Celtics
The Celtics’ defense will have their hands full against Dallas’ talented backcourt of Kyrie Irving and Luka Doncic.
The 2024 NBA Finals is finally set.
And if Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, and the Celtics want to lift Banner 18 to the rafters next month, they’re going to have to go through Kyrie Irving and the Dallas Mavericks.
After Boston punched its ticket to the NBA Finals for the second time in three years following a sweep against the Pacers in the Eastern Conference Finals, Dallas took care of business in the Western Conference Finals — with the fifth-seeded Mavs besting the Timberwolves in five games.
The NBA Finals won’t officially tip off in TD Garden until June 6, but here is a preview of what awaits Boston with a championship on the line against Dallas.
A familiar foe
There will be no shortage of compelling storylines to parse through now that the 2024 NBA Finals are set.
There’s Tatum and Brown’s latest attempt at securing that sought-after ring, Kristaps Porzingis’s health and a matchup against his former team, and Luka Doncic’s first trip to the NBA Finals.
But all narratives and arcs are poised to take a backseat to the expected drama of Kyrie Irving and his return to Causeway Street.
In a city where there has been no shortage of sports villains to focus one’s fury on, Irving stands as arguably the top conduit of criticism in recent memory.
Once viewed as a franchise savior during his time in Celtics green, the uber-skilled guard quickly turned into the bane of Boston sports fans’ collective psyche — putting the team’s future in peril with his white-flag performance against the Bucks in the 2019 playoffs before walking in free agency.
Irving embraced a heel persona during his bouts against Boston while playing for the…