The Boston Celtics have taken a 2-0 series lead in the NBA Finals after defeating the Dallas Mavericks 105-98 in Game 2, despite a 32-point triple-double by Luke Doncic.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!Boston, as it does seemingly every game, used a full-team effort to get the win. Jrue Holiday finished with 26 points on 11-of-14 shooting to go along with 11 rebounds. Jaylen Brown had his second-straight 20-point game with 21 points, seven assists and three steals. Jayson Tatum only went 6-for-22 from the field for 18 points, but had 12 assists and nine rebounds. The Celtics only converted 10 of their 39 shots from 3 (25.6%) in the win, but were generating good looks all night, finishing with 29 assists.
THE CELTICS HANDLE BUSINESS AT HOME ☘️
Holiday: 26 PTS | 11 REB
Brown: 21 PTS | 7 AST | 3 STL
Tatum: 18 PTS | 9 REB | 12 AST
White: 18 PTS | 5 REB | 3 STL pic.twitter.com/7qLXYEN8v7— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) June 10, 2024
Dallas really struggled offensively outside of Doncic, who had 11 assists, 11 rebounds and four steals, but also recorded eight turnovers. Although every Mavericks starter finished in double-figures, the Mavs only shot 6-for-26 (23.1%) from 3, meaning they were 2-for-17 from deep outside of Doncic. Kyrie Irving only contributed 16 points on 7-of-18 shooting, despite a hot start to the game.
The Mavericks will look to find some answers heading home, as teams that are up 2-0 are 424-34 all-time in the playoffs to win the series. However, five of these 34 comebacks have come in the NBA Finals (team up 2-0 are 31-5 all-time in the Finals). The last time a team came back from down 2-0 in the Finals was the Milwaukee Bucks against the Phoenix Suns in 2021.
Game Flow
The Mavericks got off to a much better start tonight than their Game 1 loss, led by Doncic who had 13 points (5-for-7 shooting) in the opening period, along with eight points from Irving (4-for-5 shooting). Boston never led in the quarter and missed its first eight 3-pointers until Al Horford hit one with three seconds left. Despite this and Dallas shooting 52% in the first compared to 37% for Boston, five turnovers and going 4-for-9 from the free-throw line limited the Mavericks to only a three-point advantage, 28-25, at the end of the first quarter.
Luka sinks the deep triple for 11 PTS in the 1Q!
DAL looks to even the series with a Game 2 win on ABC ????#NBAFinals presented by @YouTubeTV pic.twitter.com/EOkTozqmDG
— NBA (@NBA) June 10, 2024
The Celtics, despite going 3-for-15 from 3 in the first half, did not let the Mavericks gain anymore separation in the second quarter. They led 54-51 at the break, paced by 17 points by Holiday on 7-of-9 shooting. For Dallas, Doncic had a huge first half with 23 points while shooting 9-for-13 from the field to go along with three assists and three rebounds. Tatum only shot 2-for-10 in the half, but had eight assists, matching Dallas’ total as a team.
Jrue Holiday (17 PTS) has been a huge factor in the Celtics 54-51 lead going into halftime!
BOS seeks a 2-0 series lead with a Game 2 win on ABC ????#NBAFinals presented by @YouTubeTV pic.twitter.com/nli3nmdZ6B
— NBA (@NBA) June 10, 2024
After the Mavs took back the lead in the first minute of the third, the Celtics regained it and never looked back, leading by as many as 13 in the quarter, highlighted by a 10-0 run midway through the quarter. Heading into the fourth, Dallas was shooting 2-for-15 from 3 outside of Doncic, who had 29 points and was 4-for-7 from downtown. Boston was only shooting 6-of-30 from 3 at this point, but Payton Pritchard ended the quarter with a big one at the buzzer to give the Celtics all the momentum they needed going into the fourth and a 83-74 advantage.
PAYTON PRITCHARD FROM DOWNTOWN TO BEAT THE 3Q BUZZER ????????#NBAFinals presented by @YouTubeTV
???? Game 2 on ABC ???? pic.twitter.com/hF8eIT3sW9— NBA (@NBA) June 10, 2024
Dallas stayed within striking distance for a majority of the fourth, but the Celtics were doing just enough to keep their lead around 7-12. That was until with under 1:30 to go when Doncic converted a three-point play to make it a five-point game. However, Derrick White sealed the game with a chasedown block on P.J. Washington in transition that would have cut the Celtics’ lead to only three with 50 seconds left.
Derrick White's clutch block gives the Celtics a 2-0 series lead ????☘️ https://t.co/kuhkOKDMrq pic.twitter.com/VpZLKx7MKa
— NBA (@NBA) June 10, 2024
Next Up
The Celtics and Mavericks will head to Dallas for Game 3, which is on Wednesday, June 12 at 5:30 p.m. MST.
Celtics overwhelm Mavericks with 107-89 victory in Game 1 of NBA Finals
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Brendan Mau is a senior writer covering the Phoenix Suns and more for Burn City Sports. You can follow him on X via @Brendan_Mau
