injury woes, but as LeBron James said, they're all NBA players and the Celtics are taking care of business no matter who is opposite them.
The Celtics defeated the Heat in five games in the first round, beat the Cleveland Cavaliers in five games in the second round and swept the Indiana Pacers, 4-0, in the Eastern Conference Finals. Now the Celtics prepare for the Mavericks. While they have benefitted tremendously from the additions of Jrue Holiday and Kristaps Porzingis, it's been the star duo of Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown who have powered this run.
During this playoff run, Tatum has been averaging 26.0 points, 10.4 rebounds, 5.9 assists and 1.1 steals with splits of 44.2 percent shooting from the field, 29 percent shooting from the three-point line and 84.5 percent shooting from the free-throw line. Brown has been averaging 23.0 points, 5.5 rebounds, 3.6 assists and 1.2 steals with splits of 49.9 percent shooting from the field, 35.4 percent shooting from the three-point line and 70.3 percent shooting from the free-throw line.
The Celtics reached the NBA Finals in 2022 only to fall to the Golden State Warriors in six games. Last season, they reached the Eastern Conference Finals but were defeated by the Heat in seven games after they fell behind 0-3 to start the series.
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