BOSTON, MA (Diya TV) – A pivotal Game 5 of the NBA Finals looms as the Boston Celtics aim to put away the Dallas Mavericks tonight. The C’s are up 3-1 and looking to rebound after a poor performance in Game 4. Dallas dominated Boston 122-84 in one of the most lopsided games in NBA Finals history.
Going into Game 5, some pressure is surely mounting on the Celtics to finish the job. But, star forward Jayson Tatum is playing things cool and not stressing over tonight’s game.
“We would love to win,” Tatum said. “But if it doesn’t happen, it’s not the end of the world. We have more opportunities.”
Although the statement may be correct in that the world won’t end, momentum would start to see a big shift in this series. After the Mavs put together arguably their best playoff performance in Game 4, stealing a game in Boston (where the C’s have been quite formidable this season) would do a lot for the team’s morale heading back to Dallas.
Mavs head coach Jason Kidd noted how desperate the team was in Game 4 with their championship hopes on the line. Heading into another win-or-go-home game, the Oakland native plans to see an encore performance.
“I think what helps is we were in that situation last game,” Kidd said. “So not to change or deviate from what we talked about in Game 4. Take each possession one at a time and hopefully, we can put ourselves up by winning every quarter.”
This mentality was a driving force behind the Mavs crushing the Celtics in Game 4. But simultaneously, the C’s seemed to have an off night. Tatum, Jaylen Brown, Jrue Holiday, and Derrick White all combined to shoot nearly 30% from the field. Kidd thinks his squad might have figured something out in this regard.
“Sometimes when you play an opponent over and over, you get used to the tendencies and you start to capitalize on that on both ends,” said the head coach. “Hopefully our group has seen enough of Boston to understand what they are good at and we can take that away on Monday night.”
No NBA team has ever come back from down 3-0 in the Finals. Tonight, either the Mavericks get one game closer to being the first team to do so or the Celtics lock up their 18th championship.
