3x All-Star downplays Celtics beating Mavericks' no-sense basketball for NBA title: "They had an advantage"
The NBA Finals between the Boston Celtics and Dallas Mavericks wasn't that memorable for Gilbert Arenas. According to the former NBA player, Boston was the better and more dominant team in the finals. However, Arenas didn't see any championship basketball from the champion.
On Tuesday on "The OGs" with former NBA players Mike Miller and Udonis Haslem, Arenas gave his unique take on the series between the Celtics and the Mavericks.
The former Washington Wizards player said that Boston didn't play championship basketball at all. He said that the same type of plays that Boston executed would have been thwarted by so many teams like the Philadelphia 76ers or Milwaukee Bucks.
Arenas picked one of Jayson Tatum's plays to prove his point that despite Boston playing what he called basketball that "didn't make sense," it was able to beat the Mavericks.
"Tatum is my dude, and he was frustrating the sh*t out of me," Arenas said (Timestamp: 37:40). "Maxi Kleber, you taking sidestep jumpers against him? Oh, my god! that is one fall flat if I have seen one. ... If you gonna take a side jumper, do it on a smaller guy.
"Don't get the big dude on you to shoot the same 3. He can challenge your shot. It was just little things that in the basketball world just didn't make sense."
According to Arenas, Jayson Tatum and Co. didn't play championship basketball and they got an easier opponent. Arenas also said that one of the reasons that the Mavs lost the series was because they did not play defense.
Gilbert Arenas doesn't believe Boston Celtics can repeat the title next season
The Boston Celtics have some of the best NBA players, both in the starting lineup and in reserve. Even without making any trade, they remain arguably the league's best team.
While the Celtics might enter the season as a championship favorite, Gilbert Arenas has serious doubts about them repeating their title run next season. He said that with Boston wasting 3-point shots, it can be beaten by other teams.
"Not shooting 50-something3s, going 19-for-50," Arenas said. "You can't do that against Embiid, you are gonna be able to do that against (Nikola) Jokic, you are not gonna be able to do that against healthy (Milwaukee) Bucks."
During the NBA Finals, the Celtics shot only 43.6% [Mavs- 45.8%] from the field and 33.8% from the 3-point line. On the other hand, the Mavs shot 45.8% from the field and 31.6% from the 3-point line.
It was Boston's defense that became the deciding factor in the championship series. While both teams underperformed on offense, Boston heavily outplayed the Mavs on the defensive end.