BOSTON — The Celtics did exactly what they’re supposed to do at TD Garden to put themselves in the best position to hang Banner No. 18. The C’s defeated the Mavericks 105-98 in Game 2 of the NBA Finals to take the 2-0 series lead. It was an imperfect effort from the C’s, but they were still good enough to walk away with the victory.
The series now shifts to Dallas for Games 3 and 4 — that means the C’s still have plenty of work to do to win the best-of-seven series. But for now, they’ll celebrate the Game 2 win as they had to battle inefficiency and a superstar throughout Sunday’s game.
Jrue Holiday led the way for the Celtics on both ends as he finished with 26 points and 11 rebounds. Jaylen Brown added 21 points and seven assists. Jayson Tatum battled missed shots all night but still put up 18 points, nine rebounds and 12 assists. Luka Doncic was masterful on his way to 32 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists on 12-for-21 shooting.
BetMGM BET UP TO $1,500! BONUS BET REFUND AFTER A LOSS
STATES: AZ, CO, IA, IL, IN, KS, LA, MD, MI, NJ, OH, PA, TN, VA. Visit BetMGM.com for Terms and Conditions. 21 years of age or older to wager. MA Only. New Customer Offer. All promotions are subject to qualification and eligibility requirements. Rewards issued as non-withdrawable bonus bets. Bonus bets expire 7 days from issuance. In Partnership with MGM Springfield. Play it smart from the start with GameSense. GameSenseMA.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-327-5050 or visit gamblinghelplinema.org. US Promotional Offers not available in New York.
Right from tipoff, it looked like it was going to be a Doncic game. The Mavs guard is one of the brightest stars in the league for a reason, and he showed that throughout a stellar first half. By halftime, he had 23 points on 9-for-13 shooting as he got shots off at will. To the Celtics’ credit, though, they slowed down Doncic enough in the second half as they kept him off-balance.
The Celtics held a slim halftime lead despite plenty going wrong in the opening two quarters. They shot poorly at just 20% from 3 while Tatum struggled with his shot individually. But the C’s overcame the margins via the free-throw line and Holiday’s 17 points in the first half. Credit to Tatum, too, as he took on a distributor role Sunday when his shot seemingly refused to go down for stretches.
From there, the Celtics built up a double-digit lead in the third quarter on the power of their defense and some shot-making. But the Mavs weren’t going down without scrapping their way through the second half. And Payton Pritchard gets a special shoutout after his buzzer-beating 3-pointer to end the third quarter stunted any momentum the Mavs had brewing.
The Mavs were never able to get too close in the fourth quarter, though they did make things tight multiple times in the frame. But the Celtics had enough execution down the stretch to close out the victory. Holiday came up with multiple huge plays, as did guard Derrick White, who had 18 points himself.
Despite the victory, the C’s were off-mark on 3-pointers all night as they finished 10-for-39 (25.6%) from beyond the arc. But they were 19-for-20 on free throws while the Mavs were just 16-for-24 in comparison. The Mavs also struggled from deep (23.1% from 3) as the teams exchanged bricks. So the C’s were able to win the margins despite some sloppiness. The Celtics are now in the driver’s seat heading into Game 3, set for 8:30 p.m. Wednesday in Dallas.
