In the NBA Finals, the Celtics and Mavs face different challenges than the ones they just conquered

Each NBA playoff series is a separate event, with no real point of continuity between the end of one and the beginning of the other.

The Minnesota Timberwolves, for example, knocked off the defending champion Denver Nuggets, but that didn’t automatically make them kings of the hill; a series against the Dallas Mavericks in the next round posed a completely different set of challenges, and the Timberwolves roster was far less capable of meeting them. Likewise, the courageous fight the Indiana Pacers put up against the Boston Celtics in the Eastern Conference finals tells us almost nothing about what might happen to Boston in a series against Dallas; Aside from their propensity to employ Rick Carlisle, Indiana and Dallas could hardly be less alike.

This is crucial information to keep in mind in the coming days, as we study every possible angle during our long break before the NBA Finals between the Celtics and Mavericks begin on June 6. Dallas has won six of its last seven games, capped by its elimination. of Minnesota on Thursday, while Boston won 12 of 14 games by a double-digit score margin.

Yet using these games as a predictive point for what might happen in the NBA Finals is a fatal flaw: The matchup between these two teams will be completely different than the one they faced in the previous round. In that sense, it’s probably good that Dallas and Boston have a few days off to recalibrate. The formula for winning in the next round will be radically different.

Take the Celtics, for example, who just finished a series against one of the most extreme teams in basketball and now have to adapt to a very different type of team on both sides. The Pacers’ defensive approach, in particular, is nearly 180 degrees from Dallas’. The Pacers gave up the fewest 3-point attempts in the league this season and were more than willing to allow shots to the rim as long as they closed the 3-point line.

Even if they did this game imperfectly against the Celtics – Boston still launched 43 triples per game in the conference finals, right in line with their season totals – it’s still a radically different approach than what Dallas has made it in all three of its playoff rounds. The Mavs have tried to protect the basket at all costs with rim protectors Dereck Lively II and Daniel Gafford, limiting their opponents to just 50.2 percent shooting from 2 in the playoffs heading into Game 5 against Minnesota.

The Mavs didn’t give up a huge amount of 3s overall, but there was a certain type they were willing to concede: 3-pointers coming from opposing centers. The Clippers and Wolves didn’t have the starting personnel to hurt them here, but Dallas let Chet Holmgren and Jaylin Williams shoot for the Thunder (42 attempts in six games), while Minnesota backup Naz Reid ripped off 25 3-point attempts in 132 minutes in the conference finals.

Needless to say, this is a very questionable strategy to pursue against the Celtics if Kristaps Porziņģis is healthy (he is expected to return for the NBA Finals). Porziņģis has shot 37.5 percent from 3 this season on more than six attempts per game, and many of his tries come from several yards beyond the 3-point line. Moreover, Boston big man Al Horford shot 41.9 percent.

Dallas isn’t the only team to have faced this problem. Keeping rim protectors close to the rim has been a thorny issue for Boston’s opponents all season, one that has seen several novel but unsuccessful solutions. Golden State, for example, tried to put Draymond Green over Jaylen Brown, keep Green in the paint and challenge Brown to shoot 3-pointers in a March game. Brown made five 3s in the first seven minutes and was on track to break Wilt Chamberlain’s scoring record before the Warriors reconsidered their decision.

I was at that game, and my column this weekend delves deeper into the unique dilemmas presented by Boston’s shooting superiority at every position. The short version: Teams that strive to make 3s and live with basket attacks, like Indiana, are the only ones that stand a chance against the Celtics. Sure, the Pacers gave up points, but they also beat Boston twice in the regular season and held them up in Game 1 of the Conference Finals before fate intervened…with a 3-pointer late.

Dallas, on the other hand, was a middle of the pack team in preventing opposing 3s and played that way again in the playoffs. The Mavs’ big conundrum is how to circumvent a defensive strategy that was nearly optimal for facing the Clippers, Thunder and Wolves and adapt it to a very different Boston team. Recent events do not bode well in this regard; When the Mavs entered Boston with all their new trade pieces in March, they lost 138-110, with Boston shooting 21 of 43 from 3.

The Celtics, however, have their own adjustments to make. While Indiana was throwing the ball down their throats at every possible opportunity with whoever had the rock, Dallas plays a much slower, more heliocentric style. Yes, the Mavs will show up opportunistically, but compared to the Pacers, it will feel like going from a techno rave to Gregorian chants.

Plus, the player at the helm for Dallas is probably the best offensive player in the league, and he’s playing against a defense that essentially has one weakness: not really being able to change five positions. We saw how that played out for Minnesota, the league’s top-ranked defense. Can the Celtics really survive a 40+ minute coverage series from Luka Dončić and Kyrie Irving? Or do they need to feel uncomfortable?

While the Celtics have more roster options (perhaps they could put Porziņģis on Derrick Jones Jr. to switch against Dallas’ pick-and-roll game with Lively and Gafford, for example) and two All-Defense guards in Jrue Holiday and Derrick White, Dončić saw and understood every coverage.

Clearly, there’s a lot more to unpack here – Porziņģis and Irving’s revenge streaks! Luka’s first NBA finals! Jayson Tatum’s chance at redemption! Thoughts on the Grant Williams era! We’ll have plenty of time to cover all of this, but it almost seems like a relief that these teams have a interlude before this final round. Everyone will need it for a complete tactical overhaul.

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Required reading

(Photo by Luka Doncic and Al Horford: Maddie Meyer / Getty Images)