Boston Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla understands his team has a lot of work to do heading into the NBA Finals with Luka Dončić and Kyrie Irving playing as well as they are.
Speaking to reporters on Saturday, Mazzulla explained that “there’s nothing stopping” the Dallas Mavericks‘ superstar duo right now.
Coming out of the second round against the Oklahoma City Thunder, it looked like Dončić and Irving might have hit a wall. They combined to average 40.4 points in the six-game series, up from 59.5 in the regular season and 56.3 in the first round against the Los Angeles Clippers.
Any of those concerns disappeared in the Western Conference Finals. Dončić averaged 32.4 points, 9.6 rebounds and 8.2 assists per game. Irving scored 27.0 points on 49.0 percent shooting in five games against the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Dončić and Irving became just the third pair of teammates in NBA history to score at least 30 points in a conference finals playoff game with their stellar performances in Game 5 against the T-Wolves.
One reason to be optimistic about the Celtics’ chances of containing the Dallas duo is that they have arguably the best defense in the NBA between Jrue Holiday and Derrick White.
Neither player has the height to match up with the 6’7″ Dončić, so it could fall to Jaylen Brown to guard him at various times. Mazzulla will almost certainly want to keep Holiday or White on Irving at all times to prevent him from finding a rhythm.
That’s much easier said than done, as Irving has made a career of finding an opening where none seem to exist, even if it means attempting an absurd uppercut with his non-dominant hand.
This also figures to be a high-scoring series, even though both teams have played excellent defense throughout the playoffs.
The Celtics will be the best offense Dallas has faced in the postseason. Boston has the second-best offensive rating of any team in the playoffs, behind only the Indiana Pacers, while also posting the third-best defensive rating.
On the other hand, this will be the first time that the Celtics play against a team in top form. They defeated the Miami Heat without Jimmy Butler, the Cleveland Cavaliers without Jarrett Allen throughout the series and Donovan Mitchell in the last two games, and the Pacers without Tyrese Haliburton in the last two games.
Boston could also get Kristaps Porziņģis back for the first time since Game 4 against the Heat. Mazzulla has not confirmed his return, but said Friday that he was “progressing well” and that they were “confident” in where he is now.
Game 1 of the NBA Finals between the Mavericks and Celtics will be played on Thursday at 8:30 pm ET at TD Garden.
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