The Dallas Mavericks fought back to win Game 4 of the NBA Finals as they faced elimination and a sweep by the Boston Celtics. Not only did the Mavericks win, they beat the Celtics 122-84 for the third largest victory in NBA Finals history.
Now the Celtics an Mavericks travel back to Boston for Game 5. If they Celtics win they hang banner number 18 and become the all-time winningest franchise in NBA history. If the Mavericks win, they survive another day and are only one game behind the Celtics in the Finals and force a game 6.
So, which team has more pressure to Win Game 5?
CLNS Media’s Bobby Manning and Noa Dalzell are at TD Garden to discuss the implications and pressures facing both teams as they prepare for a critical Game 5 in Boston during the latest episode of The Garden Report.
“Every mistake feels magnified. Every loose ball that you don’t get feels devastating and then that ripples into a bunch of loose balls that you don’t get. And then your sitting at home wondering how are they not playing hard in the finals? In reality there’s like a mental spill over effect from the mistakes that are being made,” said Dalzell.
Manning and Dalzell highlight some of the things that Xavier Tillman said during a Celtics press conference, touching upon the fact that the Celtics do not need to win Game 5. While most Celtics fans might not want to hear these words, the Celtics are still up by two games in these NBA Finals, and losing on Monday is not the end of the world.
The mental shift for the Celtics is their way of handling the pressure that they put on themselves to win Game 4 that ultimately had a negative effect on the team as a whole.
Dallas now has a little bit of confidence after their tremendous Game 4 performance, one that included them hitting shots and a variety of role players stepping up big time. With Luka and Kyrie hitting their stride, the toss up for which team has more pressure on them in Game 5 will come to fruition on Monday in Boston.
This episode of the Garden Report is brought to you by:
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