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Celtics-Mavs Takeaways: Holiday leads C’s to thrilling Game 2 victory originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston
BOSTON – The Boston Celtics will head to Dallas with a 2-0 series lead in the 2024 NBA Finals.
After Dominant game 1, the C’s took Game 2 in a tough win in front of the TD Garden crowd. They trailed the Mavericks throughout the first quarter and took a slim three-point lead into the half, but Dallas couldn’t keep up in the final two frames.
Boston took a 13-point lead late in the third quarter and held on to the end for a 105-98 victory that leaves them just two wins away from Banner 18. In league history, the teams that won the first two NBA games The home finals ended up winning the series 84.4 percent of the time (27-5).
Jrue Holiday and Jaylen Brown led the Celtics with 26 and 21 points, respectively. Jayson Tatum and Derrick White each added 18, and Kristaps Porzingis added 12 in 23 minutes off the bench.
Luka Doncic scored a game-high 32 points on what was otherwise a difficult night for the Dallas offense. Kyrie Irving had another night to forget with 16 points on just 7 of 18 shooting.
Game 3 is scheduled for 8:30 p.m. ET on Wednesday at the American Airlines Center. Before we look ahead to that matchup, here are three takeaways from Boston’s Game 2 win.
Happy Holidays
Jrue Holiday showed in Game 2 that the Celtics’ supporting cast advantage could ultimately be the difference in this series.
While the non-Doncic Mavericks struggled, Holiday picked up some of the Celtics’ slack on offense with a team-high 26 points on 11-of-14 shooting. He was unstoppable in the paint and was 2-of-4 from beyond the 3-point arc.
Holiday also had 11 rebounds, a steal and a block in what marked another stellar two-way performance for the perennial All-Defensive selection. His and Derrick White’s defense is a big reason why the C’s have been able to keep Irving in check through the first two games of this series.
When Holiday feels it offensively, good things happen for Boston. The C’s are now 23-1 when Holiday scored 14 or more points.
Jayson Tatum: the facilitator
It wasn’t too early for Sunday’s game for the Celtics superstar. Tatum started off 0-for-4 from the floor and finished the first half with just five points on 2-for-10 shooting, including 0-for-3 from deep.
When shots weren’t falling, Tatum stepped up as a playmaker. His eight first-half assists tied his playoff career high in any half and tied the Mavericks’ team total in the first two frames.
Tatum finished with 18 points on 6-of-22 shooting (1-7 3-PT), making him just 12-of-38 from the floor in the series. Those certainly aren’t ideal numbers, but he is First Team All-NBA due to his ability to impact the game in multiple ways. He nearly had a triple-double with 12 assists and nine rebounds.
Holiday was among the benefactors of Tatum’s game and expressed his gratitude for his teammate during his postgame interview:
Another defensive masterclass
NBA veteran Danny Green woke up the Celtics fans stating that Boston’s stellar defensive performance in Game 1 was “unsustainable.” Well, at least it held up throughout Sunday’s matchup.
The non-Doncic Mavs were held to just 2 of 17 from 3-point range. Irving was just 7 of 18 from the floor and 0 of 3 from deep, making him 13 of 37 on field goals (35.1 percent) and 0 of 8 on 3-pointers during the first two games of the series. . .
Boston’s defensive effort was the reason it overcame its own struggles (10-39, 25.6 percent) from beyond the 3-point line. Before Sunday, the C’s were 11-13 when their opponent made more 3-pointers.
Fittingly, the game was frozen on a block by Derrick White. Dallas could have cut the lead to two with less than a minute left, but White sent PJ Washington packing.
If the Celtics defense can sustain anything close to this level of play, this could be a quick series.
