When depth destroys top-line talent

The Mavericks' best player is killing. The Celtics' best player is flailing. Boston is up 2-0.

Good morning. Let’s basketball.

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Landscape With Ascanius Shooting the Stag of Sylvia; Claude Lorrain; 1682

Something odd about the pre-series storyline that the Dallas Mavericks might have the two best players in the NBA Finals is that even based on Kyrie Irving’s 2023-24 season — healthy, available and playing for a top-notch team — on paper he’s not close to where the two top Celtics are. That storyline was built almost entirely on what Kyrie did over two long playoff runs with Cleveland (including one championship) and two of the first three rounds of this postseason (he was not terribly effective against Oklahoma City). Meanwhile, the Celtics had gone 12-2 in the playoffs this year, with Jayson Tatum averaging 30-10-6 in the conference finals … and Jaylen Brown winning series MVP.

This is all to say that the “what if Dallas has the two best players in the series?” storyline was deeply, ridiculously insulting to what Tatum and Brown have done.