Former NBA players Evan Turner and Andre Iguodala recently spoke about the two teams that have made it to the NBA Finals. During their discussion of the Boston Celtics and the Dallas Mavericks’ path to the NBA’s biggest stage on the Point Forward Podcast, the two former forwards found something that intrigued them. Soon, the two couldn’t help but talk about what it meant to be swept.
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While speaking on the Mavericks’ 4-1 series win over the Minnesota Timberwolves in the Western Conference Finals, Turner brought up an interesting point. Speaking on how even a 4-1 series score should be considered a ‘sweep’, he said,
“You squealed out one game out of five games. You basically, with the hair on your teeth, basically got swept. And I just always thought in my head that if you didn’t get—You know, you gotta do it twice, so we know you mean it.”
Evan Turner went on to mention an interaction he had with former NBA sharpshooter, Kyle Korver. After losing a series 4-1 to him and his team, Turner claimed how his squad almost had him and Korver responded that Evan and his squad only won one game. Through this, he insinuated that ‘ET’ had no right to brag about anything.
It is difficult to disregard Turner’s reasoning behind why he believes that a 4-1 series defeat is still a sweep. After all, even this would require utter domination from the winning side.
However, even the single win the losing team achieves in this situation should stand for something. After all, for the underdogs to have gotten a lick in, instead of falling away without a fight is admirable, to say the least. So, it would be a tad too harsh on the losing team to consider a 4-1 result as a sweep.
Coming to the other side of the table, however, what is it like for the winning team in this scenario? More specifically, would it be fair to say that a franchise that has won every series like this or better so far this year, has had it easy?
Did the Boston Celtics have it easy?
The Dallas Mavericks had their work cut out for them prior to the NBA Finals, having had to win against the superteam LA Clippers, an exuberant OKC Thunder, and the unpredictable Minnesota Timberwolves. However, the same cannot be said for the Boston Celtics, with many even claiming they’ve had it easy.
To be fair to them, the quality of this Boston Celtics side is undeniable. That said, with the team having played injury-riddled sides at every stage, it is hard not to say that their path to the NBA Finals has, at least, been easier than the Mavericks’ journey.
Still, before injuries were every part of the equation, the Boston Celtics were hailed as the favorites to make it to the NBA Finals out of the East. In fact, they even enter the NBA Finals as the favorites to win the 2024 NBA Championship.
Now, can this team now use the gifts it has been given, and finally win the ring that has been so elusive to them in the Jayson Tatum era? Or will a certain Slovenian superstar have the final say?
