After the Dallas Mavericks blew out the Minnesota Timberwolves on Thursday, their date with the Boston Celtics is set for the 2024 NBA Finals. Now, it's time to start looking ahead with some bold predictions for the series. Will Luka Dončić or Jayson Tatum emerge as the Finals' best player? Who'll be the biggest X-factor? Who'll ultimately win? And now long will it go? Those questions and more are answered below.
In 2006, Dwyane Wade averaged 34.7 points in the Finals. Six years later, Kevin Durant put up 30.
6 points in the 2012 Finals. No one else in the NBA's three-point era averaged 30-plus in a Finals before turning 26. Well, even with the Boston Celtics boasting this season's third -best defense, you can count on one more player joining that club.
Luka just turned 25 in February, and he averaged 32.4 against Jaden McDaniels, Rudy Gobert and the league's best regular-season defense. Even with the Minnesota Timberwolves' aggressive and overly physical defense, Luka was able to control possessions in his typically dominant fashion, getting defenders on his back, rising up for jumpers all over the floor, spraying out to shooters when he's bottled up and producing legendary moments as both a scorer and passer.
In Game 2, he got Gobert backpedaling before drilling a stepback, game-winning three with three seconds left. In Game 3, he put the nail in the coffin with a drive and lefty lob to Daniel Gafford that about brought down the American Airlines Center. In Game 5, he im.