Playing “Mazzulla Ball” will lead Celtics to title
The Celtics and Mavericks will play Game 1 of the NBA Finals this Thursday at TD Garden. The Green are favorites to win the series and are -6.5 point point favorites at Draftkings Sports book in the first game. They are expected to have Kristaps Porzingis ready to go according to Shams Charania of the Athletic.
The Celtics will win the Championship by playing “Mazzulla Ball” A system that emphasizes three-point shooting, ball-movement, and drawing double teams to find open looks. The heavy 3 point style of play has led the Celtics to the best record in the the NBA and advancing to the NBA Finals. Some have said it could be the fatal flaw of the team shooting too many three point shots. This style will be key in the series.
The Celtics attempted almost 50% of their shots this season from three-point range and averaged the most three-point attempts per game this season. This led them to knocking down a league-best 16.5 per game. That has continues this postseason attempting almost 40 threes per game and knocking down over 14 threes per game which are league highs. Dallas during the regular season attempted 44% of their attempts from downtown attempting 39 threes per game and making 14 which was third most in the NBA. Those numbers have dipped in the playoffs, shooting 34 threes per game and converting on 12 per game. Joe Mazzulla and his philosphy with be the key to winning the series. The Celtics shot over 40 threes in 10 postseason games, Dallas has hit the number just once and will need to shoot more threes to stay in games. That will be tough to keep up with as the Celtics are 11-0 when making more threes than their opponent. They went 11-13 this season when making less threes than their opponent. Expect the Celtics to continue playing Mazzullla Ball towards banner 18.
