6 Mistakes that doomed the Dallas Mavericks from winning the Finals

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.