Locked On Celtics - Daily Podcast On The Boston Celtics Locked On Podcast Network

The Celtics got huge games from Jaylen Brown and Kristaps Porzingis to dominate the Dallas Mavericks in Game 1 of the NBA Finals. They followed the exact plan John Karalis of Boston Sports Journal laid out, with the exception of bringing Porzingis off the bench. And even though a 29 point lead got down to eight, the Celtics came back with a championship-level response to get the lead back up to 25.

Game 1 of the NBA Finals is finally here. How to the Celtics take advantage of the weaknesses in Dallas' defense? How do they take advantage of their 3-point shooting? John Karalis of Boston Sports Journal and Tom Westerholm discuss what an ideal offense looks like, who the Celtics should target, and the two players not named Luka Doncic they should be trying to slow down in the Mavs offense.

Kristaps Porzingis says the plan is to play Game 1, but when he was asked if he was 100%, he said "we'll see." So is he ready to go, will he be risking another injury, and will he be effective when the Celtics and Mavs face off in Game 1 of the NBA Finals on Thursday night? John Karalis of Boston Sports Journal and Tom Westerholm discuss Porzingis' comments, what the Celtics need out of him, and how much of an impact he can make even if he's not his normal self.

Part two of our crossover preview between Locked On Mavericks and Locked On Celtics focuses on Mavs questions, most importantly: Who do Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving defend? John Karalis of Boston Sports Journal believes there's no good answers there, which gives the Celtics a significant advantage. Also, how does Nick Angstadt feel about Dereck Lively, a rookie, being such a key figure in this series? Can the Mavs bigs be everywhere they need to be?

We're starting our week-long preview of the NBA Finals with part one of our double-barrel crossover podcasts between Locked On Celtics and Locked On Mavs with a look at how the Celtics defense will operate against Dallas, the Celtics 3-point shooting and why they'll go at it a lot, and why repetition is going to be Boston's best weapon to get the shots they want. 

Kristaps Porzingis participated in everything the Celtics did on Saturday, though we're not 100% sure what that was. But he seems to be getting even closer to a return. John Karalis of Boston Sports Journal has that and then goes deep into how to defend Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving in the Finals, and it's two very different approaches.