With the 2023-24 NBA season coming to a close on Monday night, the Dallas Mavericks completed one of their best seasons in recent memory after losing to the Boston Celtics in the NBA Finals. Despite falling short of a franchise’s second NBA championship, the 2023-24 Mavericks will go down as one of the most unlikely Western Conference champions in recent memory.
When fans look back on this team’s best moments, they’ll think of their improbable series wins over the top-seeded Oklahoma City Thunder and the heavily favored Minnesota Timberwolves in the Western Conference Finals.
Dallas showed that they were the ultimate underdogs and the team also showed that they will be legitimate contenders for years to come.
From Luka Doncic’s iconic moment against the Timberwolves, where Snoop Dogg realized the young superstar’s killer mentality, to the Mavericks’ crushing victory in Game 4 of the NBA Finals, this season will go down in history. among Mavs fans. However, even after a great season, Dallas still made many crucial mistakes that cost them a chance at their second NBA title.
Boston proved that they are one of the best teams ever assembled, but Dallas still had a good chance to even the series against the Celtics. If the Mavericks had corrected these six mistakes, perhaps the Finals would still continue and the Mavericks would have a possible lead in the series heading home for Game 6.
Here are six reasons why the Mavericks couldn’t complete the reverse sweep against Boston even after a dominant performance in Game 4.
After a dominant Game 1 win for the Celtics, it became abundantly clear that Dallas would need to defend the perimeter with a sense of urgency that they had not played with up to that point. Not only were the Mavericks torched by former teammate Kristaps Porzingis, but players like Sam Houser and Derrick White lit up the scoreboard from behind the arc due to Dallas’ lack of perimeter defense.
While the Celtics may not have shot over 38 percent like they did in Game 1 from behind the three-point line, Boston still managed to get plenty of open looks with their versatile five-out offense. Up to that point, Dallas defended the three-pointer at a relatively elite rate, but Boston proved too much and too talented for the Mavericks.
The Celtics became a team that relied heavily on runs to space their leads and with the three balls falling at an elite rate and the ability to get open looks due to Dallas’ inability to defend the five-out offense , Boston delighted in four of the five Finals games.
As the offseason approaches, it’s clear that the Mavericks will need to make another move to bolster their perimeter defense. It remains to be seen who the Mavericks might be interested in, but a safe assumption among fans is that Tim Hardaway Jr. could have played his last game in Dallas after a rough performance throughout the playoffs.
