Celtics shut down Mavericks offense in second half to earn impressive game 2 victory, 105-98

Jrue Holiday and Derrick White more than held their own against the vaunted Dallas backcourt and staked Boston to a 2-0 series lead

Boston leveraged a 10-0 run late in the third quarter to put a cold-shooting Dallas squad in a hole that it could not fully recover from, and the Celtics took game 2 105-98. The more aggressive Celtics team hit on its first 15 free throws to keep Dallas close, and took advantage of several cold Mavericks stretches after halftime to get into the driver’s seat. Boston benefitted from the Jrue Holiday (26 points and 11 rebounds) “statement game” despite his team having a tough time (10-for-39) shooting from distance – both teams combined for a paltry 14-for-56 from three.

Jaylen Brown (21 points, 7 rebounds, and 6 turnovers) and Jayson Tatum (18 points and 12 assists) took a relative backseat in the win, yet the Celtics received significant enough contributions from Holiday and Derrick White (18 points, 5 rebounds, and 2 blocks), and Kristaps Porzingis (10 points and 3 rebounds) along with higher volume and accuracy from the free throw line.

PJ Washington (17 points and 7 rebounds) and Daniel Gafford (13 points and 9 rebounds) competed admirably on the interior, but Kyrie Iving (16 points and 6 assists) continued to find his offense only in bits and spurts. Doncic (32 points, 11 assists, 11 rebounds, and 8 turnovers) was his usual brilliant self but eventually faded in the second half. Their bench chipped in only nine points in the loss, and Dereck Lively’s impact (2 points and 7 rebounds) was muted.

Despite the physical pain that he suffered from game 1, Doncic scored 11 points in the opening frame, and the teams struggled mightily to put up the points that came more easily last game. Holiday led the Celtics in scoring at one point late in the stanza until Porzingis again made a meaningful impact. Boston was able to offset a horrid 1-10 start from behind the arc with perfect free throw shooting (10-for-10), while the Mavericks received their output from only three sources (Doncic, Irving, and Washington) until Josh Green’s closing free throws. Dallas went into the second holding a tenuous three point lead.

Boston made its first push midway through the second to take the lead, while the Mavericks’ offense still consisted only of Luka. Derrick Jones, Jr. later chipped in a flurry of buckets to keep things close for his team. Tatum again was an efficient facilitator as Boston kept White and Holiday on the same side as his drives in the dunker’s spot to some success. Despite an uneven and frigid second period outside of Doncic’s fireworks, the Mavericks were fortunate to be down only three heading into the break.

After the Mavericks took the lead momentarily, it was the trio of White, Holiday, and Al Horford who ripped the advantage back for their team by making the little plays. Doncic persisted in putting up points, while any Dallas rotation players outside of Washington could not answer Boston’s extended run. Tatum and Brown found healthy ways to balance seeking out their own offense and setting up eager and ready teammates. Payton Pritchard’s buzzer-beating three extended the Celtics’ lead to nine at the end of three.

Observations

• The opening montage for these finals games has been trimmed too much. Must. see. more. Spurs championship celebrations.
• Last game, I mentioned that Maxi Kleber wasn’t looking for his shot at all. Tonight, he went 0-for-4 overall and 0-for-2 from three. Comment retracted.
• Boston Sequence of the Game: In the opening minutes of the fourth, Pritchard stripped Doncic, which kickstarted a transition opportunity that ended with a Tatum pass to a streaking Brown for a tomahawk jam.
• The Derrick White chasedown block is a thing of beauty.
• One more thing on Derrick, it seems like he has the perfect form when he’s shooting corner threes.
• By the time the finals are said and done, Dallas just may not have enough consistent outside shooting.
• In a reprise of several of the Minnesota games, Doncic and Irving scored or assisted on Dallas’ opening 18 points. Just as in game 1, Brown drove through several Mavericks and threw down a power dunk. With their shots failing, the Celtics drew the Mavericks into the foul bonus halfway through to maintain pace. The helter skelter pace yielded only 25 points between the teams over 7+ minutes. Irving picked up his second foul on a clumsy closeout. Porzingis’ free throws and jumper tied the game, but was quickly answered by Irving’s two difficult layups. Green’s free throws made it 28-25 Dallas.
• White’s baseline jumper to start the second trimmed the Boston deficit to one, but Doncic answered with two jumpers of his own and seemed geared towards an extended hot streak. Down six, Boston’s offense woke up with a 9-0 run, in concert with more hustle and getting to 50/50 balls. White‘s corner three gave the Celtics their first lead. Halfway through the frame, Doncic had 20 and his teammates had 15. Jones, Jr. had consecutive baskets while drawing Tatum’s second foul. Holiday converted a reverse lay-up… from the dunker’s spot! Boston went into the break up 54-51 behind its perfect free throw shooting and not over-relying on the longball.
• Washington’s floater briefly put Dallas back in the lead to start the third. Boston erased it quickly and jumped back ahead behind gritty guard play from Holiday and White and not letting the ball stick. Lively’s only points came on an emphatic slam over White. Washington paired a eurostep with a floater, but Brown’s layup and Holiday’s transition bucket put Boston up eight, and the Mavericks continued to have difficulty putting productive sequencess together. Brown’s straightaway three put Dallas down 13. After a 7-0 run by the Mavericks, Pritchard banked in a desperation heave, and the Celtics were pleased to have a bigger cushion (nine) to enter the fourth with.
• At the start of the fourth, Washington and Gafford attacked the rim for easy buckets, but Tatum answered with a wing three to make it a ten point game. Irving got himself more involved with bucket getting and setting up his bigs, but White’s three moved the Celtics ahead again by ten. Dallas’ offense again stalled out over the middle minutes with nearly all of the points coming at the rim. Porzingis pulled up gimpy finishing out a play, and Gafford’s alley-oop dunk from Irving cut the deficit to eight. Holiday and White harrassed the Mavericks on a transition opportunity, and they poured in the clinching points on successive pull-up threes from opposite sides of the court.

Game 3 of the Finals resumes in Dallas on Wednesday night at 7:30 PM CDT on ABC and ESPN.