The Boston Celtics finished the regular season as the best record in the NBA, with 64–18.[2] Throughout the playoff run, they faced the Miami Heat in the first round, a rematch of the previous year's Eastern Conference Finals, and won the series 4–1. They then faced the Cleveland Cavaliers in the second round, winning the series in five games. Finally, they swept the Indiana Pacers in the Conference Finals to reach the NBA Finals for the second time in three years and for the 23rd time in their history with their last win dating back to 2008 NBA Finals. A series win would give the Celtics their 18th championship, and break their tie with the Los Angeles Lakers for the most in NBA history.[3]
This is the Celtics’ third Finals appearance where they played a team from Texas, as they previously defeated the Houston Rockets in the 1981 and 1986 Finals. This will also be the first time the Mavericks will face a different team other than the Miami Heat whom they lost to in 2006 and defeated in 2011.
The Dallas Mavericks finished the regular season as the fifth seed in the Western Conference with a 50–32 record.[4] The Mavericks made the playoffs after missing the stage last season where the team finished 38–44. The Mavericks defeated the Clippers and the Thunder in the First Round and the Semifinals, respectively, winning their series in 6 games.[5][6] The Mavericks defeated the Timberwolves in the Conference Finals 4–1 to reach their first NBA Finals since their last appearance in 2011 where the team won their first and only title.[7]
The Finals will be televised in the United States by ABC (including local affiliates WCVB-TV in Boston and WFAA in Dallas) for the 22nd consecutive year. This will mark the first Finals called by the team of play-by-play announcer Mike Breen, analysts Doris Burke and JJ Redick, and sideline reporter Lisa Salters.[8] Furthermore, this will be the first Finals since 2006 without Jeff Van Gundy or Mark Jackson as commentators, as they were laid off after the previous year's finals.[9][10]
^The final game of the Finals could be as early as June 14, if either team wins the series 4–0, or later, if the Finals went to games 5–7, with the final game being played on June 23.