Subscribe
Follow Us
Game one of the NBA Finals between the Dallas Mavericks and the Boston Celtics took place on Thursday night in Boston. The Celtics have been the best team in the NBA all year long and they came into the playoffs as favorites to win it all. The Mavericks are the five seed in the West so it's pretty surprising that they made it this far, but they have played very well in the postseason so far. The Celtics were the favorite in game one on Thursday, and they made easy work of Dallas. Boston led big pretty much the whole game and they got the win, 107-89.
The Celtics have been great in the playoffs so far as they have only lost two games, but Thursday night's performance was probably their best of the postseason so far. Let's take a quick look at what Boston has been through so far in the playoffs.
Boston easily got the one seed in the East after an impressive 64-18 regular season record. They were far and away the best team in the conference as the next closest team to them in the standings was the New York Knicks, who finished 14 games behind them.
The Celtics are the top seed, and they started off their playoff run with a series against the Miami Heat. The Heat were the lowest seed in the East, but we have seen them make some deep runs as a low seed in recent years, so this was a tricky matchup for Boston. However, the Heat were without their star player, Jimmy Butler, and that certainly made things more difficult for them.
Still, the Heat found a way to get the win in game two of that series on the road, and they went back to Miami with the series tied at one. At that point, it looked like Miami might be able to make that series interesting, but the Celtics ended up being too much for them to handle. They went on the road and took care of business in games three and four, and then they finished out the series in front of their home crowd in Boston in game five. The Celtics advanced to the next round to take on the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Series two for Boston went very similarly to the first round. The Celtics took care of business at home in game one, but Donovan Mitchell and the Cavaliers stole game two on the road and headed home with the series tied at one. Cleveland has some good star power on their team, and it again looked like it could be a good series after game two. However, Boston once again locked in when they went on the road, and they won both games in Cleveland to go up 3-1. They went back to Boston for game five, and the Celtics got the win despite a good effort from the Cavaliers.
Like the Heat, the Cavaliers also had to deal with some unfortunate injury trouble as Donovan Mitchell did not play in games four or five. Boston won the series and punched their ticket to the Eastern Conference Finals.
The Eastern Conference Finals was an interesting series for the Celtics. They ended up sweeping the Indiana Pacers, but Indiana really played well enough for them to be up 3-1 in the series after four games instead of being swept.
The Pacers were up by three and had the ball with under 10 seconds left in game one, and they lost. They were up by eight with under three minutes to go in game three, and they lost. Then, the Pacers led by four with a little over three minutes to go in game four and had led the entire fourth quarter. They didn't score in the final three and a half minutes, and they lost. Indiana put themselves in great position to win games, and they folded down the stretch.
Again, like the Heat and the Cavaliers, the Pacers were without their best player, Tyrese Haliburton, for part of the series. He did not play in games three or four.
Now, the Celtics have made it to the NBA Finals, and they are three wins away from winning it all after taking game one from the Mavericks. However, if you're a Dallas fan, you don't need to hit the panic button just yet, and here's why.
The Mavericks are familiar with this position
The Mavericks did not look good in game on Thursday night in Boston. They got down big early, and they were never able to fully get back in it. Dallas did go on a run at one point and get the lead down to eight, but then they immediately surrendered another big run and their deficit blossomed. They lost big, and they are now down 1-0.
However, the Mavericks don't need to panic because they have been in this position numerous times under head coach Jason Kidd. Dallas has been poor in game ones under Kidd, but they have often times found their way back.
In the 2022 playoffs, the Mavericks made it to the Western Conference Finals before going down against the Golden State Warriors. Dallas had three series in the playoffs that year, and they lost game one in each series.
They started off the playoffs against the Utah Jazz, and they fell in game one 99-93. The Mavericks ended up being just fine in that series and they went on to win it in six games.
After that, the Mavericks took on the Phoenix Suns. They lost game one 121-114, and they even lost game two in that series as well. They found a way to come back and win the series in seven games.
Dallas lost game one of the conference finals as well that year, but they weren't able to come back and win that series.
The Mavericks didn't make the playoffs in 2023, but let's take a look at what they have been through in the postseason so far this year.
Dallas started off the playoffs this season against the Los Angeles Clippers. As we all remember, they lost game one, and it wasn't that close as they lost 109-97. Dallas came back strong and won four out of the next five games to get a series win in six.
Then, the Mavericks advanced to take on the top seeded Oklahoma City Thunder in the second round. Game one on the road was a disaster. The Thunder got the win 117-95, and it looked like Dallas was in big trouble. The Mavericks then won four out of five against the top team in the West and won the series in six games.
Then, for the first time under head coach Jason Kidd, the Mavericks finally won a game one as they took down the Minnesota Timberwolves on the road in game one of the Western Conference Finals, and they went on to win that series in five.
So, the Mavericks have played in seven playoff series now under head coach Jason Kidd. Six have been completed, and Dallas has a 5-1 series record in those six. However, they have won a game one just one time out of those seven series.
Game one didn't go well for the Mavericks, but as you can see, they are very familiar with the spot that they are in. There's no reason for Dallas to panic just yet.
