Celtics’ game plan for Luka yields historic results in Game 1 win originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston
BOSTON — Conventional wisdom would suggest that the key to beating the Dallas Mavericks is stopping superstar Luka Doncic from scoring.
In Game 1 of the NBA Finals, the Boston Celtics employed a different strategy: stop everyone else.
Doncic scored a game-high 30 points on 12-of-26 shooting Thursday night at TD Garden, adding 10 rebounds and hitting four 3-pointers in 12 attempts. However, the number the Celtics were worried about was one.
Doncic’s only assist on Thursday was his lowest in a game (with a minimum of 15 minutes played) from May 7, 2021. It was just the fourth time in his career that he was limited to one assist under those minutes parameters, and the first time he was limited to one assist in the playoffs.
So how did the Celtics get the All-NBA guard, who ranked second in the NBA in assists per game during the regular season (9.8) and entered the night with a leading 8.8 assists per game? in the playoffs, was he a non-creative player? factor on the game’s biggest stage en route to a 107-89 victory?
Instead of bombarding Doncic with double teams, Boston played almost exclusively 1-on-1 defense, relying on defensive guards Derrick White and Jrue Holiday and All-Star wing Jaylen Brown to stay in front of Doncic, and then switching to pick- and. -rolls instead of helping defenders and giving him passing lanes to open up shooters.
The result is that no other Dallas player reached 15 points; Kyrie Irving scored just 12 points on 6-of-19 shooting, while PJ Washington (14 points) and Jaden Hardy (13 points) were the only other Mavs in double figures.
“Just great individual defense,” Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla said after the game. “Everyone has to take on the challenge of defending those guys. They are an incredible team and they put a lot of pressure on you with their ability to score. Everyone will take their matchup personally (and) will have personal pride in each of their defense.”
The Celtics have strong individual defenders, from Holiday and White to Jayson Tatum and Brown, who had three steals and three blocks Thursday night. That gives them the luxury of not doubling up on either Doncic or Irving, and in Game 1, that led to a historic lack of ball movement by Dallas: the Mavs tallied just nine total assists, making them just the third team since 1966 to have 10 assists or fewer in a Finals game.
“You have to give the Celtics credit; they did a great job defending, which made things difficult for us,” Mavs head coach Jason Kidd said. “We had some good plays that didn’t fail. We have to move the ball. The ball just stuck too tight.”
Dallas will make adjustments in Game 2 on Sunday, and the Celtics should expect Doncic to be much more aggressive as a playmaker even if he doesn’t see double teams. They should also expect better three-point shooting from the Mavs, who made just 25.9 percent of their deep passes (7 of 27) in Game 1, well below their postseason average of 37.2 percent. hundred.
But Mazzulla and the C’s deserve credit for executing a solid defensive game plan against one of the best offensive players in basketball.