6 Mistakes that doomed the Dallas Mavericks from winning the Finals

With the 2023-24 NBA season coming to an end on Monday night, the Dallas Mavericks completed one of their greatest seasons in recent memory after losing to the Boston Celtics in the NBA Finals. Despite falling short of a franchise's second NBA championship, the 2023-24 Mavericks will go down as one of the most improbable Western Conference Champions in recent memory.

When fans look back on this team's best moments, they will think about their improbable series victories over both the first-seeded Oklahoma City Thunder and the heavily favored Minnesota Timberwolves in the Western Conference Finals.

Dallas proved they were the ultimate underdog and the team also proved that they will be legitimate contenders for years to come.

6 Mistakes that doomed the Dallas Mavericks from winning the Finals

From Luka Doncic's iconic moment against the Timberwolves where Snoop Dogg took notice of the young superstar's killer mentality, to the Mavericks blowout Game 4 victory in the NBA Finals, this season will go down in history amongst Mavs fans. However, even after a great season, Dallas still made many crucial mistakes that cost them a chance at their second NBA title.

Boston proved that they are one of the greatest teams ever assembled but Dallas still had many chances to even the series against the Celtics. Had the Mavericks corrected these six mistakes, perhaps the Finals would still be going on and the Mavericks would have a potential series lead headed back home for Game 6.

Here are six reasons the Mavericks could not complete the reverse sweep against Boston even after a dominate Game 4 performance.

6. Mavericks' perimeter defense got exposed against the Celtics

After a dominant Game 1 victory for the Celtics, it became abundantly clear that Dallas would need to defend the perimeter with a sense of urgency that they had not played with to that point. Not only did the Mavericks get torched by their former teammate Kristaps Porzingis, but players like Sam Houser and Derrick White lit up the scoreboard from behind the arc due to Dallas' lack of perimeter defense.

While the Celtics may not have shot better than 38 percent as they did in Game 1 from behind the three-point line, Boston still managed to get many open looks with their versatile five-out offense. Up until that point, Dallas defended the three-ball at a relatively elite rate, but Boston proved to be too much and too talented for the Mavericks.

The Celtics became a team that relied heavily on runs to space out their leads and with the three ball falling at an elite rate and the ability to get wide-open looks due to Dallas' inability to defend the five-out offense, Boston feasted for four of the five games in the Finals.

As the offseason approaches, it's clear that the Mavericks will need to make another move to bolster their perimeter defense. It has yet to be seen who the Mavericks could be interested in but a safe assumption amongst fans is that Tim Hardaway Jr. could have played his last game in Dallas after a strugglesome display all playoffs long.

5. Tim Hardaway Jr. disappearing in the Playoffs

It's no secret that Tim Hardaway Jr. has been struggling since the turn of the new year. It feels like yesterday that fans were discussing him as a potential Sixth Man Of The Year candidate before all those talks came crashing down after January.

To make matters worse, Hardaway Jr. suffered a gruesome ankle injury in Game 2 of the first round against the LA Clippers and didn't return until the beginning of the second round against the OKC Thunder. In hindsight, it's clear this injury threw off any momentum Hardaway Jr. built during the tail end of the regular season.

Despite suffering an untimely injury at the beginning of the 2024 Playoffs, Hardaway Jr. had an awful end to his eleventh season in the league. In his first career Conference Finals appearance, Hardaway Jr. was played off the floor after just one game, and it was no different during his first NBA Finals experience.

Hardaway Jr. has often been looked at as the Mavericks' third-best option on offense even during shooting slumps like fans saw during the back half of the season. When Hardaway Jr. isn't shooting the ball at a normal clip, it's hard for Jason Kidd to play him in a consistent role, especially during the playoffs.

Without Hardaway Jr. the Mavericks simply didn't have enough offensive versatility and power to compete with a historic Celtics squad. Not only will Hardaway Jr.'s absence be a huge "what if" when discussing this Mavericks team, but it could also be a huge indication for Dallas on whether or not Hardaway Jr. remains a Mav for the long run.

4. Mavericks' lack of a third shot creator

It's no secret that after scoring less than 100 points in four of the five games played in the NBA Finals, the Mavericks lacked the offensive versatility to compete with the Celtics. One reason the Mavericks failed to have a strong offensive impact was due to the Celtics' elite defense with four potential All-Defensive players headlining their starting five.

Additionally, Dallas' inability to consistently make a three-ball hurt them when it mattered most. Perhaps their championship hopes would still be alive if the Mavericks had a third ball handler. Without a coveted third scorer, the Mavericks simply couldn't compete with the Celtics.

Many fans looked towards Hardaway Jr. as being that coveted third scorer but after a lengthy slump that saw him get played off the floor early in the Mavericks' playoff run, Dallas was suddenly left without a third scorer. Mavericks second-year player Jaden Hardy had his fair share of moments in the series win over the Timberwolves but failed to make any legitimate case as being the team's third scorer during the Finals.

Without a third scorer, it left too much pressure on the Mavericks star players to carry the bulk of the offensive load. Role players like Josh Green and Derrick Jones Jr. did their best to accommodate by knocking down open shot attempts consistently, but without a third creator, Boston easily cracked down on any Mavericks sequence to get their role players open looks.

This may not be a discussion worth having had Hardy or Hardaway Jr. stepped into that creator role off the bench, but with the Mavericks packing their bags and being sent home, it's hard not to question where Dallas could have been had one of these players stepped up.

During the Mavericks' offseason it may be in their best interest to shop around the free agent market and invest in a third-shot creator if they believe Hardy is not their man.

3. Jason Kidd's lack of in-game adjustments cost the Mavericks one too many times

One reason the Mavericks made it as far as they did was due to Jason Kidd's genius game plans and game-to-game adjustments he was able to make against some of the NBA's best head coaches. Without a championship, Kidd's genius moves and decisions will likely be forgotten but they were also a major reason why the Mavericks couldn't get the job done in their biggest test yet.

Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla has had his fair share of criticism as well, and he silenced them with his first NBA Championship. However, after winning his first, Mazzulla could eventually go down as one of the greatest coaches in NBA history and one way he achieved that title was by outclassing Kidd and the Mavericks coaching staff.

Rather than trying to outcoach Kidd on the biggest stage, Mazzulla stuck to what got the Celtics to 64 wins in the regular season and it worked like a charm. While Kidd and the Mavs scrambled to adjust to what was a barrage of Celtics threes, Mazzulla made the gameplan simple and continued to defend the Mavericks' two best players as best they could.

Many decisions will be looked back at as to why the Mavericks lost the 2024 NBA Finals and one decision will infamously live on and that's Kidd's decision to stick with Hardaway Jr. in the rotation. There are many more reasons why Dallas was unsuccessful against Boston including Kidd's failure to crack the Celtics five-out look, but none greater than sticking with Hardaway Jr. when it wasn't working.

For weeks, fans had called for an increased role for both Hardy and Dante Exum even after the two lit up the scoreboard in separate games. However, Kidd chose to stick with Hardaway Jr. through the drought. This was one of many reasons the Mavericks lost against Boston.

2. Mavericks' failure to coral defensive rebounds

This is a story Mavs fans have become all too familiar with in past seasons. The team failing to win a game due to their inability to box out either due to lack of size or effort from all five players on the floor. Unfortunately for fans, this was supposed to be an issue of the past for Dallas after acquiring both Dereck Lively II and Daniel Gafford in respective trades.

All playoffs long, Dallas was able to outrebound any team no matter their regular season statistics and size on the floor. The Mavericks dominated the Timberwolves in the Conference Finals partially due to their ability to outrebound what was thought to be a great rebounding team. However against the Celtics, Dallas didn't just get outrebounded on both ends of the floor, but they got outclassed in the process.

Celtics guards were able to easily penetrate the paint and either get wide-open looks to the basket or get timely rebounds off rare Celtic misses. It also didn't help that Derrick White and Jrue Holiday were able to make easy slot cuts in the paint to deter any chance at a Maverick rebound.

Outside of Dallas' lone win of the series which came in Game 4 on their home floor, Boston outrebounded the Mavericks in both offensive and defensive categories. This wasn't just the Celtics being bigger and faster when on the floor, but this partially had to deal with the Mavericks' lack of attention when boxing out smaller guards.

This could easily have been an effort thing with the Mavericks losing hope after falling 3-0 in the series, but it was clear that Boston came to play and embarrass Dallas in any way they could. Despite this, it isn't a particular reason the Mavericks should make a million moves for guys who can box out and display effort on both ends of the floor, being that the Mavericks were a great rebounding team after the trade deadline.

Over the offseason and when the Mavericks head into training camp in a couple of months, this will likely be a massive coaching point for Kidd and his staff.

1. Mavericks' star players failing to make a defensive impact

As for anything, your leaders in the locker room need to take the charge so that the role players can match that same energy. Unfortunately for Dallas, Kyrie Irving, and Luka Doncic failed to make a legitimate defensive impact outside of Game 4's victory.

Doncic and Irving sought to prove many doubters wrong throughout the regular season and the playoffs by becoming above-average defenders when on the floor. For the most part, the two superstars lived up to this expectation, and it's a huge reason why the Mavericks were in the possession to possibly when a championship a few weeks ago.

As mentioned before, Boston came out to tear down any positive Dallas narrative, one of which became that Irving and Doncic were playing great defense during the Mavericks' playoff run. Like any other team that played the Mavericks before, the Celtics tried matchup hunting both Doncic and Irving. However, with how versatile the Celtics offense can be, it worked like a charm.

One reason Boston's offense is so lethal is due to their ability to have five great offensive players on the floor at all times. For Dallas, this became an automatic red flag due to their inability to hide Doncic on a player who is either relegated to the corner or carries little to no offensive weight. A common trend you see with Dallas' game plan before a game or series is to hide Doncic on the opposing team's worst offensive player, this wasn't the case with Boston.

Doncic got exposed on the defensive end on a nightly basis against Boston and it even had many media figures questioning whether or not Doncic could win a title due to his lack of effort on the defensive end.

This isn't the first time Doncic has been called out publicly for his lack of attention on the defensive end, but this could be Doncic's biggest point of emphasis headed into a shortened offseason.

While Doncic played awful defense in four of the five games played, Irving became a net negative when switched onto bigger players. In many instances, Irving would play solid defense for the bulk of the shot clock, but due to the opposing player's size, he was able to get easy looks over Irving. One player who took advantage of Irving's lack of size was Kristaps Porzingis.

While Dallas may have fallen short of the ultimate goal which was winning a championship, this was still a huge step in the right direction for the Mavericks. They will look to cash in on the few assets they possess and will be poised to win the West again and give themselves another chance at winning the NBA championship. For offseason updates on Luka Doncic, Kyrie Irving, and the Dallas Mavericks, stay tuned as we will have you covered.