Ironically, the most difficult 3-point shot of the night — a bank shot by diminutive backup guard Payton Pritchard as the buzzer sounded to end the third quarter — was the only make of the night, easing the tension of the night and helping Boston pull out the win in the final period.
“Playing games you can't miss, [that shows] “The symbol of our humility was the shot that Payton made at the end of the quarter,” coach Joe Mazzulla said. “There were guys all over the league who passed on that shot or looked like they wanted to make it. [shooting] The numbers are not wrong. He takes pride in doing that. That's winning basketball. That shot gave us a little bit of poise and momentum we needed going into the fourth quarter.”
Pritchard's prayer helped Boston's lead grow from six to nine entering the fourth quarter, and Dallas never got closer than five. As the Mavericks desperately tried to come back and get within one possession in the final minute, Celtics guard Derrick White raced down the court and blocked P.J. Washington at the rim. White followed all the way back from his position in front of the Dallas bench, sped across half court, entered the paint, took three giant steps and timed a perfectly timed swat.
“I just put my head down and ran,” White said. “I trusted my instincts and timing. I got dunked on earlier, so I was pretty happy.” [in the game]. Because he is not afraid of being dunked on, [blocks] I was able to make plays that other people couldn't make. I just tried to make plays and believe in my abilities.”
Taking advantage of White's block, Jaylen Brown dove to the opposite basket for the deciding shot with 29.8 seconds left. The Celtics improved to 5-0 this postseason when they were down by five points or less in the final five minutes.
Boston's easy Game 1 win quickly became a distant memory as Game 2 began. The Celtics missed their first eight 3-pointers and whiffed on every shot from outside before Al Horford finally made one from the left corner just before the end of the first quarter. Their slow start was made worse by indecisiveness from Jayson Tatum, who spent much of the opening period on his own, turning down open scoring opportunities and passing the ball to teammates.
But the Celtics went into halftime trailing 64-61. The defense didn't provide enough support for Luka Doncic, as the Slovenian star finished with a game-high 32 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists, while his teammates combined to make just 2 of 17 3-pointers. Mavericks guard Kyrie Irving was a disappointment for the second straight game, finishing with 16 points on 7 of 18 shooting while being booed nonstop by the TD Garden crowd.
Doncic, who was listed as questionable on the pregame injury report with a chest contusion, delayed coming onto the court for warmups and had his chest bandaged before the start of the game. He's led the Mavericks to Game 2 wins in each of their past three series with his mid-range attack, but Doncic didn't live up to expectations. Blazing pace They were held to just nine points in the second half.
“I was fine. [physically]”I need to make more shots. [eight] Turnover and my [four] “Missing the free throws cost us the game. We need to work harder in those two areas.”
The Celtics finished with 10-of-39 3-point attempts (25.6 percent), their second-worst outside shooting percentage in the playoffs. Tatum finished with 18 points on 6-of-22 shooting, but also had 12 assists and frequently found Jrue Holiday for cutting shots to help bolster Boston's shaky offense. Holiday led the Celtics with 26 points and 11 rebounds, making a 3-pointer, grabbing a key offensive rebound and setting up consecutive 3-pointers for White at key moments.
“I don't think we're losing ground defensively,” said Holiday, who made 11 of 14 field goals. “But more like, [Tatum] and [Brown]Especially tonight, [Tatum] “He got in the paint and got double-teamed, but he made the right play and found me. He has the vision of a playmaker.”
Mavericks coach Jason Kidd took note of Tatum before Game 2, twice calling Brown Boston's “best player,” a provocative comment that raised the question: Will Tatum, who has struggled to shoot the ball in the playoffs, try too hard to prove Kidd wrong?
Game 2 was a somewhat confusing affair with mixed results. Tatum struggled to make a shot in the first quarter, missed multiple close-range attempts as the game went on, and made just one of seven three-point attempts. Facing a wall of defense, Tatum hesitated multiple times and committed three turnovers.
But Tatum, who came within one assist of tying his career-high in assists in that playoff game, made a dash into traffic to get attention and find Holiday or one of Boston's perimeter shooters, who had been lurking in the paint for much of the night.
“Every two dribbles I take, there's three guys there,” Tatum said. “We have a lot of shooters. They always had Jrue free. It wasn't like I had to do anything amazing. It was just about finding the free guy. … We're so close to what we're trying to accomplish. I'm not going to let my ego or my need to score all the points get in the way of that.”
Mazzulla indirectly echoed Kidd, emphasizing that the Celtics function as a balanced group while adding that Jason “makes greatness look easy” by contributing “in so many ways” despite his poor shooting performance.
“I'm so tired of hearing about this guy and that guy trying to make this into something other than Celtic basketball,” Mazzulla said. “Everybody that stepped on the court today won on both ends of the court and that's the most important thing.”
While all five Dallas starters scored in double figures, the second unit combined for just nine points. Kidd turned to backups Maxi Kleber and Dante Exum, but neither made an impact. Kleber, who missed most of Dallas' postseason with a shoulder injury, missed all four of his shots, and Kidd couldn't get enough from his frontcourt rotations.
The series shifts to the American Airlines Center in Dallas for Game 3 on Wednesday, with Boston in full command, knowing they defended their home court after a stunning Game 1 win and a brutal Game 2 loss without Tatum's trademark scoring prowess. The Mavericks' work remains the same: Their sluggish offense needs Irving to get back on track, Washington to find its defensive reach and role players to step up contributions. Dallas falls to 1-6 in the playoffs if it scores fewer than 100 points, but improves to 11-2 if it passes that threshold.
There will be a deep sigh of relief for the Celtics. They lost Game 2 of the first round to Miami, who was blistering from long range, in shots, and then lost Game 2 of the second round to Cleveland with their worst outside shooting performance of the playoffs. This time, they kept their cool and kept the Mavericks' supporting cast in check to keep the game from being decided at the 3-point line.
“Our shots just didn't go in,” Brown said. “I thought we had a couple of good chances, but we didn't panic. We just kept defending, we kept playing, we kept believing in the game and we made enough shots to win. I expect to shoot better on the road going forward.”
