DALLAS — In addition to airing every game of the 2024 NBA Finals on our station, WFAA is also hosting a special presentation called "The Pregame" before each and every matchup in the series. Head here for more information.
OK, if you're tuning in for the NBA Finals, we've got you completely covered.
For the bandwagon fans wanting to learn as much as possible about the Mavs before tipoff on Thursday, check out our guide here. Now, we take a look at who they're playing. For the first time ever, the Mavs will compete against a team not named the Miami Heat in the NBA Finals.
This time, the Mavericks face the legacy franchise of Boston, who are looking to break the league record and claim an 18th title. The Celtics have been the league's best team all year long, boasting the best record in the NBA. The Mavs, however, are arguably the league's hottest team at the moment.
Here is a deep dive into the Boston Celtics and how they got here:
Boston Celtics dominate the Eastern Conference
The Celtics entered the NBA Playoffs with the best record in the NBA (64-18).
The No. 2 seed in the East, New York Knicks, finished 14 games back from the Celtics. The Western Conference was a much tighter race, with the No. 1 through No. 3 seeds finishing one game apart from each other: OKC (57-25), Denver (57-25), and Minnesota (56-26). Similarly, the No. 4 through No. 10 seeds in the West were only separated from each other by five games.
Boston steamrolled through the Eastern Conference in the playoffs, winning their series twice in only five games and sweeping the Indian Pacers in the Eastern Conference Finals.
Dallas' road to the Finals was much rockier – upsetting the Western Conference No. 4 seed Clippers in six games, No. 1 seed Thunder in six games and No. 3 seed Timberwolves in five games.
Eight of Boston's 12 playoff wins this postseason run have been by a 10-point margin or more, too. Dallas has won eight of their 12 playoff wins by five points or less.
Boston Celtics roster: Who are the top players, difference makers?
The Celtics, like the Mavs, are spearheaded by a dynamic duo: Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown.
Tatum and Brown averaged 26 and 25 points per game this postseason, respectively. Tatum also averages 10.6 rebounds per game in the playoffs this year.
Boston's main weapon is the quantity and efficiency of its 3-point shooting. According to NBA stats, they’ve taken 47.4% of their shots from 3-point range, the highest rate in the playoffs by a healthy margin, and tick higher than their league-high rate in the regular season (47.1%). As a team, they've made 36.8% of those threes.
Tatum also leads the playoffs in cumulative plus-minus, with the Celtics having outscored their opponents by 141 points with him on the floor.
How did Joe Mazzulla become the Celtics head coach?
There is a little bit of controversy with this story.
The Celtics former coach, Ime Udoka, who now coaches the Houston Rockets, was suspended and "dismissed" in September 2022 for an improper workplace relationship within the Celtics organization. Udoka had just led the Celtics to the NBA Finals in the previous season, and Mazzulla, an assistant coach at the time for Boston, took over the reins as the head man.
Mazzulla was named the interim head coach and the interim title was dropped in February 2023.
Mazzulla's first year as head coach ended in the Eastern Conference Finals, where the Celtics lost to the Jimmy Butler-led Miami Heat.
How GM Brad Stevens moved from coach to front office
Brad Stevens parlayed his successful coaching career at Butler University, where he led the Bulldogs to back-to-back National Championship game appearances as a 5 seed and 8 seed, into a head coaching gig with the Celtics in 2013. Stevens served as the Celtics coach for eight seasons and moved from his head coaching role into the front office.
Stevens was named Boston's president of basketball operations after longtime GM Danny Ainge retired.
Stevens was awarded with the NBA Executive of the Year Award for this season.
Mavs championship history compared to the Celtics
- NBA Finals appearances: Celtics 22, Mavs 3
- NBA Finals championships: Celtics 17, Mavs 1
- Overall record in NBA Finals games: Celtics 79-56, Mavs 6-6
- Celtics NBA Championships: 1957, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1968, 1969, 1974, 1976, 1981, 1984, 1986 and 2008.
- Mavs Championship: 2011
By the numbers: Comparing this year's Mavs and Celtics
These are the regular season stats for the Celtics and Mavs compared to the rest of the league.
- Points per game: Celtics 120.6 (2nd in NBA), Mavs 117.9 (7th in NBA)
- Rebounds per game: Celtics 46.2 (2nd in NBA), Mavs 42.9 (21st in NBA)
- Assists per game: Celtics 26.9 (14th in NBA), Mavs 25.7 (19th in NBA)
- Blocks per game: Celtics 6.6 (1st in NBA), Mavs 5.0 (17th in NBA)
- Steals per game: Celtics 6.8 (27th in NBA), Mavs 6.9 (24th in NBA)
- Field goal %: Celtics 48.7% (8th in NBA), Mavs 48.1% (11th in NBA)
- 3-pointers made per game: Celtics 16.5 (1st in NBA), Mavs 14.6 (3rd in NBA)
- 3-point %: Celtics 38.8% (2nd in NBA), Mavs 36.9% (13th in NBA)
- Turnovers per game: Celtics 11.9 (1st in NBA), Mavs 12.5 (4th in NBA)
- Offensive rating: Celtics 122.2 (1st in the NBA), Mavs 117.0 (8th in NBA)
- Defensive rating: Celtics 110.6 (2nd in the NBA), Mavs 114.9 (18th in NBA)
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