4 Rotation changes Jason Kidd must consider for Mavericks to win Finals

The Dallas Mavericks are amid their third-ever NBA Finals appearance against the Boston Celtics right now, and later today, they'll play in one of the biggest games in franchise history.

Dallas lost Game 1 to the Celtics in blowout fashion on Thursday night, and now they have to find a way to respond. The Mavs have been in this position countless times, as they have been notorious for losing Game 1s during the Jason Kidd era, and they have to find a way to even up the series at 1-1 before heading back to Dallas.

Climbing out of an 0-2 hole would be extremely hard, especially considering how talented the Celtics are, and the Mavs have to shift into high gear for the remainder of the series if they want to win the 2024 NBA Finals.

4 Rotation changes Jason Kidd must consider for Mavericks to win Finals

Not everything is gloom and doom for the Mavs, as Luka Doncic played phenomenally in Game 1 and P.J. Washington emerged as a key X-factor in this series, but there may be some changes that Kidd needs to make.

It's clear that the plan Kidd has been using all playoffs long has been working, but there may be some lineup changes that he needs to make to take down Boston (especially if the Mavs go down 0-2).

It may not be time for the Mavs to switch away from the game plan that has brought them here just yet, but there are some glaring changes that Kidd could make to improve Dallas' chances.

Here are four lineup changes that Jason Kidd must make for the Dallas Mavericks to defeat the Boston Celtics in the 2024 NBA Finals.

4. Bench Tim Hardaway Jr. completely

The Dallas Mavericks have given Tim Hardaway Jr. every chance to prove that he deserves a spot in the rotation in the playoffs despite his gnarly shooting slump he's been in for multiple months, and his struggles have inched into the playoffs.

In the 2024 NBA Playoffs, Hardaway Jr. is averaging 4.2 points and 1.7 rebounds per game while shooting 37.8 percent from the field and 30.8 percent from downtown, and he proved that Jason Kidd can't trust him in the NBA Finals in Game 1.

Despite only playing eight minutes, Hardaway Jr. finished with zero points while shooting 0-2 from the field, and it may be time to completely scratch him from the playoff rotation. Over the last five games Hardaway Jr. has played in, he's scored a total of just seven points over 41 minutes. Considering Hardaway Jr. averaged 14.4 points per game during the regular season, that's a huge regression.

In Game 1, it seemed like Kidd was just looking for a spark in the offense during that second half and he brought Hardaway Jr. in, but those days of him providing a spark off the bench are long gone.

The 2024 Finals may mark the end of Hardaway Jr.'s time in Dallas, and it's time for Kidd to look elsewhere when he needs a spark on offense.