After dominating in Game 1, the Boston Celtics faced some pushback from the Dallas Mavericks in Game 2 of the NBA Finals. After a close 54-51 first half, the C’s blew the game open in the third quarter before a late rally from the Mavs made the final score closer.
Both teams did a good job of being aggressive and getting to the charity stripe early. Boston and Dallas had 19 combined free throw attempts in the first quarter (9 for Dallas and 10 for Boston).
In a game hallmarked by physicality, Celtics guard Jrue Holiday truly stood out in this regard. The offseason addition had one of his strongest offensive outputs of the year with 26 points on nearly 80% shooting. Holiday also had 11 rebounds. Game 2 marked the fourth straight contest where the veteran racked up at least eight boards. Not to mention, the two-way ability of Holiday was on full display as he played airtight defense on Mavs guard Kyrie Irving.
On the other end of the floor, Dallas guard Luka Doncic had a productive game with a triple-double (32 points, 11 rebounds, 11 assists). Despite the eye-popping performance, the glaring figure is the eight turnovers committed which Doncic took ownership of.
“I think my turnovers and my missed free throws cost us the game,” the Mavs star said.
Giving more opportunities to a team that shot just 26% from beyond the arc can be crushing, but the Mavericks were still in the game heading into the fourth quarter. A big turning point came during final minutes in which forward PJ Washington was on a fast break but got blocked by guard Derrick White on a layup attempt.
The block was controversial as it looked like Washington got pushed in the back and no foul was called. Dallas head coach Jason Kidd shared his sentiments on the game-altering play.
“It looked like a foul,” Kidd observed. “But it wasn’t called, so it wasn’t a foul.”
However, there is no time to dwell on this play with the series shifting to Dallas. Game 3 is on Wednesday and with a 2-0 hole looming in front of the Mavericks, it’s now or never.
