Dallas Mavericks (1-3) at Boston Celtics (3-1) NBA Finals Game 5 6/17/24 (2024)

The series returns to Boston for Game 5 of the NBA Finals. The Celtics lead the series 3 games to 1 after a 38 point loss to the Mavericks in Game 4 in Dallas. 156 teams have led a 7 game series 3-0 and every one of those teams have won the championship. No team has come back from being down 0-3 but the Celtics should know that it’s not a given that they will win just because of that fact.

Only four teams have even forced a Game 7 after trailing 3-0, and only one did it in the Finals. The first and only team to force a Game 7 in the NBA Finals were the 1951 New York Knicks. On April 21, 1951, the Knicks lost Game 7 to the Rochester Royals, now the Sacramento Kings, by just four points, ending their quest to come back from 0-3. Both the Celtics and the Mavericks have experience in this area but on different ends of the 0-3 deficit.

In the 2003 Western Conference first-round, the Portland Trailblazers were down 0-3 to the Dallas Mavericks and forced a Game 7, only to lose to the Mavericks. Celtics fans (and these Celtics) will remember the 2023 Eastern Conference Finals. The Celtics lost the first 3 games and fought back to force a Game 7. The Celtics may have been the first team to win after falling behind 0-3 if it wasn’t for Jayson Tatum spraining his ankle in Game 7.

In Celtics history, there may be a precedent for the Celtics winning Game 5. Celtics’ history shows us that all three of Boston’s most recent championship teams have something in common. The 1984, 1986 and 2008 teams all lost a closeout game on the road in the Finals. All 3 then came back to win the Championship in their next game at home. It was on this day (6/17) that the Celtics won their 17th title in 2008 at the TD Garden.

Looking at this Celtics team in this season, we can also find a reason for feeling positive about Game 5. Up until this point in the playoffs, the Celtics have only lost 2 games by 20 or more points. In both cases, they came back to win the next game. On January 11, the Celtics lost to the Bucks 135-102. Two days later, they beat the Rockets 145-113. Then on May 9, the Cavaliers beat the Celtics 118-94 and in their next game, the Celtics won 106-93.

Along with those two 20+ point losses, this Celtics team lost 5 other games by double digits. The Celtics are 4-1 in the games following those double digit losses. Their 4 wins were by 10 points, 10 points, 6 points and 20 points. In these playoffs, the Celtics have lost just 2 games before their Game 4 loss to the Mavericks. They lost Game 2 to the Heat 111-101 and then won Game 3 104-84. They lost Game 2 to the Cavaliers 118-94 and then won Game 3 106-93.

Join us on Playback!

Photo by Brian Babineau/NBAE via Getty Images

Make sure to check out the CelticsBlog Playback stream to watch games with us! To sign up:

• Head over to playback.tv and create an account with your email address
• Connect and select your NBA League Pass login as your streaming account (sign up for League Pass here first if you don’t have it)
• Go tohttps://www.playback.tv/celticsblogand hit the JOIN button
• Make sure to activate push notifications so you know when we’re going live

Kyrie Irving does have some experience in making Finals history that could give the Mavericks hope. In 2016, Kyrie Irving, Lebron James, and the Cleveland Cavaliers were the first and only team to ever come back from a 3-1 deficit in the NBA Finals. In that series, the Warriors won Games 1 and 2 but the Cavaliers won Game 3. The Warriors won Game 4 but the Cavs held on to win Games 5, 6 and 7 to win the series. The Mavericks have been pointing to this series as proof that they can come back to win this series.

Kristaps Porzingis suffered a torn medial retinaculum in Game 2 of the Finals. He was upgraded to available for Game 4 with the caveat that he would only play if absolutely necessary. Since the game was pretty much over in the first quarter, it wasn’t necessary for him to play. He is listed as questionable for this game and his status is a game time decision.

As he has been throughout the post season, Luka Doncic is once again on the injury list. He has been listed as probable with a right knee sprain and left ankle soreness almost every game in the first 3 rounds but has not missed a game yet. Before Game 2, he was downgraded to questionable with a chest contusion and was wrapped up like a mummy before the game but played the game and didn’t seem to be hampered at all by the list of ailments. He has played in every game and will likely play once again.

Probable Celtics Starters

Celtics Reserves
Oshae Brissett
Sam Hauser
Svi Mykhailiuk
Payton Pritchard
Jordan Walsh
Jaden Springer
Xavier Tillman
Neemias Queta
Luke Kornet

2 Way Players
JD Davison
Drew Peterson

Injuries/Out
Kristaps Porzingis (lower leg) questionable

Head Coach
Joe Mazzulla

Probable Mavericks Starters

Mavericks Reserves
Dante Exum
Josh Green
Tim Hardaway, Jr
Jaden Hardy
Maxi Kleber
Markieff Morris
AJ Lawson
Dereck Lively II
Markieff Morris
Dwight Powell
Oliver-Maxence Prosper

Two-Way Players
Greg Brown III
Alex Fudge
Brandon Williams

Key Matchups

Jrue Holiday vs Luka Doncic
As it was in the first 4 games, Doncic vs Holiday is the key matchup. Doncic finished Game 1 with 30 points, 10 rebounds, 1 assist and 2 steals while shooting 46.2% from the field and 33.3% from beyond the arc.He finished Game 2 with 32 points, 11 rebounds, 11 assists, 4 steals and 8 turnovers while shooting 57.1% from the field and 44.4% from beyond the arc. In Game 3, he finished with 27 points, 6 rebounds, 6 assists and 2 steal while shooting 40.7% from the field and 14.3% from beyond the arc. In Game 4, he played just 3 quarters and finished with 29 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists and 3 steals while shooting 46.2% from the field and 0-8 from 3. He is very tough to defend as he can shoot from pretty much anywhere on the court. He has played a lot of iso ball and the Celtics have been forcing him to play defense. Because of that, he hasn’t been very effective in the 4th quarter, going 1-5, 1-6 and 1-4 in the 4th quarters of the 1st 3 games.

Derrick White vs Kyrie Irving
In Game 1, Irving finished with 12 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 steals while shooting 31.6% from the field and 0-5 on threes. In Game 2, he finished with 16 points, 2 rebounds, and 6 assists while shooting 38.9% from the field and 0-3 from beyond the arc. In Game 3, he played much better, finishing with 35 points, 3 rebounds, and 2 assists, while shooting 46.4% from the field and 66.7% from beyond the arc. In Game 4, he finished with 21 points, 4 rebounds, and 6 assists while shooting 55.6% from the field and 16.7% from beyond the arc. He played very poorly in the first 2 games of that 2016 series but came back to finish strong to help them to win the series, including a game winner in Game 7 so the Celtics can’t count him out. Hopefully the Garden crowd will be extra loud in this one and get him rattled once again.

Honorable Mention
Xavier Tillman vs Dereck Lively II
Rookie Dereck Lively is the Mavericks’ back up center and he is crucial to their success. He wasn’t very effective in the 2 games in Boston but played very well for them in the 2 games in Dallas, especially on the boards. He finished Game 3 with 11 points, 13 rebounds , 1 assist and 2 steals while shooting 83.3% from the field. In Game 4, he finished with 11 points, 12 rebounds, and 1 steal while shooting 80% from the field and hitting his only 3 point shot. Young players typically play better at home and hopefully he will struggle on the road again. Tillman may get the back up center minutes again if Porzingis is once again out. It’s also possible that Luke Kornet may play some back up.

Keys to the Game
Defense - Defense is always the number one key to winning games, especially in the playoffs. There is no truer statement than “Defense wins Championships.” The Celtics held the Mavericks under 100 points in the first 3 games but then allowed them to score 122 in Game 4. When the Celtics struggle on offense, as they did in Game 2 and in Game 4, they have to be able to stop the other team from scoring. In Game 4, however, the Celtics played little to no defense. The Celtics need to play tough, lock down defense for the entire game. The Mavericks have players who can put up a lot of points in a hurry if the Celtics don’t play tough team defense. Defense won the first 3 games and lack of it lost Game 4. Defense is what will win this series.

Rebound - Second to defense, rebounding is the key to winning. One of the few times I have agreed with Pat Riley was when he said “No rebounds, no rings.” I hope the Celtics had that quote on the bulletin board. In Game 1, the Celtics out-rebounded the Mavs 47-43 but they were out-rebounded in Game 2 43-41 and also in Game 3, 43-36. In Game 4, the Celtics were out-rebounded 52-31. Much of rebounding is effort and the Celtics have to put out extra effort to win the battle of the boards. When they work hard on the boards, it usually follows through to the rest of the game as well. The Celtics need to put out extra effort on the boards to keep the Mavs from getting extra possessions and second chance points and to give the same to themselves.

Maximum Effort for 48 Minutes - This is the key to both defending and rebounding. The Celtics put out very little effort in Game 4 and it showed in the lack of defense and also the failure to rebound. The Celtics have to play hard from the opening tip to the final buzzer. It will be important to get off to a strong start. Dallas is 9-3 when they win the first quarter and the Celtics are 11-0 when they win the first quarter. They have to play hard on offense and especially on defense with no let up. The Mavericks are the toughest team that they have faced in the playoffs and nothing less than full effort from every player every minute they are in will do. The Celtics need to be aggressive in defending, going to the basket and. especially in rebounding. The 3 games the Celtics lost in these playoffs were mostly due to a lack of effort, especially on defense. They can’t let the Mavs play harder than them if they want to win this game and this series.

Play of the Supporting Cast - Both of these teams have 2 big stars. The Celtics have Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown while the Mavericks have Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving. One or both of the stars for both teams have played well so far in the series. The play of the role players may very well decide this game. The Mavericks will be depending on PJ Washington, Derrick Jones Jr, Daniel Gafford, Dereck Lively and assorted others to help out their stars. The Celtics will depend on Jrue Holiday, Derrick White, Al Horford, Payton Pritchard, Sam Hauser and maybe others. The supporting cast of the Mavs scored 72 points in Game 4 and pulled down 43 rebounds. The supporting cast of the Celtics finished with 52 points and 25 rebounds. The Celtics have to play as a team with each player contributing on both ends of the court. Hopefully playing on the road affects the role players on the Mavs and they don’t play as well.

X-Factors
Home Court Advantage - The Celtics worked hard all season to obtain home court advantage for the entire playoffs. However, they haven’t always used that to their advantage in the playoffs, losing 2 games there. Their only 2 losses so far in the playoffs were at home while they are undefeated on the road so far. After Kyrie’s claim that the Garden crowd wasn’t as loud as he expected, and with a title on the line, I expect the fans to be extra loud in this one. The Celtics need to use that as motivation to play their best for their fans and win this game and so they can celebrate Banner 18 on their home court.

Close Out Game - It is a well known fact that close out games are the hardest to win. As we saw in Game 4, the team that is down has their backs against the wall and play with desperation and the team that is up tends to let up, knowing that they have another chance if they don’t finish it here. Once again Kyrie Irving has experience in close out games that he can use to encourage his teammates. Irving was a perfect 14-0 in closeout games before a loss in Game 4 to the Timberwolves spoiled his perfect record. The Celtics have to remember their failure to close out the ECF last season and the Finals in 2022 and come into this game determined to close out the series in this game. They don’t want to give the Mavericks any more confidence and take the series back to Dallas.

Officiating - The officiating can always be an x-factor. Every crew calls the game a little differently and teams need to adjust to how the game is being called. Will they call the game tight or will they let them play? The Celtics can’t let the officiating take away their focus and they have to adjust to the way the refs are calling it. The Celtics need to build a lead so as not to have to worry about a call causing them to lose at the end of the game. In Game 3, Luka spent more time complaining to the refs than he did playing defense. In Game 4, he didn’t complain and played good defense. On the other hand, Jayson Tatum didn’t play any defense and complained on most of the calls.

Official Report
Crew Chief - Zach Zarba
Zarba has a home win/loss record of 44-33. He calls 50% of fouls on the road team and 50% on the home team. The Celtics are 8-2 in their last 10 games with Zarba, including the Game 3 win over Cleveland and Game 4 win over Indiana and Game 1 win over the Mavericks. The Mavericks are 6-4 in their last 10 games with Zarba, including Game 5 win over the Clippers, Game 4 loss to OKC, Game 2 win over Minnesota by 1 point and Game 1 loss to the Celtics. The Celtics are 55-42 overall with Zarba as a ref while the Mavs are 45-36 over his career. Zarba was the crew chief in Game 1 of Knicks/Pacers where they made a crucial bad call that pretty much cost the Pacers the game.

Referee - John Goble
Goble has a home win/loss record of 24-13. On the crew, he calls 53% of fouls against the road team and 47% on the home team. The Celtics are 7-3 in their last 10 games with Goble including the Game 2 loss to the Cavs, the game 4 win over Miami, the Game 3 win over Indiana and the Game 2 win over the Mavericks. Over his career, he has a home win/loss record of 40-26 with Boston and 48-32 with Dallas. Goble and Udonis Haslem were teammates on their Miami high school team.

Umpire - Bill Kennedy
Kennedy has a home win/loss record of 38-36 this season. Over his career, Boston has a win/loss record of 46-39 while Dallas has a win/loss record of 58-49 with Kennedy. In the playoffs he calls 54% of fouls on the road team and 46% on the home team. The Celtics are 9-1 in their last 10 games with Kennedy, including Game 1 win over Miami, Game 2 loss to Cleveland and Game 2 won over Dallas. The Mavericks are 8-2 in their last 10 with Kennedy, including Game 3 win over the Clippers, Game 3 win over OKC, Game 4 loss to the Wolves and Game 2 loss to the Celtics. In 2015, Rajon Rondo berated NBA referee Bill Kennedy with an anti-gay slur but Rondo is long gone and it didn’t seem to affect the way he officiates Celtics games.

And make sure to check out CelticsBlog’s Playback stream for a live conversation about the game. To participate, just create a free account, connect your LP sub if you have it, and join our community.