BOSTON – These are the moments the Dallas Mavericks will likely regret from their Game 2 loss to the Boston Celtics in the NBA Finals more than the overall performance.
Luka Dončić blamed himself, turnovers and missed free throws in a 105-98 loss at TD Garden on Sunday night, but he made ample excuses following an injury that had him listed as questionable before. of the party.
“I think my turnovers and my missed free throws cost us the game,” said Dončić, who scored 32 points with 11 rebounds and 11 assists. “So I have to do much better in those two categories.”
Having 15 team turnovers, with golden possessions, seems unfathomable. Missing eight free throws (16 of 24) when the Celtics were 19 of 20 could haunt them all summer.
But more than that, it’s the moments.
At least the notable ones, since Kyrie Irving could only smile and try to erase them. Jrue Holiday and Derrick White put pressure on Dončić and PJ Washington with four minutes left, getting a steal after threatening an eight-second violation, which led to a three-pointer that gave the Celtics some breathing room.
Or Payton Pritchard taking all of the Mavericks’ air late in the third quarter when Irving cut the lead to six, hitting a three-pointer at the buzzer from a step inside half court.
“Yeah, I attribute it to just being in Boston,” Irving said. “You know, some of those shots go through the air, and I remember last game, Sam Hauser caught it in the corner, and I don’t think he even put the ball down. It was practically all net.”
Irving hasn’t come to life yet, and he brought out the 2016 Finals when he overcame two bad games in Golden State to put together one of the best games he’s played in his career, averaging 31 points and four assists over the last five games. . of that series and shooting 51% from the floor and 47% on 3-pointers as the Cleveland Cavaliers completed an improbable comeback from a 3-1 deficit.
He was a much younger man then and that was a different situation. But the common denominator, at least at first, is that the Dallas Mavericks can see how good, if not great, the Celtics are.
“Being in the finals before, losing 0-2, I have a little experience with this,” Irving said. “I also didn’t play particularly well in the first two games of that series, which I’m referring to (in 2016).
“So now I’m leaning on what I’ve experienced, what I’ve learned and some of the lessons that I’ve been able to understand about how to get back into this series because it’s going to be a possession-by-possession thing, and it’s going to be the hardest thing I’ve ever done. we have ever done.”
It may not be necessary to be perfect to complete a trade, but winning Game 2 would have made things much easier before the scene shifts to Dallas for Game 3 on Wednesday. Jayson Tatum’s shooting percentage (31.5%) looks like he should be playing for the Red Sox instead of the Celtics, and Jaylen Brown fumbled six times in Game 2.
The Celtics shot just 25.6% of their three-pointers, and that kind of awful performance is just the kind of night that caused them to lose Game 2 against Miami and Cleveland in the first two rounds.
But the Mavericks couldn’t convert, with their shooters cooling off Dončić and going 2-for-17 from 3.
“Unfortunately, we couldn’t get over the hump,” Mavericks coach Jason Kidd said. “I thought our defense was really good. We just have to take care of the ball. There were too many turnovers that gave them points, and then they were able to do that too: we have to score the ball and, right now, we have to find someone to join Luka and Kai in that scoring category.”
Irving was good from the beginning, he got to the lane and finished. He at least gave the impression that he wouldn’t be as bothered by the Celtics’ length on the wing or at the rim, but he also slowed down as the game went on.
“I’m a little disappointed that I can’t take advantage of a lot more opportunities that I have in the lane,” Irving said. “Obviously, I’ll go up against Jrue Holiday and Jaylen Brown a few times, but I feel like I have the advantage on certain possessions where I just have to convert.
“I felt good in the first half, but in the second half the shots weren’t hitting.”
Unlike the series against Minnesota, where Dončić and Irving made a living by going downhill and playing cat-and-mouse with the Timberwolves’ big men, and thus Dereck Lively II and Daniel Gafford benefited from it, defensively the Celtics are better equipped on the field. perimeter.
Dončić finds himself being pestered by Brown and other curious hands. Irving, usually with a sure hand, found the ball being pushed and that led to the Celtics’ breakaway. Dončić had eight turnovers in Game 2, and Irving had two of his own.
There are no mismatches, there are no advantages on the back end of defenses and the Celtics are targeting Dončić and Irving, daring anyone else to beat them. So far it has worked perfectly.
“I mean, they’re physical, yeah. But they try to defend one on one,” Dončić said. “I think they tried to help more today. I was able to open up some teammates. But they are physical. They are very physical. We let them be physical. So they are pretty, pretty amazing on defense.”
Tim Hardaway Jr. is still on that bench in Dallas, collecting DNP and dust. The Mavericks got a total of nine bench points from Maxi Kleber, Lively, Josh Green and Dante Exum.
It’s not that the Celtics bench is that powerful, but its strength lies in its balanced starting five. That’s a luxury this Dallas team doesn’t have, with Holiday leading the Celtics in scoring (26 points with 11 rebounds) and Derrick White not far behind with 18 points, and all the timely plays.
White’s block on PJ Washington with 50 seconds left sealed the victory, as the layup could have made the game 103-100. Dallas seems better equipped for close games, given the talents of Irving and Dončić, but the Mavs couldn’t overcome that invisible barrier.
The Celtics have not had their best performance and it is clear that the Mavericks have not either. Coming home can’t be the only thing they lean on because otherwise they’ll lean on summer vacation.
