DNHQ Rooting Guide: NBA Finals, Boston vs. Dallas; plus open thread

Steph's most famous Finals victim vs the team which hasn't lost in the playoffs since... Steph

See the master index at Dub Nation HQ Rooting Guide For Other Teams.

If Dallas wins, Steph and the Warriors will be the last team to beat them in the playoffs (2022). If Boston wins, Steph and the Warriors win in 2022 looks even better in retrospect. So, from a reflected glory perspective, GSW wins either way.

Boston Celtics

Ex-Warriors

• None.

Friends

• Jrue Holiday. Hard working, great defender, two-way talent. Fierce rival, but also a big public fan of Stephen Curry.

• Steph Curry and Jayson Tatum seem to have some mutual respect.

Warriors Villains

• None.

Petty Rivalries

• Jaylen Brown went to Cal if you care about that.

  • Abaddon writes: in the great Steph/Kyrie duel in 2018(?) Steph was seen visibly flapping his right hand at Brown after hitting a three over and around his defense. He also was jawing at Brown. It was a while ago and I’m not sure if there’s been anything since, but it is so rare to see Steph directly taunting someone that it sticks out in my memory.

  • Jaylen seems to drifting into Kyrie-lite territory. He also seems to be sowing all kinds of internal turmoil in BOS, which you may regard as uncool or helpful for GSW.

Team Grudges

• The 2022 Finals were bitterly fought and the BOS fans really brought the bile in antagonizing Draymond Green. But that’s sports for you. It worked to throw Dray off his game and also made Steph elevate his game in the legendary Game 4.

• Long history of racism from Celtics fans.

• Isaiah Thomas played through his sister’s death and various injuries at the cost of his career and was immediately dumped by BOS for Kyrie Irving. Pretty shocking move even if the league’s motto is “It’s Just A Business”.

• Celtics fans talk a lot about their many championships, omitting the fact that they’ve won 1 championship since 1986, and most of the previous ones came from Red Auerbach ripping off other hobbyist owners when the league was eight teams that could barely get a highlight on TV.

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Dallas Mavericks

Ex-Warriors

• Tim Hardaway Jr is the son of Warriors great… wait for it… Tim Hardaway.

Friends

• For completeness, I will list Coach Jason Kidd’s local connection to Cal basketball and growing up in Oakland.

Warriors Villains 

• None, yet.

Petty Rivalries

• Luka Doncic was hailed as the successor and supplanter of Steph and everyone else for MVP consideration. Despite eye-popping box scores, somehow his teams have never gotten over the hump to the Finals. Luka’s flopping game seems to be getting more prominent as he gets to play more important games.

• Kyrie Irving. Hit the Finals-winning shot in 2016, then

  • forced his way out of Cleveland to get away from all the LeBron-stan reporters wanting him to appreciate LeBron’s being his father figure(?!?!),

  • got more of a reputation as a team-killer by joining a strong Celtics team and dragging it down,

  • perplexed everyone with his dedication/trolling about flat-earth crackpotism,

  • conspired with KD to form a superteam with the Nets,

  • endangered the public by publicly being anti-vaccination while torpedoing the Nets season by not getting shots,

  • was so unprofessional and annoying that he triggered James Harden into blowing up the superteam,

  • and dragged down the 2023 DAL team out of the playoffs.

  
  So on balance, even though KI has been a public menace, basketball-wise, Kyrie has done huge amounts for the GSW cause by sabotaging outstanding rival teams. There is an argument about whether Kyrie, Harden of Kawhi deserves the Enemy of my Enemy is my Friend prize.

• Mark Cuban has had some back and forth with Draymond and others, but it doesn’t seem specifically about the Warriors. He even said KD joining the Warriors was good for the NBA.

Team Grudges

• If anyone should have a grudge, it’s DAL. After all, GSW most recently beat DAL in the 2022 WCF. In fact, as of the 2024 Finals, the last team to beat Dallas in the playoffs was… GSW.

• And before that of course, GSW We-Believed them out of the 2007 playoffs and ruined Dirk Nowitzki’s MVP season.

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