It’s always difficult to pinpoint exactly how things will go in a playoff series — especially the NBA Finals.
The two teams that make it to the end of the season are largely considered the best of the best in the NBA. It’s tough to judge them because just about anything can happen during a series. Certain players can go off. Certain role players might step up.
The best way to get an idea of how things might go, though, is to look at the matchup in the regular season. Is it a perfect way to inform how the NBA Finals will go? No, of course not. But it’s a solid start.
If we’re looking at the head-to-head matchups between the Mavericks and Celtics to try and glean anything about these upcoming NBA Finals, it seems like Boston has a pretty solid advantage at this point.
The Celtics beat the Mavericks both times they saw each other during the regular season this year.
- One win came ahead of the trade deadline on January 22 with Boston winning 119-110
- The other win came a bit after the deadline on March 1 with Boston destroying Dallas in a 138-110 win.
During both wins, the All-Star players for both sides were healthy. Luka Doncic had his way for the most part, averaging 35 points, 15 rebounds and 12 assists through two games against Boston. But the Celtics picked Dallas’ defense apart, hitting a total of 36 3-pointers between the two games played.
This doesn’t necessarily mean anything one way or another. The Mavericks are a different team with better chemistry since that moment. The Celtics also aren’t necessarily the most healthy with Kristaps Porzingis potentially missing time in this series.
But this is just here to serve as a quick glance in what we’ve already seen from these two teams going up against each other.
