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By Noah Camras
Contributing Sports Writer
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The 2024 NBA Finals has been all Boston through two games. The Celtics have a 2-0 series lead over the Dallas Mavericks, and have won both games with relative ease. Aside from a late push by Dallas toward the end of Game 2, Boston has dominated the series.
The series will now shift back to Dallas, where the Mavericks need someone aside from Luka Dončić to step up if they want any chance of getting back into it.
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On the other side of things, the Celtics will need to keep showcasing their depth as they've been doing all postseason long, but especially through the first two games of the series.
That depth has led Boston to this 2-0 lead in the NBA Finals, but it has also made the Finals MVP leaderboard wide open up to this point. Which of the Celtics' many contributors is leading the pack right now? And where does Dončić land on the list? Here's an updated NBA Finals leaderboard heading into Game 3:
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5. Derrick White, Boston Celtics
White is the first of many Celtics on this list who have done it all this series. He's averaging 16.5 points per game, but has also played tremendous defense with four steals and two blocks. He was credited with the biggest block of the series thus far, and has made a big enough impact to earn a spot on this list.
4. Jayson Tatum, Boston Celtics
The best player on the Celtics all regular season long comes in at No. 4 on this list. He hasn't played up to his superstar capabilities, but he's contributed all across the board, averaging 17 points, 10 rebounds, and 8.5 assists per game. He's struggling to shoot from the field (28.6 percent), but it hasn't hurt his team yet.
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3. Jrue Holiday, Boston Celtics
Holiday, like White, is doing just about everything for the Celtics. He's averaging 19 points, 9.5 rebounds, and 4.0 assists per game, and has also played incredible perimeter defense, as he has all year. He scored a team-high 26 points in Game 2, shooting 11-of-14 from the field.
2. Luka Dončić, Dallas Mavericks
Dončić has been the best player on the court through the first two games of the series, and it isn't even that close.
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Dončić is averaging 31 points, 10.5 rebounds, 6.0 assists, and 3.0 steals per game. He had a 32-point triple-double in Game 2, and is the only reason Dallas has been in either of the first two games.
That said, the only way Dončić wins the Finals MVP is if his team wins, or at the very least loses in seven. If LeBron James didn't win the 2015 NBA Finals MVP over Andre Iguodala after averaging 35.8 points, 13.3 rebounds, 8.8 assists, and 1.3 steals per game while forcing a six-game series against the Golden State Warriors, Dončić probably isn't winning it this year.
1. Jaylen Brown, Boston Celtics
Brown has been the Celtics' best player this series, just like Mavericks head coach Jason Kidd said.
All jokes aside, Brown has been a star this series, averaging 21.5 points, 5.0 rebounds, 4.5 assists, 3.0 steals and 1.5 blocks per game, while shooting an efficient 55.6 percent from the field.
Brown has been the Celtics' go-to scorer through the first two games, and has been able to keep the team afloat even with Tatum's shooting struggles.
If the series ended today, Brown would win Finals MVP.
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