The Boston Celtics will face the Dallas Mavericks in the NBA Finals. The first game of the series will take place on Thursday (June 6). Luka Doncic is unquestionably the best player in the match-up, however, his conditioning could be an area Joe Mazzulla’s team looks to exploit.
In a recent interview, former Celtics champion Kendrick Perkins discussed whether the Celtics will look to test Doncic’s conditioning by trying to wear him out during games and throughout the series as a whole. However, Perkins also warned the Celtics not to fall into a similar trap that the Golden State Warriors set in the 2022 NBA Finals.
“I think you do have to try to wear Luka down, but Luka is just a different breed,” Perkins said. “…But remember this, though: Boston tried to do the same thing against Steph Curry when they lost to him in the Finals. They were trying to search him out, and there was moments where I saw Steph Curry actually going Al Horford on the low block and was doing a pretty damn good job of it.”
Dallas must find ways to keeping their star player fresh. The Celtics are highly talented at forcing switches and generating mismatches. If they can consistently put Doncic in action, they will likely explore ways to make him run and embrace physicality in the hope that he starts to fade in the latter stages of games.
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Boston has one of the best offenses in the NBA. They also boast arguably the deepest rotation in the league. Protecting Doncic will be a tough task for the Mavericks coaching staff. How they fare will have a big impact on the duration of the upcoming series.
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