Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports

The Los Angeles Lakers are facing a rough reality as they could see their tie with the Boston Celtics most titles snapped as the latter is up on the Dallas Mavericks in the 2024 NBA Finals.

The Celtics were able to take care of the Mavericks at home in Games 1 and 2 and then on the road in Game 3 are now just one win away from winning their 18th championship. Boston entered the series as the clear favorites and are showing why as they’ve controlled both ends of the floor.

LeBron James, who recently explained his approach to playing in the Finals, went into detail as to why the Celtics have been so successful offensively, via the “Mind the Game” podcast:

“I think they do it with the pass that a lot of people don’t really give them credit for. I think they’re dribble penetration and once they see the defense start to rotate, they do it with the pass.

“To be honest, over the course of a 48-minute game they really only have two iso guys and that’s Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown. Obviously, Payton Pritchard has the ability to play a little iso ball as well but they just have two iso guys. The rest of those guys they move off the pass. They move off the defense shifting. They’ve loaded up on those two great wings in Jayson and Jaylen and then now that’s when their personnel really kicks in. That’s when Derrick White is playing on a closeout, that’s when Jrue Holiday is playing on a closeout, that’s when Payton Pritchard is playing on a closeout. Al Horford is playing on a closeout.

“And I think they don’t get enough credit for their ball movement when they’re driving the baseline or driving the 45, the slow and getting the defense rotating. That’s their superpower. Once that ball gets to popping and they got five guys around that perimeter that can all shoot the three…they all shooting high 30s, some of them in the 40s, but I don’t think they get enough credit for how they play with the pass and the body movement that they have.”

Boston’s offensive approach is textbook for modern NBA offenses and it’s given Dallas little room for error. If the Mavericks hope to climb back into the series, they’ve got to find a way to slow down the Celtics’ ball movement.