Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving led the Mavericks to the NBA Finals with impressive scoring outbursts, earning them a historic reputation as a backcourt duo in the process. Given those scoring outbursts, the main question heading into the NBA Finals will likely be how the Celtics slow down or stop the Mavericks' high-scoring duo.
But that's not how head coach Joe Mazzulla sees the Celtics-Mavericks matchup. The Celtics coach said he believes the series will depend on Boston shutting down or limiting Doncic and Irving's offense.
Rather, while Mazzulla acknowledged that Doncic and Irving will likely score throughout the series, he believes the most important factor will be how the team responds to Dallas' scoring outbursts.
“That's what guys want to focus on,” Mazzulla told reporters on Saturday. “They don't look at it as a running game. If guys play well, we're going to win. They don't look at offense, defense, turnovers, second-chance points, offensive execution.”
“The goal of this series is 'stop those two guys,' but you can't stop them,” Mazzulla added. “You have to defend them at a high level and pitch the complete game because every part of the game is connected.”
Mazzulla pointed to the Mavericks' close game against the Timberwolves in the Western Conference finals as an example of how to put games together: “The first three and a half quarters of the game are just as important as the last two minutes,” he said, adding that the runs the Timberwolves gave up were “things we can control over a long period of time.”
“We're not here to stop them,” Mazzulla said, “we're here to play a complete game of basketball and understand how everything affects everything else. They're going to score, that's what they do best. If we don't address the things we can control, we're not going to be in the best position to win.”
Doncic averaged 32.4 points and 8.4 assists per game in the series, while Irving added 27 points per game as the Mavericks trailed three times in the fourth quarter to win the series 4-1.
Doncic and Irving were such devastating scoring forces for the Timberwolves that Mazzulla believes the Celtics might be ready to handle it given what happened in their swept by the Pacers.
“It can have an emotional impact,” Mazzulla said when asked if the two-man offense would affect the Celtics. “I think the series against Indiana was a big test for us because it tested us to see what we were willing to give up. They made 60 percent of their 2-point shots outside of layups, which is a lot of shots you're willing to give up for an extended period of time. We controlled the fourth quarter better than we did at halftime and at the end of the quarter. We were able to keep them out of transition.” [Games 3 and 4].
“This is a test of things you can't control, and that's the biggest thing. If you start worrying about things you can't control, you're not going to be in the best position to win.”
Of course, the Celtics will want to slow Doncic and Irving as much as possible in the NBA Finals. The Celtics had mixed results in their two regular-season games against each other in January, when Doncic recorded a 33-point triple-double but made just 12 of 30 field goals and Irving finished with just 23 points on 9 of 20 shooting.
Doncic was much better in March, hitting 14 of 25 field goals and posting a triple-double with 37 points, but Irving's 19 points on 9 of 23 shooting weren't enough to help the Celtics win 138-110.
Derrick White, who was selected to the All-Defensive Team again this season and will likely be guarding both players, understands the difficulty of guarding Doncic and Irving.
“They're two very different players, but they're two of the best guards in the NBA,” White told reporters on Saturday. “It's going to be a challenge. Luka's got the size and the athleticism, Kyrie's got the creativity. It's definitely going to be a challenge. You're going to have different players in different matchups. You're just going to have to take on the challenge.”
White hasn't had much success guarding the Mavericks duo over the past few seasons. In 26 attempts where White was the primary defender, Doncic scored 29 points on 12-of-18 shooting and had zero turnovers, while Irving scored 20 points on 10-of-20 shooting and had three turnovers, according to NBA.com tracking stats.
But the Celtics have a few other options to take on the duo. Jrue Holiday was also named to the All-Defense Second Team this season and has shown some timely defensive play this postseason. Doncic and Irving haven't had much success against the taller men of Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum in recent years. When Brown was the primary defender, the pair combined for 23 points on 10-of-29 shooting and 18 points on 7-of-22 shooting with Tatum as the primary defender.
Regardless of what the Celtics do, White is on the same page as his head coach when it comes to guarding Doncic and Irving.
“We know what great players they have,” White said. “You really can't stop them. You just have to make it hard for them. They're going to take difficult shots, they're going to make difficult shots. So we're just going to keep believing in the game plan and keep believing that what we're doing is going to work for the next 48 minutes.”
“There will be times when they're going to make three, four, five difficult shots in a row, but you just have to keep believing in the game plan and keep believing that in the long run it's going to work out.”
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