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By Noah Camras
Contributing Sports Writer
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The 2024 NBA Finals is finally here.
Read more: Biggest X-Factors of 2024 NBA Finals Between Celtics and Mavericks
The Eastern Conference's No. 1-seeded Boston Celtics are taking on the Western Conference's No. 5-seeded Dallas Mavericks in a series with tons of storylines.
Read More on NBA
Kyrie Irving is making his return to Boston, as he tries to win his first championship without LeBron James. Kristaps Porziņģis — who's been out since the first round of the playoffs but expected back for Game 1 — is making his return to Dallas after spending three seasons alongside Luka Dončić.
Read more: Mavericks' Luka Dončić Claps Back at Chandler Parsons for Kristaps Porziņģis Comments
Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown are looking to finally take the next step as a duo and win a championship. On the flip side, Dončić is looking to cement himself as a serious contender for an all-time great with a championship at 25 years old.
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How the Celtics Got to the NBA Finals
Boston and Dallas took very different paths to get to the 2024 NBA Finals.
The Celtics were the NBA's best team all year long, coasting to the East's No. 1 seed with a 64-18 record, 14 games ahead of the No. 2-seeded New York Knicks. They then continued their dominance in the postseason, losing just two games across the first three rounds.
The Celtics took down the shorthanded Miami Heat in five games, losing only Game 2 of the five-game series. They then took down the injury-riddled Cleveland Cavaliers in five games, too, again losing just Game 2 at home. In the Eastern Conference Finals, the Celtics completed a sweep of the Indiana Pacers, who were without Tyrese Haliburton for Games 3 and 4.
Now, they're just four games away from their first championship since 2008, and their record 18th championship in franchise history.
The Mavericks have other plans, though.
How the Mavericks Got to the NBA Finals
Dallas took a very different path than Boston in this year's playoffs. First, they took down the No. 4-seeded Los Angeles Clippers in six games in a back-and-forth series. Then, they ousted the No. 1-seeded Oklahoma City Thunder in another six-game series. And finally, they took out the Minnesota Timberwolves — who had just beat the reigning-champion Denver Nuggets — in six games, en route to their third Finals appearance in the franchise's history.
The Mavericks have won just one NBA Finals, a 2011 win over James and the Heat, and will look to add to that a little more than a decade later.
This series has all the makings of a classic. Game 1 tips off on Thursday in Boston. Time for some predictions.
Read more: NBA Finals Schedule: How to Watch, Betting Odds and More for Mavericks vs Celtics
Games 1 and 2 are in Boston, and Dallas won't make things easy. The Celtics have already lost multiple Game 2s at home this series, and they'll continue to struggle in the opening games of the series. The teams will split the two games in Boston, and head back to Dallas with a 1-1 series.
The Celtics haven't yet lost a road game this postseason, but that changes in Dallas. The Dallas will not only win one, they'll win back-to-back games in Games 3 and 4, giving them a 3-1 lead over the NBA's best team.
Game 5 goes back to Boston, and the raucous crowd at TD Garden won't let their team go down without a fight. The Celtics will dominate in Game 5, winning by the series' largest margin to stay alive and force a Game 6 back in Dallas. Will they be able to win in Dallas and force a Game 7 back in Boston?
Game 6 will be a classic, with all the best players coming to play. It will be a back and forth between Tatum and Brown and Dončić and Irving, but in the end, it will be the clutch shotmaking of the latter duo that puts the Mavericks on top to win their second NBA title in franchise history.
Prediction: Mavericks in 6.
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