The Dallas Mavericks and the Indiana Pacers Will Not Make the NBA Finals, Celtics in five, Minnesota in Five

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The Boston Celtics are going to score 1000 Points 

   The key aspect of the Indiana Pacers' success during the regular season, as well as the postseason, can vastly be attributed to their pace of play. If a hypothetical NBA viewer were to eliminate the absurd number of injuries the New York Knicks suffered, Indiana's pace is what won the second-round series. Unfortunately for Indiana fans, much like Reggie Miller, this team is not winning a ring, as their fast-paced basketball is exactly what is going to lead to their season coming to a close.  The Boston Celtics averaged a league-high 42 three-point attempts per game this season, at 39% shooting. Joe Mazzula wants to play fast basketball. Joe Mazzula wants to put up fifty threes. If the Eastern Conference Finals comes down to which team can play faster and which team can hit more threes, I am putting my Mother's home on the Boston Celtics. 

     The Celtics are five and two on the regular season series against Indiana. Jayson Tatum has yet to score less than 30 points in a game against Indiana this season, and it is not a secret that Indiana struggles against high-volume players. Mazzula has already shown during the regular season that the Celtics will go at Tyrese Haliburton for every possession he's on the floor. A high pace of play creates a number of defensive vulnerabilities, the faster you get upcourt, the faster you must get back. Mazzula wants to play at Rick Carlisles’s desired pace and will do it better. Jayson Tatum scored 195 points through six regular season games against Indiana this year, so his over feels like a safe bet every night. I have the Celtics closing out the Eastern Conference in five games however it is entirely contingent on Kristaps Porzingis seeing the floor by game two. If Porzingis is unable to go this series, Celtics in six. The Celtics’ previous two playoff series have shown that Indiana will win an obligatory game where Boston is miserable from behind the arc. Regardless, we will be seeing a Minnesota vs. Boston finals. 

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The Dallas Mavericks will not score 1000 points

   The better series of the two, the Minnesota Timberwolves vs. the Dallas Mavericks. An avid PorchTalk reader would recall that just before the playoffs started, I had proclaimed like a modern-day Paul Revere, Celtics Mavericks finals. Due to this, one would assume I have Dallas getting past Minnesota; I do not. A knowledgeable NBA viewer may only hope Jason Kidd does not dabble in any previous vices knowing the fact that Derrick Jones Jr, Daniel Gafford, and Derrick Lively are going to have to guard Karl Anthony Towns 40 feet from the basket. Unfortunately for J-Kidd, Lively and Gafford are going to be of no significance in the Towns/Gobert matchup, a theme applicable to almost every other matchup on the floor. I am first in line to critique the pandemic-spreading Frenchman however, an objective viewer has to admit, the man who signs the aforementioned pandemic-spreading Frenchman’s checks will sleep easier at night knowing Derrick Lively will be guarding him. 

   Kyrie Irving has had a great year taking the passenger seat in the Dallas backcourt, even going as far as to have a Kyrie-esque playoff run, yet Jamal Murray will live to tell the tale of serving 48 minutes to life. Jaden McDaniels, Anthony Edwards, and Nickeil Alexander-Walker guarded Jamal Murray the entire 94 feet for seven games straight. This gives me minimal hope for the smaller and older Irving. Kyrie is still going to get you a bucket and forever will be able to, just not against this team. With Kyrie out of the equation, the light is shined on Luka Doncic. At this point it is safe to say Luka has ‘struggled’ through the playoffs so far, yet he has seemingly been saved by the bell, his teammates picking up offensive slack. This is where we must make the distinction: there will be no saving and no bell against the Minnesota Timberwolves. The Chris Finch proxy, Micah Nori, is going to take away Luka’s options in order to force him into becoming a pure scorer, similar to how they defended Nikola Jokic. The Minnesota Timberwolves are going to dare the Dallas Mavericks' secondary options to beat them four times and they are not going to do so. Luka is going to have to score 50+ a night in order to keep this close.

   The Oklahoma City series highlighted triumphantly the fact that Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving are defensive liabilities when on the floor together. Shai Gilleageuous-Alexander torched the Dallas backcourt in every game, which gives me zero reason to suspect anything will be different with the Anthony Edwards assignment. Jason Kidd is going to have to cross-match egregiously under the hopeful guise of limiting Edwards, who is still going to average  40+ for the series. I am struggling in pursuit of finding a reason to think Dallas will get past Minnesota however my struggles seem to clearly allude to the obvious, Dallas is not beating Minnesota four times. Timberwolves in five. 

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