3 Key Stats To Look Out For Heading Into The NBA Finals (2024)

Following the Dallas Mavericks Game 5 blowout win over the Minnesota Timberwolves, and the Boston Celtics' sweep over the Indiana Pacers, the NBA Finals matchup is officially set. The Celtics won both regular season games, including a 28-point blowout win in their most recent early March matchup.

However, the Mavericks then are completely different from the Mavericks now. Here are three key stats that could determine how the series plays out.

The Boston Celtics are the Most Clutch Team This Postseason

The Celtics have a 43.9 playoff clutch net rating

The Mavericks have encountered a clutch time situation in nine of their seventeen playoff games. They're 6-3 in those games, so there is a lot of confidence that could be placed on the team to execute in crunch time, but they're up against statistically the best clutch team this postseason.

The Celtics have a clutch net rating of 43.9, far above any of the other fifteen teams to compete this postseason. They're ranked near the top of nearly every postseason clutch statistic, besides minutes played.

Sample size may be an issue, considering that the Celtics have only gotten into four games in the clutch this postseason. However, they have operated exceptionally well in their few games, which is good news considering the fact that they are playing a team that tends to find themselves in a lot of clutch games.

The Dallas Mavericks Have Elite Defense

The Mavericks had the highest conference finals defensive rating at 112.1

The Mavericks have been one of the best defensive teams this postseason. They led all Conference Finalists in defensive rating, and have been the leaders in many other defensive stats.

They don't give up a lot of points in the paint, nor fast break points, and they don't allow their opponents to generate many points off of turnovers.

They've been extremely effective at shutting down opposing stars. They held emerging superstar Anthony Edwards to just under 25 points on 43 percent field goal percentage. Prior to the Conference Finals, Edwards was averaging just over 29 points on 50.6 percent shooting.

The team does a great job of forcing opposing wings into take tough shots, and have the elite interior defense to take away easy shots at the rim. The Mavericks allowed just 44.4 points in the paint that series, and have allowed the fourth fewest points in the paint throughout the entire postseason.

The Boston Celtics are Great at Defending the Corner Three

Opposing teams are shooting 22.1 percent from corner threes against the Celtics this postseason

A big reason for the Mavericks' success this postseason is due to their great three-point shooting ability. They were the third-best team all playoffs long in corner threes, averaging 39.4 percent on 11.6 attempts per game.

A reason for this success is due to P.J. Washington, who is shooting over 40 percent from these corner threes on four attempts per game. The team's ability to convert these shots, especially Washington, means that opposing defenses can't fully collapse onto Luka Dončić or Kyrie Irving.

If teams choose to double up, they're giving an open three to one of the hottest three-point shooting squads in the playoffs. However, this might not be a struggle for the Celtics, who are great at guarding this location.

The Celtics are only allowing 1.7 opponent-made corner threes per game this postseason, on 7.7 attempts. That means that teams are shooting just over 22 percent from the corner against them. If the trend continues to the Finals, the Celtics could very well take away a significant portion of the Mavericks' offense.