Topic: 2019 NBA Pre-Season - page 20. (Read 885757 times)

Last night the Boston Celtics won the first game and took a 1-0 lead in the series.

I didn't think Dallas would end with such a big difference, I even thought they would win.
Doncic fought alone yesterday, I think, Kyri was bad last night, he couldn't support the team. Players like this are very important in these kinds of games, if you can't get support from them, you always have a high chance of losing.

I think you might be right but I hope you’re wrong. While it sucks we have to wait until Sunday to see game 2, that’s probably a good thing for the Mavericks as it gives them a lot of time to study game tape and work on how to better play the Celtics. I hope we don’t see a sweep, but I’m leaning towards that being the case also.

I feel sorry for Dallas Mavericks but i think this is gonna be one of the easiest finals to win for Boston Celtics, they detroy them yesterday nad i think they are gonna destroy them also in the next games.

You can see how big was the gap in all the game, never stand a chance for Dallas.

They'll make an adjustment in game 2, that's necessary for them to hav a chance to even the series. The problem with the Mavericks is they are still using the same strategy when they beat the Wolves, this is a diferent team now with all the starters are great 3 point shooters.

Just check out the starting 5.

Brown     2-6
Tatum   3-7
White     3-8
Holiday    2-5
Horford     2-5

See that numbers, all of them are threat in the outside so Celtics can't leave the corner like they do with the Wolves. They need to play good one on one defense so they'll be able to limit the opportunity of some kick out pass when the Celtics are trying to attack the paint.

The Celtics were too good in the first half, especially in the first quarter. And I think the Mavs didn't expect and were discouraged by Porzingis' performance in the first half. Let's see if the Mavs can make the necessary adjustments in the second game, but it's already clear that the second game of the final series will be critical for the Mavs because if they are down 0-2, they will hardly be able to recover from that.

Do you mean Boston? As they are taking a 1-0 lead unless the Dallas team comes back and win in game 2 and then sweep the Celtics playing at their own homecourt. So base on game 1 alone, the Celtics is the overwhelming favorite to win the finals now.

But as others have said, this is just game 1, so let's see, it's a battle of adjustment, Jason Kidd has been a former player so he knows what's at stake and losing game one. So he will make some correction along the way to at least make it even and steal game 2 from the Celtics, tall task but not impossible to do.

Tatum usually step up when he needs the most. Today’s match is a balance game performance to all Celtics players since even Tatum has below average score, he still gets tons of rebounds and assist which balance his stats for a good candidate for MVP. It’s always Tatum has a high chance of MVP if ever they will seal this championship.



Do you watch the game? Dallas is completely outplayed on their own game. Their center which is effective to Minnesota is not that impactful on their game against Boston. Boston has tons of blocks against them while they are beaten badly on scoring. Based on the 1st game, their winning chance is not that high anymore.

Good preparation for the Celtics as they dominated the Mavs in the early stretch and continue maintaining that confidence, they manage to outrun the Dallas in both ends, and yeah, it's the good defense that  gives them that edge, they manage to limit the rotation of Mavs and force them to go one on one, though Luka still got his numbers but without the good support from the entire squad he can't carry the very balance productions of Celtics, both cores and the support cast are really bringing the help and it's tough to beat the kind of squad that's played with a great blend and chemistries.


Both Brown and KP got very decent productions and not just for the offense but also with their defense, Brown still have that MVP performance and if he continue doing that same momentum more likely he can also win the final MVP, though it's only the first game and for sure Mavs will find ways to adjust and counter the system of Boston, let see if how they'll going to adjust and how they will try to snatch a game inside the Garden.

It is very difficult to predict who will be the MVP in the first match. When we look at the performances in the first match, it is a little difficult to say that he was a player who played well, he was not a shining star. At least when we look at the statistics, we can say that we cannot see this.
Let's see who will win the final series, I think the probability of Dallas Maverics winning is quite high

We could see that Mavs really struggling for the defense given to them by Boston and they totally got limited in scoring. Mavs can't do their usual rotation and they have been force to do  1 one 1 which is totally killing them. Also KP's presence really hurt them so bad since he could able to perform in both ends and they don't have people to match him since he can shoot outside and also a great defender which we could able to see on game one. Lots of people has been impressed on his performance this game one.

This is the problem need to solve by Mavs and they need to work well with their ball rotation and don't let Boston dictate the phase of the game.  Adjustment is really important on game two since if they can't able to handle the tight presence of Celtics then they are heading for another huge defeat and for sure they don't want to get a 0-2 record in favor with Boston since this could be devastating to their team. But we know how strong Mavs this season so let see what they can do for game 2.

Brown has a terrific game again, not just in offense, but playing defense against Luka and had couple of blocks if I'm not mistaken. And he has that momentum from being the Eastern conference finals MVP, and so it will carry him over this series and maybe if he is consistent, maybe he will won the Finals MVP.

I don't think the KP will win the MVP here, yeah just a good game in his comeback, but for sure the Mavs might have to change on how they are going to guard him and maybe put Gafford and not allow a switch as he had that in this game and have a smaller player on him and so easy mid range jumper or a three from 30 feet.

I want Jayson Tatum to win the MVP if Boston wins the championships but it's more like Brown or who knows even Porzingis and Holiday can win it too. Tatum playing 42 minutes looks like people wanted him to win the MVP. While Brown and Porzingis already went out of the game earlier. But I am seeing Brown and some of the players more confident than Tatum. I want Tatum to keep driving inside and just make assists or fouls.

Anyways, what a game. I expected a blowout win by the Celtics and it happened. I just did not expect Porzingis to be that deadly on his first return after months of inactivity.

It's their defense that really killed the Mavs in this game, they've force turn-overs, and they challenge every one when they penetrate the inside. And then the cool KP, just smiling when hitting those outside 3 as if challenging the Mavs to guard him.

Luka can't lob the pass because the Celtics is guarding the rim, and if I'm not mistaken, Luka try it but Brown was their to block it or change the course of the shot of either Gafford or Lively. So let's see how the Mavs are going to adjust in the second game. They don't want to go 0-2 against the Celtics.

Maybe Luka just decide to take charge since all of them is struggling to score that's why we see him get less assist on this game. Boston defense is so tight even Kyrie didn't play well on game 1.

Lots of things needed to adjust and Lively need to be more careful taking a lot of fouls since this is how Celtics take advantage on him. Luka usually perform that but the competitiveness is different since Boston is not easy team they have a lot of players can heat up and they connect their 3s so well.  If Mavs want to win on game two then a total adjustment on their play is needed also they need to compete with Boston to connect their shots on rainbow area.

This is just a game one 1 and for sure lots of action to see on finals.

Kidd probably have been confused on how to stop him. There's so much misplays on the entire game and there's no consistency for most of them.

Whilst the Celtics, they're doing great. From White, to Brown and everyone, the great defense and as well as offense.

KP dropped 30 points on the game 1.

I hope that it won't end quickly but you're right that it's like gonna be like that. On the game 2, they have to adjust with a lot of things and the mind should start with Kidd on this one.

This is a mental breaker for Luka and Kyrie.

That's right, they can choose a poison, either Luka scores or Luka scores less but would make his teammates better. here, they just let Luka score but his passing ability was ineffective. This is the first time I saw Luka to have 1 assist only, probably the lowest in his career as an NBA player, so this is something unusual and a big problem for the team that needs to be address the next game.

Luka supposed to easily get a triple double, but here he only had a double double with 30 points and 10 rebounds.

A very bad night for Kyrie Irving but we all saw how these guys could bounce cback, it's actually more scary.

I think the key to winning for the Celtics was shutting down Luka Doncic's passing ability. He still scored 30 points but only made 1 assist. Then, the defensive awareness of the Celtics against an offensive team like the Mavs was also showcased tonight. I thought it would become Lob City but it seems like Luka forgot that he has centers that always look above the rim as he throws it up but I only saw him try it once. Horford is too small for Gafford and Lively, even KP will have a hard time against them.

But all credit to JB's defense. I think he got 2 or 3 blocks and steals too. One of them will go to the highlights after he blocked the dunk attempt of the former dunk champion Derrick Jones Jr.

His defense and great shooting though are remarkable. First game after a long rest due to injury and he's ballin, that's pretty impressive of him. 8-13 in 20 minutes and 3 blocks, that's the kind of production they need for him, but the question is, can he keep that up?

Game 2 will be Dallas making a big adjustment, they need to find good looks like the kick out pass they've made during the Wolves series. And Irving, he struggled a lot in this game 6-19 shooting only. He has to understand that Luka needs him, otherwise, they'll go back home with 0-2 disadvantage.

You can’t say enough how dominant Kristaps Porzingis was tonight. I think a lot of people expected Kyrie to come out and put on a show to get back at his former team after their rocky break up, but it was Kristaps Porzingis that showed up to dominate his former team. I guess his injury is healing well. I expect he’ll get more minutes in game 2.

2 words to describe Game 1. TOTAL DOMINATION.
Well, that's what the Celtics are doing all throughout the playoffs, and that's what they showed the whole game hence, winning Game 1. 107-89

I'll start it with Porzingis who scored 20 points in his first playoff career. He led his team in the first quarter with 11 points and 3 blocks. The Celtics started the game with a barrage of threes with 7/15 in the first quarter. The Mavericks had their last lead with 15-14 and then all throughout the first half, the Celtics made a huge 49-27 run to end it and lead by double-digits. The largest lead was 29 points and even though the Mavericks cut it down to as low as 8 points in the 3rd quarter, the Celtics immediately made a 14-2 run to put the lead again to 20 points to end the 3rd quarter.

As for the Mavericks, Luka played well with 30 point-double double, but his partner Irving only scored 12 points. It seems like the Boos of the crowd has an effect on his performance, eh? 6/19 only from the field. The game is just one-sided from the start. 6 players of the Celtics are in double figures. That's how dominating they are in this game.

Well, we know that the Mavericks will make some adjustments coming to Game 2. I hope that next game will be a close one unlike this one. Anyway, anybody who won their bets?

Well, I didn't saw that Tatum also had a bad night because his partner Brown scored 22 points with better efficiency as well. Aside from that, other players stepped up offensively hence, winning by a huge margin. Tatum has been known for having some bad nights in the playoffs and sometimes, that causes them the win. It's good that some of his teammates covered his bad shooting night. As for Kyrie, I believe the boos had a bit of effect on his performance... or it's just he is having a hard time scoring because of how good the Celtics' defenders are.