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Do you hear that? That’s the sound of the greatest time of the year for basketball fans. The NBA Finals have arrived, and we watched an absolute masterclass last night to open up what’s sure to be a legendary series.

But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Newsletter time!

Today’s Lineup

Last Night’s Action

Balanced Celtics cruise to Game 1 107-89 win over Mavs

Talk about a statement win! 22 points for Jaylen Brown, 20 for Kristaps Porzingis, 16 and 11 for Jayson Tatum, and a balanced offensive attack (six players in double digits) led the Celtics to a monster win in the first game of the 2024 NBA Finals. And when we say “monster win,” we really mean it—Boston took a 17-15 lead with six minutes left in the first quarter and held the lead for the rest of the game. They stretched the margin out to 29 (!!) late in the second quarter before settling in and staying up by 20 for pretty much the rest of the second quarter: dominance at its finest. 😍

On Dallas’ side, Luka put up his usual crazy statline (30 PTS, 10 REB) albeit on less-than-crazy efficiency (46%/33%/40%). Boston’s defense was able to neutralize Kyrie Irving (12 PTS, 0-5 3PT) for the most part, and no one on the Mavs bench was able to make up for that loss in offensive output.

Hoops History

The Finals are here! So in this installment of Hoops History, let’s venture back in NBA history and see who won the Finals five years ago, ten years ago, twenty years ago, and beyond…

Five years ago (2019): The Toronto Raptors beat the Golden State Warriors 4-2 in the first Finals with games played outside of the United States. Kawhi Leonard, who had been acquired by Toronto during the previous offseason, won his second Finals MVP after averaging 28.5 points and 9.8 rebounds per game. 🦖

10 years ago (2014): The San Antonio Spurs beat the Miami Heat 4-1 in a historic rematch of the Finals from a season before, when Miami took San Antonio down in seven. Despite facing off against one of the best big threes of all time—LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh—the Spurs won off the backs of Kawhi (who took home Finals MVP), Tony Parker, and Tim Duncan.

20 years ago (2004): The Detroit Pistons beat the heavily-favorited Los Angeles Lakers 4-1 in one of the biggest Finals upsets of all time. With only one All-Star on their roster (Ben Wallace), Detroit pulled off the win against Kobe and Shaq in a series that SIX future Hall of Famers—Wallace, Kobe, Shaq, Karl Malone, Chauncey Billups, and Gary Payton. Billups took home MVP after averaging 21 points and 5.2 assists per game on 51%/47%/93% efficiency. 💪

50 years ago (1974): The Boston Celtics beat the Milwaukee Bucks 4-3 in what used to be a viable Finals matchup before Milwaukee moved into the Eastern Conference. This series was highlighted by an epic double-overtime battle in Game 6, when the Bucks squeaked out a 102-101 win behind 34 from Kareem Abdul-Jabbar to stay alive. However, Boston sealed the deal in Game 7 thanks to 28 points from Dave Cowens and 16 & 9 from John Havlicek, who ended up taking home Finals MVP.

75 years ago (1949): The Minneapolis Lakers beat the Washington Capitols 4-2 to capture the Basketball Association of America (BAA) championship, a precursor to the NBA Finals. While there was no series MVP award back then, we’re sure it would’ve been given to Lakers big man George Mikan back in ‘49. Mr. Basketball averaged 27.5 points per game throughout the series, which is a lot more impressive when you realize the Lakers as a team averaged just 78.5 points in total. 😦

Three in the Key

Signing Off

Isn’t it great to be a basketball fan during this time of year?!? Thanks for sticking with us this week—check back in with you on Monday.

-Austin Zeglis