The Boston Celtics take on the surging, interesting, puzzling – and significant underdog – Dallas Mavericks as the NBA Finals begin Thursday night, June 6, in Boston (Friday, June 7, Philippine time).
Jayson Tatum and the Celtics led the league virtually all season and rolled through the Eastern Conference playoffs, making them a heavy favorite for good reason.
The Mavericks, though, looked terrific in the playoffs behind Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving, surprisingly ruling the Western Conference even after finishing the regular season only at fifth place.
Although the Celtics face a team that is only now reaching peak performance, Boston boasts a loaded crew that can take on Dallas’ “Big Two” with the highly effective Jaylen Brown, Jrue Holiday, Al Horford, and the reportedly returning Kristaps Porzingis.
Here’s the schedule of the best-of-seven title series, Philippine time:
- GAME 1: June 7, Friday, 8:30 AM
- GAME 2: June 10, Monday, 8 am
- GAME 3: June 13, Thursday, 8:30 am
- GAME 4: June 15, Saturday, 8:30 am
- GAME 5: June 18, Tuesday, 8:30 am
- GAME 6: June 21, Friday , 8:30 am
- GAME 7: June 24, Monday, 8 am
– with a report from Reuters/Rappler.com