Finals Game 1 MVP Poll: BOS 107 DAL 89

[Vermont Green]

Fun discussion, but I voted Tatum.  He is still the guy that is doubled on every possession.  Brown is never doubled.  Porzingis is never doubled.  I keep trying to figure in my head how the scoring would go if they double teamed Porzingis (for example) and left Tatum to attack mismatches.  It isn't something that is definitive or quantifiable, but I think it is real.  Tatum would probably have 30+ every night and 10 FTA.

But Porzingis was huge.  There is no doubt about that.  There is some chance that he is sore after that, but I am not all that worried.  He looked fine.  Short of another full out strain (which is always a possibility), he should be fine.  Everyone is a little sore.  And clearly, he wants it.  His effort on defense was tremendous.  DAL is going to have to change their whole game plan.

[scaryjerry]

Voting Tatum is diabolical.

[celticinorlando]

Voting Tatum is diabolical.

Tatum did ok because he was getting doubled almost every possession. He did turn it over way too much.
This might be a series where he doesn't score as much as we want but he does everything else. It is obvious that he is the one guy Dallas wants to take away.

But the turnovers cannot happen. Way too many. I would also like to see him go to the basket more and force the refs to call it.

[Moranis]

I voted Tatum and Porzingis. Tatum was making all of the right plays early on, including continually feeding Zinger in that 1st quarter.  Boston won the game in the first 12 minutes and those 2 set the tone and the pace.

Tatum was +19 in 42 minutes and the team was -1 in the 6 minutes he was on the bench. Jrue was +20 in his 35 minutes and Zinger was +13 in his 20 minutes.  Those 3 are the reason Boston won and I felt Tatum and Zinger were better than Jrue in the 1st quarter, which is why I just went with those 2 and didn't include Jrue.  Brown continues to play well, but the team was again better when he was on the bench. He just doesn't impact the result.

[Roy H.]

I voted Tatum and Porzingis. Tatum was making all of the right plays early on, including continually feeding Zinger in that 1st quarter.  Boston won the game in the first 12 minutes and those 2 set the tone and the pace.

Tatum was +19 in 42 minutes and the team was -1 in the 6 minutes he was on the bench. Jrue was +20 in his 35 minutes and Zinger was +13 in his 20 minutes.  Those 3 are the reason Boston won and I felt Tatum and Zinger were better than Jrue in the 1st quarter, which is why I just went with those 2 and didn't include Jrue.  Brown continues to play well, but the team was again better when he was on the bench. He just doesn't impact the result.

lol.  Keep digging that hole, my man. I look forward to the next several years of you posting about Brown's undeserved Finals MVP trophy.

[bdm860]

KP keeps it up, he can become a cool trivia question.

"What player won Finals MVP before ever playing a 2nd Round or Conference Finals game."

[smicker16]

I voted Tatum and Porzingis. Tatum was making all of the right plays early on, including continually feeding Zinger in that 1st quarter.  Boston won the game in the first 12 minutes and those 2 set the tone and the pace.

Tatum was +19 in 42 minutes and the team was -1 in the 6 minutes he was on the bench. Jrue was +20 in his 35 minutes and Zinger was +13 in his 20 minutes.  Those 3 are the reason Boston won and I felt Tatum and Zinger were better than Jrue in the 1st quarter, which is why I just went with those 2 and didn't include Jrue.  Brown continues to play well, but the team was again better when he was on the bench. He just doesn't impact the result.

When you say they were better with him on the bench in this game what do you mean? He was a +12 basically the same as Porzingis. I agree Tatum is the better player and impacts winning more, but tough to say Brown didn’t impact the team positively when they were a +12 when he was out there. You are basically punishing him for being on the same team as Tatum.

[Neurotic Guy]

I voted Tatum and Porzingis. Tatum was making all of the right plays early on, including continually feeding Zinger in that 1st quarter.  Boston won the game in the first 12 minutes and those 2 set the tone and the pace.

Tatum was +19 in 42 minutes and the team was -1 in the 6 minutes he was on the bench. Jrue was +20 in his 35 minutes and Zinger was +13 in his 20 minutes.  Those 3 are the reason Boston won and I felt Tatum and Zinger were better than Jrue in the 1st quarter, which is why I just went with those 2 and didn't include Jrue.  Brown continues to play well, but the team was again better when he was on the bench. He just doesn't impact the result.

When you say they were better with him on the bench in this game what do you mean? He was a +12 basically the same as Porzingis. I agree Tatum is the better player and impacts winning more, but tough to say Brown didn’t impact the team positively when they were a +12 when he was out there. You are basically punishing him for being on the same team as Tatum.

It’s an argument he won’t let go of. He watches Brown score, defend, block shots and still doesn’t see his impact.  3 steals and 3 blocks in this one.  The Doncic steal, the Kyrie block, and his third quarter 3 were all huge.  But the team was -1 in the 6 minutes Tatum was on the bench so therefore Brown doesn’t impact winning.

[Donoghus]

3 KP
2 JB
1 JT

[hpantazo]

I voted Brown all the way down. He was diving on the floor from tipoff and his play on both ends stopped Dallas’ run.

[trickybilly]

I gave White the 3rd point.

Keyed some of the first quarter and excellent defense.

[Phantom255x]

Toss up between Porzingis and Brown. KP set the tone for sure with a nuclear 1st quarter, but Brown was also instrumental all game and especially late in the 3rd when it looked like we were gonna blow it. Huge plays on both ends to spark a 14-2 run.

I almost want to give one vote each to Holiday, White and Horford though. Those 3 were great as usual defensively but even Horford actually looked awesome and had some nice defensive sequences even against the likes of Kyrie. Blocked Doncic on a 3 attempt once too. I think the time off helps him for sure. As well as having KP back so Horford doesn't have to go like 40+ minutes anymore.

[Redz]

I voted Tatum and Porzingis. Tatum was making all of the right plays early on, including continually feeding Zinger in that 1st quarter.  Boston won the game in the first 12 minutes and those 2 set the tone and the pace.

Tatum was +19 in 42 minutes and the team was -1 in the 6 minutes he was on the bench. Jrue was +20 in his 35 minutes and Zinger was +13 in his 20 minutes.  Those 3 are the reason Boston won and I felt Tatum and Zinger were better than Jrue in the 1st quarter, which is why I just went with those 2 and didn't include Jrue.  Brown continues to play well, but the team was again better when he was on the bench. He just doesn't impact the result.

When you say they were better with him on the bench in this game what do you mean? He was a +12 basically the same as Porzingis. I agree Tatum is the better player and impacts winning more, but tough to say Brown didn’t impact the team positively when they were a +12 when he was out there. You are basically punishing him for being on the same team as Tatum.

It’s an argument he won’t let go of. He watches Brown score, defend, block shots and still doesn’t see his impact.  3 steals and 3 blocks in this one.  The Doncic steal, the Kyrie block, and his third quarter 3 were all huge.  But the team was -1 in the 6 minutes Tatum was on the bench so therefore Brown doesn’t impact winning.

If anything it just shows a really small sample of Tatumless time because he played so many minutes.  You also need to take into account who was on the floor/bench during those minutes for Dallas.

[86MaxwellSmart]

This Mavs team is a bunch of Hackers...Lively should have been called for 9-10 Fouls...it was crazy the hits he was putting on KP, PJ Washington too, complete HACK....I really think they're only answer is to actually hurt our players, which Kidd will go to.

[Redz]

This Mavs team is a bunch of Hackers...Lively should have been called for 9-10 Fouls...it was crazy the hits he was putting on KP, PJ Washington too, complete HACK....I really think they're only answer is to actually hurt our players, which Kidd will go to.

It was definitely a directive in the second half.  It worked to the extent that KP only scored two points, but as soon as they started calling fouls on him he was on the bench and it was smooth sailing in the lane.

There was a play on a missed Mavs free throw where Lively just flat-out shoved KP off the court and Dallas ended up with another possession.  I wish we lived in an era where it would be ok to shove back, but in this day it would result in a flagrant foul and two scoring chances.