Here. We. Goooooo.
Tips for the final of Game 1 tonight.
THE LINEUP 🏀
What’s in today’s release?
1 in 1 minute game: Everything you need to know ahead of the 2024 Finals tip-off
Celtics Media Day: Hear from Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, Jrue Holiday and Joe Mazzulla
Mavs Media Day: Luka Doncic, Kyrie Irving, Daniel Gafford and Jason Kidd meet with the press
On the ground: Behind the scenes in Boston & a Start 5 only interview with Finals correspondent Jabari Smith Jr.
Best of Game 1s: Look back at the top games and moments from Game 1 of previous finals
BUT FIRST… ⏰
The NBA Finals are just a few hours away…
🏆 Game 1 tonight: The chase for the Larry O’Brien Trophy tips tonight in Boston (8:30 ET, ABC)
📝 Finals Checklist: Want to prepare for Final Game 1? We made this checklist for you.
🎤 Mic’d Up: dallas’ Luka Doncic and Boston’s Jayson Tatum will be mic’d up for Game 1
🏀 A’ja did what?! A’ja Wilson dropped the 1st 35+ pts, 10+ reb, 5+ stl game in WNBA history
1. 1 IN 1 MINUTE GAME
Today is the day.
Mavs. Celtics. NBA Finals Game 1 (8:30 ET, ABC).
Find out everything you need to know ahead of tonight’s update below – and welcome to basketball’s biggest stage.
- New champion, same trend: A different NBA champion will be crowned for the sixth straight season
- Keen On 18: The Celtics – who finished the regular season with the league’s best record (64-18) – are seeking their 18th title, which would break a tie with the Lakers for the most in NBA history.
- Kidd’s Quest: Dallas coach Jason Kidd will try to lead the Mavs to their second NBA title, 13 years after helping them win their first title as a player.
- High five: The Mavs are also trying to become the first No. 5 seed to hoist the Larry O’Brien Trophy
- Dynamic Duos: Both teams have a pair of multi-time All-Stars averaging 50+ combined points this postseason in Dallas’ Kyrie Irving (22.8 ppg) – who played two seasons with the Celtics – and Luka Doncic (28 .8) and Boston’s Jayson Tatum (26.0). ) and Jaylen Brown (25.0)
- First team, first title: Doncic and Tatum — two five-time All-Stars and members of the 2023-24 Kia All-NBA First Team — are each seeking their first title, along with Brown (Irving won in 2016 with the Cavs).
NBA Finals Highlights
2. CELTICS MEDIA DAY
Concentrate.
The Celtics – which will be in full force tonight with Kristaps Porzingis out on injury report – preached the focus the day before Game 1 of the finals.
- 🗣️ Jayson Tatum on his mindset: “I think right now, I’m just staying present in the moment. I’m not thinking about my legacy or anything, I’m just excited to play some basketball.”
- 🗣️ Coach Joe Mazzulla on Staying In The Moment: “Unless they change the bulbs in the arena, they’re not going to be any brighter than the last series … obviously, the stakes are higher, but that just means the details are more important.”
Two years ago, Mazzulla was a Boston assistant when the C’s fell to the Warriors in the 2022 Finals. Now, it’s Mazzulla’s team — and he and his players feel they’ve grown from the loss.
- 🗣️ Mazzulla Learning from Finals Defeat: “I think the biggest thing you learn is what it means to win in the NBA Finals … the toughest team is going to win.”
- 🗣️ Tatum: “I’m a firm believer in ‘everything happens for a reason’ … It feels very different this time around … I’m excited for the opportunity we have to do the work.”
- 🗣️ Jaylen Brown: “You learn and grow from your experiences… We have a different team, a different coach. Two years later it makes a very big difference.”
Championship DNA: Jrue Holiday – who won the 2021 NBA Finals with the Bucks – wasn’t on that 2022 Celtics team, but he believes this year’s team has what it takes to get the job done, and Brown agrees.
- 🗣️ Break into what makes this team special: “It’s just the will to win. This team really wants to win… They’ve been to the Finals. So they’ve reached the top… Now that we’re here, we want to get the job done.”
- 🗣️ Coffee: “I think this is a special groupreally… the ultimate goal is to get over the hump and win… but for now this story is still untold.”
Public holiday put a wrap on Celtics Media Day with a laugh, offering a simple, one-word response how to stop Kyrie Irving.
3. MAVS MEDIA DAY
No player in this series has more Finals experience by Kyrie Irving, who is about to start his fourth Finals. The Mavs have leaned on the veteran guard as they prepare for Game 1.
- 🗣️ Luka Doncic: “Me and Kyrie are the leaders of this team, but he’s the one who’s been to the Finals. He is the one who won in the finals. He’s the one who really drives it. It keeps us all together and motivated.”
- 🗣️ PJ Washington: “He’s done a great job of keeping us cool, calm and focused. … It just tells us to feel every emotion, to go out and be ourselves.”
- 🗣️ Kyrie in his message: “These young people are very hungry. They want a championship. I want a championship. So our feelings are very mutual. But I always reminded them that this is a process.
- “Failure will be part of it as well. Get it out of your head that it’s going to be a clean sweep or that everything is going to feel good on this whole trip and all that. I’m very real, very honest.”
- Jason Kidd on Luca’s basketball IQ: “I think so he is one of the smartest players in this league. That’s why we’re playing in the Finals, because of his IQ and his willingness to get on that stage and not be afraid to fail.”
Full circle moment: The Wizards were headed to Boston when Daniel Gafford got the call that he had been traded to Dallas. Four months later, Gafford is in Boston with his new team in the Finals.
- 🗣️ Gafford On Being Traded: “I just took it as a sign, one door closed, another door opened for me. So this is another opportunity for me to progress throughout my career.”
- 🗣️ Washington for his own good with Dallas: “For me, I thought it was very fitting for me to come here and show what I can do.”
- 🗣️ Luka On Gafford and Washington: “The trade made us a much better team, especially on the defensive end. So, they are in the perfect roles that we need.”
4. ON THE FIELD IN THE FINALS
The Finals are buzzing it’s tangible and a rising NBA star put boots on the ground at Media Day for exclusive coverage on the NBA’s social and digital platforms.
Jabari Smith Jr. – the No. 3 overall pick in the 2022 NBA Draft – serves as Finals Game 1 Player Correspondent. But before he gets first-hand advice from Jayson Tatumthe Rockets forward sat down with us to share his thoughts on the series, exclusively for the Starting 5 fam.
- 🗣️ What is she most looking forward to: “Just to see the games of Luca and Jayson Tatum and Kyrie, Jaylen Brown … I feel like there’s a lot of pressure on both sides and I can’t wait to see.”
- 🗣️ Who is he rooting for: “I’m not going for anyone. I just watch good basketball – hopefully, seven games. Well, I’m excited.”
- 🗣️ Go to Luka & Kyrie As A Big: “It’s hard… [There’s] It’s not really a shot you want to live with with players like that. So you just have to try to make it difficult and make them work.”
- 🗣️ What impresses him about Derek Lively II: “He figured it out so early. I forget sometimes that he’s a rookie… He’s really, really picking it up quickly and it’s great to see that.”
The Best Of Media Day: The action didn’t stop at Jabari. Content creator Tristan Jass added to the excitement of the day with him as correspondent.
5. FINAL GAME 1s BEST MOMENTS
Before the Celtics and Mavs begin their own Finals story, we look back at some of the best moments, shots and performances from Game 1 of previous NBA Finals. | Top Game 1 Games: Before 2000 | Since 2000
![1992: Michael Jordan caught fire from deep, draining a record six 3-pointers in the 1st half against Portland. A 27% 3-point shooter that season, Jordan could only shrug as the 3s kept falling.](https://cdn.nba.com/manage/2024/06/gm1-jordan-shrug.gif)
![1992: Michael Jordan caught fire from deep, draining a record six 3-pointers in the 1st half against Portland. A 27% 3-point shooter that season, Jordan could only shrug as the 3s kept falling.](https://cdn.nba.com/manage/2024/06/gm1-jordan-shrug.gif)
1992: Michael Jordan caught fire from deep, draining a record six 3s in the 1st half against Portland. A 27% 3-point shooter that season, Jordan could only shrug as the 3s kept falling.
![1995: Houston's Kenny Smith hit a clutch 3 to force overtime before Hakeem Olajuwon won the game on a tip-in with 0.3 seconds left in OT. | Andrew D. Bernstein/NBAE via Getty Images](https://cdn.nba.com/manage/2024/06/gm1s-1995-smith-75351196.jpg)
![1995: Houston's Kenny Smith hit a clutch 3 to force overtime before Hakeem Olajuwon won the game on a tip-in with 0.3 seconds left in OT. | Andrew D. Bernstein/NBAE via Getty Images](https://cdn.nba.com/manage/2024/06/gm1s-1995-smith-75351196.jpg)
1995: Houston’s Kenny Smith hit a clutch 3 to force overtime before Hakeem Olajuwon won the game with a tip-in with 0.3 seconds left in OT.
![1981: Larry Bird showed his instincts for the game as he grabbed his own rebound, pulled off a hand switch and scored in one smooth move to help Boston beat Houston 98-95.](https://cdn.nba.com/manage/2024/06/gm1-bird-putback.gif)
![1981: Larry Bird showed his instincts for the game as he grabbed his own rebound, pulled off a hand switch and scored in one smooth move to help Boston beat Houston 98-95.](https://cdn.nba.com/manage/2024/06/gm1-bird-putback.gif)
1981: Larry Bird showed his instincts for the game as he grabbed his own rebound, pulled off a hand switch and scored in one smooth move to help Boston beat Houston 98-95.
![2002: Kobe Bryant dunked over Todd McCulloch for two of his 22 points in the Lakers' 99-94 win. Look at current Mavs head coach and then Nets PG Jason Kidd in the background.](https://cdn.nba.com/manage/2024/06/gm1s-2002-kobe-450113112-588x588.jpg)
![2002: Kobe Bryant dunked over Todd McCulloch for two of his 22 points in the Lakers' 99-94 win. Look at current Mavs head coach and then Nets PG Jason Kidd in the background.](https://cdn.nba.com/manage/2024/06/gm1s-2002-kobe-450113112-588x588.jpg)
2002: Kobe Bryant beat Todd McCulloch for two of his 22 points in the Lakers’ 99-94 win. Look at current Mavs head coach and then Nets PG Jason Kidd in the background.
![2001: Isolated against Tyronn Lue in the corner, Allen Iverson used his signature crossover to create room for the game-sealing jumper with Lue falling to Iverson's feet and AI pulling the Stepover on the way back.](https://cdn.nba.com/manage/2024/06/AI-step-cut-1.gif)
![2001: Isolated against Tyronn Lue in the corner, Allen Iverson used his signature crossover to create room for the game-sealing jumper with Lue falling to Iverson's feet and AI pulling the Stepover on the way back.](https://cdn.nba.com/manage/2024/06/AI-step-cut-1.gif)
2001: Isolated against Tyronn Lue in the corner, Allen Iverson used his signature crossover to create room for the game-sealing jumper with Lue falling to Iverson’s feet and AI pulling the Stepover on the way back.
![1997: Michael Jordan hit the game-winning shot in Chicago's 84-82 win over Utah. It is the most recent game-winning shot at the buzzer in a Finals game.](https://cdn.nba.com/manage/2024/06/gm1s-1997-jordan-450113130-588x588.jpg)
![1997: Michael Jordan hit the game-winning shot in Chicago's 84-82 win over Utah. It is the most recent game-winning shot at the buzzer in a Finals game.](https://cdn.nba.com/manage/2024/06/gm1s-1997-jordan-450113130-588x588.jpg)
1997: Michael Jordan hit the game-winning shot in Chicago’s 84-82 win over Utah. It is the most recent game-winning shot at the buzzer in a Finals game.
![2018: Steph Curry won the half with a 38-foot 3-pointer – and tallied the points before heading to the locker room. Golden State needed every point in this OT classic because…](https://cdn.nba.com/manage/2024/06/gm1-curry-buzzer.gif)
![2018: Steph Curry won the half with a 38-foot 3-pointer – and tallied the points before heading to the locker room. Golden State needed every point in this OT classic because…](https://cdn.nba.com/manage/2024/06/gm1-curry-buzzer.gif)
2018: Steph Curry hit the halftime buzzer with a 38-foot 3-pointer – and tallied the points before heading to the locker room. Golden State needed every point in this OT classic because…
![2018: …LeBron James (51 points, 8 rebounds, 8 assists) had a game for the ages – scoring the second-most points in a Game 1 Finals (Jerry West: 53 in 1969) – in Cleveland's OT loss to Golden State.](https://cdn.nba.com/manage/2024/06/gm1s-2018-lebron-964680988.jpg)
![2018: …LeBron James (51 points, 8 rebounds, 8 assists) had a game for the ages – scoring the second-most points in a Game 1 Finals (Jerry West: 53 in 1969) – in Cleveland's OT loss to Golden State.](https://cdn.nba.com/manage/2024/06/gm1s-2018-lebron-964680988.jpg)
2018: … LeBron James (51 points, 8 rebounds, 8 assists) had a game for the ages – scoring the second-most points in a Game 1 Finals (Jerry West: 53 in 1969) – in Cleveland’s OT loss to Golden State.