The Boston Celtics defended home court and takes a 2-0 lead to Dallas. Although it was a poor shooting night from beyond the arc for the Celtics, the Dallas Mavericks couldn’t take advantage of the poor shooting.
In the first quarter, Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving started the game out strong, combining for 10 of the Mavs first 13 points to give them an early 13-6 lead forcing Joe Mazzulla to call a timeout.
The Celtics defense helped get the energy back in the game and it was fueled by Jaylen Brown’s big slam off of a Mavs turnover.
The Celtics got free points late in the quarter with the Celtics being in the bonus with Sam Hauser and Kristaps Porzingis taking advantage being in the bonus.
However, Luka continued to carry the scoring in the quarter making a variety of fadeaway shots scoring 13 points on 5-7 shooting. Boston got open looks on offense, but couldn’t capitalize (0-9 from deep) until Al Horfords’s three with 3.6 seconds left in the quarter.
Dallas led 28-25 after the first quarter.
The start of the quarter saw Luka continue to find his spots, scoring seven quick points to extend the Mavs lead 35-29.
Tatum finally got on the scoresheet with a layup after missing his first four shots.
The Celtics, despite the hot scoring from Luka, got its first lead of the day after a corner three from Derrick White (36-35).
What helped the Celtics stay in the game was the Mavs poor free throw shooting making only four of their ten free throw attempts.
Although Tatum hasn’t found his shooting touch with four minutes left in the first half (2 points on 1-of-7 shooting), he’s made an impact with five assists and three rebounds, while playing solid defense switching onto Luka.
Jrue Holiday keeps finding gaps in the Mavs defense getting layups, by late cutting, hiding in the dunker spot, and not settling for corner threes.
The Celtics, despite Luka’s 23 first-half points, lead 54-51 at the break thanks to Jrue Holiday’s 17 points on 7-of-9 shooting, including a big corner three late in the quarter.
they didnt lead the league in threes made/attempted by accident.
twice in one possession: dribble penetration + drive + get help defense to collapse + kick = pic.twitter.com/9WV5MEMGlB
— Rob Perez (@WorldWideWob) June 10, 2024
At the half the C’s shot 47.5% from the field, but 20% from deep (3-of-15). Boston was a perfect 13-for-13 at the charity stripe.
The Mavs shot 48.8% and 30.8% from the arc.
Tatum was more aggressive around the rim in the quarter, showing his strength by being able to finish with contact, while also being a playmaker finding his teammates.
The Celtics kept their lead with five minutes left in the third leading by four (69-63). The offense was relentless with its ball movement and determination to get to the paint, leading to a Jason Kidd timeout.
Boston had five players (Tatum, Brown, Holiday, White, and Porzingis) with 10 or more points midway through the third. Brown and White each had 10, while Tatum had 11, Porzingis with 12, and Holiday led the line with 19 points.
The Celtics continue to struggle from deep in the second half with only one made three (nine attempts) through the first seven minutes.
After a Holiday transition dunk, on the next possession, Brown got to the line and hit both to give Boston its biggest lead of the game 73-63, thanks to an 8-0 run.
This great defense by the Jays leads to a breakaway dunk for Jrue Holiday.
He has some of the easiest 21 points of his life tonight lol pic.twitter.com/aXvJCpoYvJ
— Noa Dalzell (@NoaDalzellNBA) June 10, 2024
Then it was another beautiful assist from Tatum finding a cutting Holiday to make it a 10-0 run leading to a Dallas timeout and the TD Garden erupting.
Despite getting the lead up to 12, the Mavs chipped away and thought they were going to end the quarter on a high down only six, but Payton Pritchard had other ideas. Pritchard heaved a half-court bank shot that gave all the energy and momentum back to Boston to lead by nine going into the fourth quarter.
Pritchard wasn’t done getting the crowd out of their seats as he stripped Luka which led to a Brown dunk.
After a Daniel Gafford dunk, followed by a Kyrie layup, the lead was cut to seven (90-83) which forced a Mazzulla timeout.
With the shot clock running down, White hoisted up a deep three which gave Boston’s double digit lead back.
Porzingis seemed to hurt himself midway through the quarter, although he stayed in the game he stayed in the corner on offense and on defense looked a half step slow. Horford checked in for KP with 4:40 left after a Mazzulla timeout.
The best defensive backcourt in the league forced the Mavs to get sloppy and turn it over leading to a Holiday three. Then after an Irving miss, it was White’s turn to drain a three. To take Boston’s lead to 14, 103-89 with 3:19 left.
Dallas didn’t go away, going on a 6-0 run with 1:49 left to get it back to single digits. Then a Doncic and-1 makes it a five-point game with 1:15 left.
After Tatum got blocked, the Mavs had a fast break opportunity to cut it to three, but of course, old reliable Derrick White came out of nowhere to block the shot.
Then Jaylen Brown with under 40 seconds scored to make it a three-possession game, 105-98 with under 30 seconds left in the game, which proved to be enough.
