The Boston Celtics were expected to be in the 2024 NBA Finals from the very start of the season. Even the most optimistic fan of the Dallas Mavericks couldn’t have seen the team getting this far as recently as a couple months ago.
The Celtics were the most dominant team in the NBA wire-to-wire this season. Boston won a league best 64 games and finished with the league’s top point-differential of +11.4 — four points better than any other team. Boston had an easy path through the East to the NBA Finals due to injuries from other teams, but it still took care of business with a 12-2 record in the playoffs to win the conference.
The Mavericks needed a midseason injection of talent to make this run a possibility. Dallas was the No. 8 seed in the Western Conference at the trade deadline on Feb. 8. That’s when the team traded two future first round picks to acquire forward P.J. Washington and center Daniel Gafford in separate deals. The Mavs went 21-9 after the trade deadline, and rose to the No. 5 seed in the West as a 50-win team. In the playoffs, Dallas knocked off the Los Angeles Clippers in the first round, upset the top-seeded Oklahoma City Thunder in round two, and then upset the Minnesota Timberwolves in the conference finals.
Everyone knows Luka Doncic and Jayson Tatum are the two biggest stars in the 2024 NBA Finals. Where does everyone else rank? Here’s our best effort to rank the 15 major rotation players in the Mavs-Celtics NBA Finals.
15. Payton Pritchard
Pritchard is the first and only guard off the bench for Boston in the playoff rotation. The Celtics selected him with the No. 26 overall pick in the 2020 NBA Draft, and he’s become a solid shooter and playmaker now in his fourth season. The 26-year-old is a career 39.5 percent three-point shooter, and mostly does a good job getting the ball to his talented teammates with 281 assists to 61 turnovers this year. If Pritchard is playing any more than 10-15 minutes per game in the Finals, something terrible happened to one of Boston’s starters.
14. Josh Green
Green brings athleticism, ball pressure, and a pinch of spot-up shooting to the Mavericks off the bench. The former No. 18 overall pick in the 2020 draft, Green is a speedy off-ball wing with impressive leaping ability around the rim who has continued to become a more well-rounded player now in his fourth season. He’s made big strides as a shooter since being drafted by Dallas, and hit better than 38 percent of his threes each of the last two years. Green will occasionally throw a really nice pass and can be a big threat in transition. Green’s impact and efficiency can wax and wane, but him having one or two good games in this series would be a huge boost to Dallas’ chances as the underdog.
13. Maxi Kleber
Kleber has long been something of the Mavericks’ secret weapon as a small ball center. The 32-year-old missed the entire second round with injury, but returned for the last two games of the Minnesota series. Dallas will likely need his skill set against Boston more than any other opponent given all the ball handling the Celtics have. Kleber is Dallas’ best options to switch screens as a center while maximizing their offensive spacing. Nearly a 40 percent three-point shooter for his career, Kleber is a player the Mavs have relied on in big moments many times in the past, and that could earn him Jason Kidd’s trust again in their biggest series yet.
12. Daniel Gafford
Gafford is a high-flying shot-blocker who has made some spectacular plays during Dallas’ run to the NBA Finals. He gives the Mavs the ability to play an athletic rim-protecting center for all 48 minutes, and also gives Luka Doncic another great lob threat on offense. Gafford will occasionally find himself out of position after gambling for blocks, and the team has been much better without him on the court so far in the playoffs (-15.7 net rating in the playoffs, per basketball-reference). Still, acquiring Gafford was clearly a shrewd move by Dallas’ front office and a real reason the team made this run.
11. Derrick Jones Jr.
Was there a better minimum signing in the NBA this past offseason than Derrick Jones Jr.? The forward left the Chicago Bulls for the Mavs this summer and immediately emerged as a key piece around Doncic. Jones is an elite run-and-jump athlete with Slam Dunk Contest trophy to his name. He’s also become a skilled perimeter defender, capable spot-up shooter (34.3 percent from three this season), and occasionally a secondary rim protector. Surrounding Doncic with explosive athletes was a wise move.
10. P.J. Washington
Washington was the biggest winner of the NBA trade deadline, going from the dreadful Charlotte Hornets to helping the Mavs make an NBA Finals run. The 25-year-old is a long-and-strong forward at 6’7, 230 pounds, with a nearly 7’3 wingspan who has given Dallas an injection of physicality on both ends. Washington can take on a variety of defensive assignments, hit the glass, and score efficiently inside the arc. He’s always been a shaky and streaky three-point shooter (31.4 percent in the regular season with Dallas, 36.3 percent in the playoffs), and he’ll have to hit shots from deep to give the Mavs a chance to win the series.
9. Al Horford
Horford can still play winning basketball at 38 years old. Now in his 17th NBA season, Horford is a critical second big man for Boston behind Kristaps Porzingis. Horford shot the ball really well this season (42 percent from three on four attempts per game) to keep the Celtics’ five-out offense viable. He’s also very smart with his positioning as an interior defender and shot blocker despite losing a step in terms of his recovery speed. Boston is thrilled to have Porzingis back, because Horford is at his best in a smaller role with more rest. The spaced out schedule at the start of the Finals should help him.
8. Dereck Lively II
The Mavs openly tanked to keep their draft pick at the end of last season, and the result was selecting Lively in the lottery. It proved to be a brilliant move: Lively’s athleticism, rim protection, and lob finishing has been a perfect match next to Doncic. At only 20 years old, Lively is already making a big impact on playoff games as someone who can erase his teammates’ mistakes defensively and provide efficient rim scoring. His ability to return to peak form after suffering a “neck sprain” (it looked like a concussion) in the conference finals will be key to Dallas’ chances.
7. Kristaps Porzingis
Trading Marcus Smart for Porzingis in the offseason proved to be a masterstroke by Boston front office leader Brad Stevens. Porzingis has given the Celtics as 7’3 sharpshooter to maximize their five-out lineups. He’s also made big strides as an interior scorer and rim protector from what he looked like a couple seasons ago in Dallas. Porzingis has missed the last five weeks with a calf strain, and how he handles his reintroduction to the lineup will be a determining factor in if the Celtics can hit their top level of play.
6. Jrue Holiday
Holiday became available late in the offseason when he was traded for Damian Lillard, and the Celtics pounced to grab him and solidify their outstanding starting lineup. Holiday does everything Smart once did for the Celtics while doing it all a little bit better. He’s the NBA’s version of a lockdown corner, a strong and smart defender with razor sharp hands. He’s going to get the Doncic assignment for Boston. Doncic has called Holiday the best defender he’s seen in the past. He needs to bring his A-game defensively while not going into one of his weird offensive ruts he occasionally gets stuck in in the playoffs.
5. Derrick White
White has blossomed in Boston as a lockdown defensive guard, a skilled driver with the ball in his hands, and a knockdown shooter. He’s made a huge leap this season in terms of his all-around impact, and I seriously considered ranking him as high as No. 3 on this list. He’s shooting 40 percent from three in the playoffs on 8.4 attempts per game, he ranks second on the team in assists per 100 possessions in the playoffs, and he has been strong and smart defender all season. Nabbing him in a trade with the Spurs a few years back took the Celtics from a good team to an elite team.
4. Kyrie Irving
Irving is one of the most spectacular ball handlers and tough shot-makers in NBA history, and he’s rediscovered his top level once again with the Mavs. The 32-year-old is averaging nearly 23 points per game in the playoffs while shooting the lights out from three (42.1 on 6.3 attempts per game), creating tons of easy opportunities for his teammates, and bringing a surprising level of defensive intensity. Irving has already hit one of the biggest shots in NBA Finals history back when he was in Cleveland. We know he’ll probably feel a little extra motivation against his former team in the Celtics. If he can be the third best player in this series, the Mavs have a real chance to win the championship.
3. Jaylen Brown
Brown has been considered a bit of a rollercoaster in the past for having no left hand, ball watching defensively, and being overly aggressive looking for his own scoring. While those traits can still pop up at times, there’s no question Brown has been playing at a near All-NBA level the last two seasons. The 27-year-old wing is an overwhelming downhill scorer and a strong on-ball defender who keeps Boston moving on both ends of the floor. He just averaged 30 points per game while playing more than 40 minutes per game against the Pacers in the conference finals. He’ll be challenged by more athletic defenders against Dallas, and how he handles it will be a big swing factor in this series.
2. Jayson Tatum
Tatum is comfortably one of the 10 best players in the NBA. He’s been named First-Team All-NBA each of the last three years for his stellar combination of three-level scoring and strong defense. Tatum is at his best when he’s attacking the basket or getting into his mid-range game rather than when he’s settling for pull-up threes. He’s made solid strides as a playmaker, he always contributes on the glass, and he’s going to play a key role defensively in defending Doncic. Tatum’s shot selection can still be questionable at times when the game slows down in big moments, and he’ll need to avoid that in this series. Still, at 26 years old, he can stamp himself as one of the best players of his generation by leading the Celtics to the title.
1. Luka Doncic
Doncic is the NBA’s ultimate chess master, an unstoppable scorer who also happens to be arguably the world’s best playmaker. A bruising 6’8, 230-pound ball handler, Doncic can burn every type of defensive coverage with his savant-level shot-making and passing. The 25-year-old has been struggling with a leg injury for most of the postseason, and has rarely been at his top level in these playoffs. That Dallas has made it this far anyway is a testament to the way to team has been built up around him. After a long stretch of rest following the conference finals, the Mavs need Doncic to play like the best player in the world to win this series. In the NBA, great offense typically beats great defense, and Doncic has the ability to bully all of Boston’s very good defenders. Luka finally looked like his best self in Dallas’ Game 5 series-clinching win against the Timberwolves, burying Minnesota in the first quarter with step-back threes and powerful drives to the rim. The Celtics may have the best five-man lineup in this series, but the Mavs clearly have the best individual player. Doncic has essentially aced every test he’s ever faced on a basketball court, but a loaded Celtics team will be his toughest one yet.
