Last Friday, the Boston Celtics had the chance to sweep the Dallas Mavericks in Game 4 of this year’s NBA Finals. But through sheer grit and determination, the Mavericks staved off elimination, and will once again return to TD Garden to play Game 5. Veteran analyst Skip Bayless is still siding with Luka Doncic and the Mavericks, claiming that the Dallas side is simply the better team.
During his monologue on his show “Undisputed”, the FS1 host had the Dallas Mavericks winning Game 5. But Bayless didn’t end his comments with a simple prediction. Instead, he chose to double down on his take, saying that,
“I still say the Dallas Mavericks are a little better than the Boston Celtics. Because I still believe that the Dallas Mavericks are much deeper than the Boston Celtics.”
“I still say the Dallas Mavericks are a little better than the Boston Celtics.”@RealSkipBayless is all-in on the Mavs in Game 5 pic.twitter.com/VWtG7y9YxQ
— UNDISPUTED (@undisputed) June 17, 2024
This statement might seem bizarre to many, considering how the Celtics’ roster has divided the workload between each other. But Bayless added that Mavs’ bench players like Dante Exum and Josh Green played pivotal roles in Game 4, which helped the Dallas side steamroll its opposition at the American Airlines Center on Friday.
On the flip side, none of the bench players of the Boston side have been particularly impactful. Moreover, after Porzingis went down, the Celtics have struggled to find a good replacement.
The Celtics’ rebounding and paint presence have been pretty much absent since Porzingis’ injury. In fact, Bayless pointed out that the Mavericks have outrebounded the Celtics by a margin of 26 collections. The Boston side was also thrashed in the paint as the Dallas side took a 212-146 advantage in the interior.
While Bayless’s claims are factually correct, the conclusions that the veteran journalist is coming to are rather illogical. In the three games played so far before Game 4, the Celtics have hands down been the better team and there is no denying it. While missing Porzingis has surely hurt the team, the real reason why Boston failed on Friday night was due to a lack of drive and motivation.
The Mavericks are far from perfect themselves; they might have a harder time in Game 5 than people think.
The Mavericks require fixing and Boston’s bench needs to show up
The Dallas Mavericks’ Cinderella run makes the ongoing series even more entertaining. That said, both teams have had their struggles and a lot of players on both sides aren’t firing off like they should. The majority of the problem lies in the huge pile of injuries that have plagued both teams.
On the Mavericks, apart from Luka and Kyrie, role players who have had an impact on both ends of the floor — Dante Exum, Josh Green, Maxi Kleber, and Dereck Lively II— have all dealt with injuries and have been in and out of the lineup.
Injuries aside, the Mavericks are heavily reliant on their guard play, and with Luka already hobbled, Irving will have to put his issues with Boston on hold. Entering Game 5, Kyrie will be the game’s X-factor, because if Irving can show up, the Mavericks have a puncher’s chance at pushing the series beyond 5 games.
But the Mavs will have to learn from their past mistakes and avoid being lazy on defense. In fact, a major difference between Games 1 and 2 and Friday’s Game 4 was the defensive effort that the Mavericks put up, and it paid off as Dallas blew the Celtics out by 38 points.
If the Celtics want to avoid a repeat of Game 4, key players from the Boston franchise will have to show up. Both Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown have had an up-and-down series, with Tatum being especially absent during large segments of the games. Tatum has to be a lot more aggressive driving inside, as settling for contested threes has proven to be detrimental for the entire team.
In the end, another blow-out game for the Mavs could mean the death of the Celtics.
