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00:00Live from Beantown on this Wednesday morning. It's the day before the day that begins the 2024
00:09NBA Finals between the Boston Celtics and the Dallas Mavericks and George Pelletri of Nesson
00:15joins us live right here on this Wednesday to get you set with everything and I mean everything you
00:21need to know. Ratings be damned. That is rating things from one to ten. Narratives out the window.
00:27George gives you the hard stuff. The hard info here on this Wednesday to get you ready for the
00:322024 NBA Finals. George, as always, we are glad to have you here on The Early Line.
00:40Boys, it's always good to be back and to be reunited with my jersey brother and Donnie
00:44right side as well. But nothing better to talk about right now. I'm with you, Ben.
00:48When I become commissioner of the NBA, I'm taking away this BS where you have to have this gap
00:52between the conference finals and the finals because I'm done. I'm impatient. I'm done waiting.
00:57We'll remove that but for now, I'm excited for the game to be just a day away.
01:01You don't even realize, Georgie, how much of a kindred spirit you are with Donnie right side at
01:06times because when Donnie doesn't like TV scheduling, he offers himself up to be the
01:10commissioner of whatever sports league it is and George just did the same. You guys really need
01:16to meet in person and hang out and have a large meal at Chipotle or wherever Donnie is going to
01:21bring his daily fast. Now, that would be something because George, we've had to get
01:27creative here on this show to start to preview and build the excitement and hype once again
01:32for the NBA finals. But with you here, it's almost like a true signal that the NBA finals are up next
01:40and they start tomorrow. And good news for the Cs, Kristaps Porzingis is expected to play in game
01:47number one. Back at practice, a full participant. He has completed scrimmages and barring any
01:53setbacks, KP is back for Boston. We last saw him early in game number four of the opening round
01:59series for the Celtics against the Miami Heat. George, having Kristaps Porzingis back in the
02:05lineup for the Celtics, what does it mean overall for Boston? I think the big part is defensively
02:11what he brings and of course, I'll get to the offense on this but if he can just dictate the
02:16lob threat and try to limit it or take it away and that's between Luka Doncic, Kyrie Irving and
02:20of course, Derek Lively and Daniel Gafford. What he brings there defensively will be huge because
02:24keep in mind, as big as he was for this team, averaging 20 points per game, shooting 38% from
02:30three, pulling down seven boards and stretching the floor, opening up the inside for the Jays.
02:34Defensively, he's been their rim protector. So on the defensive side of the ball, if he can hang
02:39with those guys and limit it and take away that threat and really push and force this Mavericks
02:44team to shoot where really, they're not a great shooting team. Yes, Lively can get out there. Yes,
02:49P.J. Washington but is it P.J. Washington of the Clippers and the Timberwolves series or P.J.
02:54Washington of the Thunder series, right? And also Maxi Kleber back, he can shoot as well. Outside
02:59of Luka, this team isn't that deep in that sense but offensively, what it comes down to is if he is
03:05there and he can give 15 to 20 minutes, maybe, maybe 25 to the Celtics tonight and withstand
03:11the whole series, I go back to what he does as a shooter, as someone that creates a lot of action
03:16from the nail on the free throw line and also in the pick and roll, playing with the Jays, what he
03:20does to create those mismatches and at the same time, of course, get out there and shoot because
03:25Jason Tatum and Jalen Brown had their most success against the Pacers when they went to the rim and
03:29attacked. What do you have Derek Lively, Daniel Gafford, P.J. Washington can step in and defend
03:33there as well. Now, Maxi Kleber back, that's where Kristaps Porzingis has to step up but I am skeptic
03:39because when he drops into game one, he said he scrimmaged, he said he's going to go game one,
03:44he said he can run. It will be 37 days between his last and his next NBA game and the physical,
03:51mental, emotional toll of the NBA finals is different than any other thing and he's never
03:56made it past the first round in the playoffs. So, A, can he just drop in and be the Kristaps he was?
04:02No, that's impossible for game one. Maybe game two you get that back but at the same time,
04:06can he withstand and be there for the entire series? I'm skeptic of a guy that's missed 73
04:11regular season games the last three years and 10 playoff games this year, especially coming back
04:16from an injury like that, 7-3 athletic, but you demand so much out of him on both ends of the floor.
04:22That's a great point you bring up too because so many times we talk about players like getting
04:25hurt in the regular season. Hey, can they come back a few games before the playoffs to ramp up?
04:29You're coming right back to the NBA finals. There is no ramp up time and quite frankly, it wasn't as
04:33if the Boston Celtics, George, were sitting back like, boy, I don't know if we can win any of these
04:37games without Porzingis. They just as fine, five games, five games and four games. Now they wind
04:41up in the finals, but let's talk about this rest advantage or maybe disadvantage for both of these
04:46teams coming in. If you look at the Celtics, they were fantastic throughout the regular season and
04:50yes, they did play some opponents here that were injured and certainly not as good as the Celtics,
04:54but they handled their business. What can we anticipate in game number one from the Boston
04:58Celtics? Because as you pointed out, Porzingis is coming back, maybe a little more of a learning
05:02curve, but not playing high-level basketball, just scrimmaging for roughly a week and a half,
05:07it feels like. Yeah, and also for the Celtics, they had a long drop-off and think about their
05:12path to the finals. A bad heat team with no Jimmy Butler, a banged-up Cavaliers team,
05:17didn't have Donovan Mitchell, Jared Allen, Kerslaver by the end and a Pacers team that, yeah,
05:21lost Tyrese Halliburton, but also was the worst defense remaining in the playoffs and only got to
05:25that spot because the New York Knicks had one healthy body by the time they got to game seven,
05:29right? Then look at the Mavericks, 350-win teams is what they went through. They went through the
05:33onesie, they went through Anthony Edwards, they went through these tests, and yes, the Clippers
05:36with no Kawhi, but the Mavericks are certainly more battle-tested. What I expect in game one,
05:41and this is what the Celtics do great though, they have four bodies, they can throw out Luka
05:45Doncic and Kyrie Irving. The Jays, in my opinion, should be on Luka because physically, they have
05:49the size and athleticism that gives them trouble, especially Jalen Brown. Then Drew Holiday and
05:53Derek White on Kyrie Irving, any switches they can do there, it's fine. But it's all about what
05:58they bring defensively to the Mavericks that they haven't seen yet throughout this postseason. I
06:02think that's what's so essential for their success is their wings. Now, offensively, you just still
06:07need to see an aggressive Jason Tatum, and it's all about, well, who's defending him? Because if
06:11it is PJ Washington, then the offense will go through Jalen Brown, and that's what it's been
06:15this postseason. But same thing for Jalen Brown, just don't get cute at this point. Go to attacking
06:19the rim, don't settle. That's where I get worried with the Celtics team. And Donnie, all my attention
06:25is going to shift to them when it's 10, five minutes left in the game. Because do they settle
06:29for threes? Or do they go to keep attacking to the rim compared to Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving,
06:34who are so patient, search for great shots, will get those and seek those out and set up their
06:39teammates to success. I just don't want to see Jason Tatum dribbling the ball into the floor for
06:4320 seconds, no one moving and chucking up a side step three, because the Mavericks will live with
06:48that shot every night of this series. Great breakdown, George, from the matchup perspectives
06:53that we can expect here in the 2024 NBA Finals, where we've seen a little bit of odds movement in
07:00the last six or seven days. Boston now a minus 225 series outright favorite. It was minus 220
07:07just a few days ago, but we're talking a couple of cents. However, where we have seen the most
07:13movement is how long this series is expected to go. Seven games, the full duration now being the
07:20slightly shortest number at plus 195. It is time in the final two minutes of this segment to get
07:28George Bilecki's official 2024 NBA Finals series prediction. George, who wins an NBA championship
07:35this season? And then how many games? Look, the Celtics bring the best defense, the Mavericks
07:42have seen this entire playoff. And the Mavericks come in with two of the four best players in the
07:47finals, while the Celtics have five of the best seven. Now the Mavericks clearly have the number
07:50one. But what the Celtics bring defensively to this Dallas matchup is what I'm going to be watching
07:55for. Jalen Brown on Luka Doncic, Drew Holiday on Luka Doncic, because when he was struggling
08:00against Lou Dorton, the Thunder, that's a strong, big, physical, great defender, right? And then Kyrie
08:06Irving. How much does he give into this crowd in Boston? Look, it's not because he left. It's what
08:10he did when he was here in Boston. And that's why they hate him. And I'm fine with them booing him.
08:14They're still treating him like a human being, right? But Dallas, what they have late in a game,
08:19they have a number one player that has been playing in this level of games and this high
08:25magnitude of scenes since he was like 15, 16 years old, going against a bunch of 30 year olds. The
08:30Mavericks have the best player in the game. The Celtics have the best team. It's tough for me to
08:35see though, a team that's as battle tested as a Mavericks has come through and with Boston banking
08:40so much on Kristaps Porzingis, which I don't believe he can make it through a full series.
08:45I'm going Mavericks in seven and it feels so dirty to say, I hate saying it, but I think Mavericks
08:49in seven. Wow. Wow. No bias here. Ben, two years ago, Ben, I said Warriors in six in the finals.
09:03You did. You did say Warriors in six and that was the perfect.
09:08Yeah. And there's something to be said too with the coach. There's something to be said
09:14with the coaching matchup in this. I don't believe in Joe Mizzoula. I really do not.
09:19Wow. George Bilek, you're making a statement. We appreciate the time. More on the early line next.