Elite Team Performance from the Celtics Leads to a Seven-Point Victory in Game Two of the NBA Finals

Boston - One of the most anticipated Game Two’s in the NBA Finals went to the Boston Celtics. This is their ninth straight win in these playoffs and end the Mavericks streak of winning the following game after they lose. Some might say this was the most impressive win of the season as they shot 26% from three, got outrebounded, and outshot but still managed to win by seven points. This was an ultimate team performance from the Celtics as they combined for 29 team assists and had four players score 18+ points. Game Three on Wednesday, June 12th will be highly anticipated as the Mavericks can’t afford to go down 3-0 in the series.

Luka Doncic, who was questionable to play, and company got off to a terrific start. Making four of their first six shots and grabbing an early five-point lead. They had shaken off the rust and they came out aggressive. Doncic and Kyrie Irving scored or assisted on their first 13 points of the game. Joe Mazzulla used his first timeout of the game at the 8:18 mark in the opening quarter to settle things down. Once Mazzulla inserted Kristaps Porzingis into the game, the momentum quickly shifted toward Boston. His presence on the court is notable on both sides of the floor. After only playing 21 minutes in Game One, he was well-rested and ready to go. 

Meanwhile, Luka was being Luka. His majestic style of play is almost un-guardable. There was a Celtic fan, sitting courtside, who was chirping Luka early and that only added fuel to the fire. Luckily for the Celtics, they were in the bonus with a few minutes left on the clock. Therefore, they were attacking the paint and trying to draw as many fouls as possible. Being in the bonus was really the only reason that they managed to stay within a few points of the Mavericks in the first quarter. After only shooting 1/9 from beyond the arc, the Celtics only trailed 28-25 at the end of one.

Luka had secured 20 points before 14 minutes of game time could go by. He was off to one the best starts of his career. Kyrie Irving was also off to an aggressive start, already outperforming his Game One effort. Dodging their offensive efforts, the Celtics grabbed their first lead of the game from a Derrick White corner three. The free-throw discrepancy was an advantage as the outside shot was not falling consistently. Shooting 13-13 from the charity stripe is good basketball. Getting to the free throw line or directly at the basket was the method of scoring for the Celtics. 

The Mavericks retook the lead with an and-one fast-break layup from Derrick Jones Jr. Jayson Tatum was not able to find his shot whatsoever in the first half, which really helped the Mavericks defensively as they didn’t have to worry about him going off. Instead, Tatum was dishing the ball effectively to his open teammates. Jrue Holiday was the beneficiary on most of those assists as he was left open in the paint. Holiday was the most successful scorer for the Celtics as everyone else was inconsistent. Despite poor shooting from the floor and Doncic’s 23 first-half points, the Celtics clung to a three-point lead at the half. That’s the beauty of this Celtics squad, Tatum or Jaylen Brown can half an off-night, and someone else can step up to score in their place.

Right out the gate, Kyrie Irving picked up his third foul of the game as Tatum converted on an and-one layup attempt. Less than a minute later, Al Horford led a fastbreak after Jaylen Brown stole the ball from Doncic. Once again, Jrue Holiday finished another layup to up his score total. The Mavs and Celtics kept trading basket for basket before Mazzulla called another timeout to slow the offensive flow the Mavericks were getting into. As play resumed, Porzingis immediately knocked down a mid-range jumper off another Celtic assist. 

Jayson Tatum was turning his game up in the third quarter. He outscored his entire first-half point total in the third quarter, eight to five. Soon enough, Jaylen Brown found his offensive game as well. The Celtics were finally back in business. With less than five minutes to go in quarter number three, Boston had stretched their lead to six points and forced Jason Kidd to use a timeout. That didn’t stop the runaway train that this Celtics offensive was on. Jrue Holiday finished off Tatum’s 10th assist of the game to give him 23 points on the night and forced Jason Kidd to use his second timeout in a matter of a couple of minutes. Luka Doncic responded on the next possession with a deep three to cut the lead to nine points. The combination of Tatum and Brown proved to be too much for Luka and the Mavs’ defense to handle, despite shooting 6/29 from three-point land.  In Payton Pritchard-like fashion, he banked home a 34-foot three-point shot as time expired to give the Celtics an 83-74 lead heading into the final quarter. 

For every Maverick basket, the Celtics had an answer. A big reason why the Mavericks were trailing was due to their poor free-throw shooting. At one point, they had the same amount of free throws as Boston with 18 but made seven less than the Celtics. They have the worst free-throw-shooting team in the playoffs, and it was on display once again. Despite that, they were still within single digits and a few easy baskets by Daniel Gafford kept them within striking distance. That didn’t last long as the little bit of daylight the Mavericks saw was swiftly blinded away. 

Kristaps Porzingis seemed to re-aggravate his calf injury with just a few minutes left to play in the game. Just terrible news as he was playing so well. In brighter news, the three-pointers began to rain in for Boston. With 3:19 left in the game, the Celtics held a 14-point lead. That didn’t stop the Mavericks from trying to comeback as they scored nine straight to cut the lead to five. A monster block from Derrick White and a layup from Jaylen Brown would seal the deal for the Celtics and not even Luka Doncic securing his seventh triple-double of the playoffs would be enough for the Mavericks to steal the win. This was the first triple-double in the NBA Finals in Dallas Mavericks franchise history. Jayson Tatum was one rebound away from securing another triple-double. In the end, Boston won 105-98 and will head to Dallas with a 2-0 series lead.