Luka Doncic, Dallas Mavericks stand in way of Boston Celtics’ 18th title as NBA Finals begin
- Slovenian, who has been the playoffs’ best player, is well equipped to foil the season’s form team from winning their first title since 2008
A Celtics team desperate for championship glory face Luka Doncic and a Dallas Mavericks squad eager to play spoiler in an intriguing NBA Finals match-up that tips off on Thursday in Boston.
Led by superstars Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown, the sharpshooting Celtics have had a relatively easy road to the finals.
Coming out of the weaker Eastern Conference as the top seed, they breezed past the Jimmy Butler-less Miami Heat, dispatched the Cleveland Cavaliers and swept past the Indiana Pacers, who were without point guard Tyrese Haliburton for the final two games.
The Celtics have won 12 of their 14 playoff games and gone undefeated on the road but they know that none of that will matter if they fail to end a title drought that stretches back to 2008.
The mission is clear: hang that elusive 18th championship banner from the TD Garden rafters and put recent postseason disappointment, including falling to the Warriors in the 2022 finals and coming up short in the conference finals last year, firmly behind them.
Anything less will be seen as a bitter disappointment.
