BOSTON — Luka Doncic came in as the NBA’s postseason leader in assists with 8.8 per game and was second in the league in the regular season with 9.8.
But the Mavericks superstar had just one in Dallas’ Game 1 loss to the Boston Celtics, his career low for a postseason game.
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Other than two games when he played less than four minutes due to injury, it was his fewest since May 7, 2021, when he also had just one.
“They mostly play one-on-one. They send a lot of help,” Doncic said. “So that’s why.”
Doncic wasn’t alone. Kyrie Irving, who averaged 5.2 assists per game in both the regular season and the playoffs, had only two The Mavericks had just nine as a team, five fewer than they’d had in any game in the regular season or playoffs all year. It wasn’t that their passing was bad. They only had 11 turnovers. The ball just wasn’t moving.
“I think that they really rely on their great defensive ball pressure and one-on-one defenders,” Irving said. “They funnel us into certain areas. Even as I say that, they are relying on the one-on-one. Every time I got an iso, there’s always two, three people waiting for me to get in there. I have to catch the ball on a live dribble and just be aware of my opportunities.
“It’s uncharacteristic for us to have only nine assists,” he added. “The ball has got to move a little bit more. And again, that starts with me just being able to push the pace, get us some easy opportunities, and just adjust to what they are throwing at us. It’s a fun series. It was fun going into the game. It’s still going to be fun. But there’s going to be a level of chess that still has to be played.”
Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla said it came down to effort.
“Just great individual defense. Everybody has to take on the challenge of guarding those guys,” he said. “They’re an amazing team and they put a ton of pressure on you with their ability to score. Everyone is going to take their matchup personal, have personal pride in individual defense.”
As a player, Mavericks coach Jason Kidd was second all-time in NBA career assists and fourth in postseason assists. He was confident in his team’s ability to adjust.
“Give the Celtics credit. They did a great job defending, making it tough on us,” said Mavericks coach, who in the NBA’s career top five in playoff and regular season assists. “We had some good looks that didn’t go down. We’ve got to move the ball. The ball just stuck too much. And we’ll be better in Game 2.”
