After losing 105-99 in Game 2, the Dallas Mavericks leave TD Garden with a 2-0 series deficit against the Boston Celtics in the NBA Finals. Luka Doncic finished with 32 points, 11 rebounds, 11 assists, and four steals, but the team lost.
Doncic was going downhill quickly, scoring three times on drives for six points before the game’s first timeout. However, Dallas’ transition defence suffered frequent breakdowns, slowing the momentum it had built. Regardless, there were previous concerns regarding a problematic injury designation due to a long number of symptoms, including a thoracic contusion, a right knee sprain, and left ankle pain. It did not stop him from making a strong display.
Boston, Massachusetts, USA: In the second quarter of game two of the 2024 NBA Finals at TD Garden, Dallas Mavericks guard Luka Doncic (77) dribbles the ball against Boston Celtics guard Jaylen Brown (7). Peter Casey-USA TODAY Sports / Peter Casey-USA TODAY Sports is Required Credit
Irving’s mid-range jumper put the Mavericks ahead 13–6, and with 8:18 left in the first quarter, they called a timeout. He finished the first quarter with eight points, having had a great game. He struggled to score for the most part of the rest of the evening.
Boston regularly to the free throw line to try to cut the lead. Doncic, meanwhile, missed two free throws with Dallas leading 13–12. He heated up in response for the Mavericks’ next five points using tough jumpers; first a short-range turnaround, followed by a quick trigger 3-point attempt after turning the corner agaisnt aggressive pick-and-roll coverage. At this moment, he had already scored eleven points.
For the majority of the first half, the Mavericks’ strengths were their size and defensive adaptability. The squad had Doncic playing alongside Josh Green, Derrick Jones Jr., Maxi Kleber, and Lively when Irving walked to the bench. Jaden Hardy ended a run of DNPs in Game 1 by frequently sharing rotation minutes with Tim Hardaway Jr. There were defensemen on the court even when Irving entered to end the quarter in Doncic’s absence. Additionally, Dante Exum was given more minutes.
Irving was aggressively turning the corner to get to the rim for finishes late in the first quarter, frequently bringing Porzingis into the play. He scored eight points by the end of the period, providing a needed additional boost to the early success Doncic was experiencing.
Doncic maintained his early lead as the second quarter got underway. After stepping off an off-ball screen, he made another turnaround jumper, a corner 3-pointer, and a one-legged jumper. Dallas was more creative with creating favorable touches for Doncic to score using screening actions, along with having Washington initiate the offense.
Early in the quarter, Doncic already had 20 points for the evening. This stretch created some separation to extend Dallas’ lead to 35-29, but the momentum was short-lived.
A 3-point make from White put Boston ahead 36-35 midway through the second quarter, achieving its first lead. Boston’s lead only reached as large as three points before Dallas responded with a 7-2 run, with Jones scoring or assisting on all 7 points in the stretch to take a 42-40 lead, including a steal leading to an and-one finish in transition.
Boston continued to leave open Washington and Jones in order to pack the paint, but there was more creativity in this game with off-ball activity and screening to create advantages. However, it still resulted in some limitations, including Doncic making an incredible wraparound spray-out pass to Washington but the shot was missed.
Both teams continued to trade made shots down the stretch of the first half. After Doncic scored 23 points with yet another made 3-pointer, Boston began aggressively showing help to stifle the Mavericks’ offensive momentum. The Celtics closed the opening half with a 54-51 advantage, with Jrue Holiday’s 17 points proving instrumental. Irving was the only other player who scored in double figures at this point with 10 points.
The Mavericks exited halftime by outscoring the Celtics with four consecutive points. Daniel Gafford became a focus of the offense by hunting Tatum in the post, who was often cross-matched onto him as a base matchup. However, a failure to box out and turnovers prevented Dallas from turning early scoring success into any sort of separation. After a steal led to a layup and White hit a contested corner 3-pointer, Boston was up 62-57.
After Doncic hit a turnaround jumper, he later used a series of screen flips from Lively to create a pass over the top for an emphatic dunk. Dallas trailed by two points, entering a timeout with 7:29 remaining in the third quarter. With continued shooting struggles from role players like Jones, Washington, and Green, coupled with an inability to contain drives from Tatum and Brown, Dallas had a scoring drought that left the door open for Boston to go up by eight.
The Celtics achieved their first double-figure lead of the night with 3:27 left in the third quarter after Brown made a pair of free throws. The advantage grew to 12 after Holiday finished a reverse layup.
The Mavericks deployed Doncic, Irving, and Exum together, a combination that was highly successful in the regular season in limited opportunities, but has been rarely used in the postseason. Doncic took advantage of not having to initiate by hitting a catch-and-shoot 3-pointer. Dallas also was focused on pushing the pace, but Boston had heated up significantly on jump shots, with Brown’s top of the key jumper pushing the lead to 13.
At one point, Hauser missed a 3-pointer with the chance to grow Boston’s lead back to double figures, he missed and Irving took it the other way to get to the free throw line, resulting in Dallas trailing 80-74. However, Payton Pritchard banked in a 34-foot jumper to beat the buzzer, established a nine-point edge for the Celtics entering the final period.
After hearing more ‘Kyrie sucks!’ chants from the TD Garden crowd, Irving orchestrated a pick-and-roll by snaking into the gap to find Gafford for a dunk, then turned the corner against White to finish at the rim. Dallas went from trailing by 11 earlier in the frame to being down 90-83 with 8:06 left to play.
White answered with a tightly contested 3-pointer coming out of a timeout to put Boston back up by 10. Irving missed a pull-up jumper in mid-range on the next play before Tatum drove past Gafford on a switch to draw a foul, leading to two free throws. Boston’s lead was as large as 12 in the fourth quarter.
The Mavericks trimmed the Celtics’ lead to eight points after Irving got to the rim and later found Gafford on a lob with 4:40 left to play. Just as was the case in previous spurts, Dallas never quite managed to turn them into longer runs and make a serious rallying effort.
A costly turnover attempting to avoid a backcourt violation resulted in a wide-open 3-pointer for Holiday that he hit. White followed it up with a perimeter make of his own. Dallas trailed five points after Doncic used a slow step on a drive to get Horford to foul him on an and-one. After a defensive stop, Washington was blocked in transition, ending a chance to make it a single-possession game with Boston finishing at the rim on the other end.