After being outscored 107-89 in Game 1, the pressure was on the Mavs to prove they could be competitive in this Finals matchup. They came closest in Game 2, but still fell 105-98 to fall to 0-2 in the series.
There were no standout performances from the Mavs in Game 1. In Game 2, Luka Doncic was the best player on the court. His 32 points, 11 assists and 11 rebounds kept Dallas in the game.
In the end, that wasn’t enough, and Boston once again proved they were the better team on Sunday. Here are the biggest takeaways from another solid Celtics performance.
7 takeaways from Game 2 of the 2024 NBA Finals
How healthy is Luka Doncic?
The story going into Game 2 was that a charge taken by Luka on Thursday was affecting him more than initially thought. He was grimacing during warmups while holding his chest, which led to him being listed as “questionable” on Sunday.
Once the game started, he looked as good as he has in the entire playoffs. He was very hot in the first half, scoring 23 points on the entire Celtics team and shooting 69 percent from the field. He finished the night with 32 points on 57.1 percent shooting.
The degree of difficulty in Luka’s appearance was, as always, off the charts. The Celtics have tried to play him one-on-one as much as possible and no one can defend him that way. But they did the best they could. Everyone took turns. Payton Pritchard had some good possessionsas does Al Horford.
Luka seemed to target Jayson Tatum more than anyone, taking some tough stepbacks on him, but Tatum also forced him into some of his eight turnovers by staying in front of him and forcing him to pick up the ball.
Can anyone in Dallas besides Luka make a three-pointer?
The Mavs made just 6 of 26 three-pointers, 23.1 percent. Take away Luka’s 4-of-9 performance and that percentage drops to an even worse 11.8 percent.
What makes that percentage even worse is that Boston was giving up open threes out of the corners to most of Dallas’ role players all night.
This is what Jason Kidd & co. waiting time is over. Boston leaves Derrick Jones Jr. wide open again over the break, Derrick White is giving up that shot. He can’t make them pay. pic.twitter.com/XSTbzDAWqW
—Steph Noh (@StephNoh) June 10, 2024
Derrick Jones Jr. and PJ Washington have been left open at halftime throughout the series. Washington made a good adjustment, putting away the catch instead of shooting it in the second half. That helped him contribute 17 points to the cause, but Dallas needs to make more than six paltry 3-pointers to keep up with this Boston offense.
Jason Kidd has tried to adjust by using Maxi Kleber more as a big option. That was disastrous. Kleber has looked totally outmatched in his minutes so far: he missed all four of his shots and was afraid to shoot at times.
Kyrie Irving is also a problem. He was cold in Game 1, and that continued in Game 2. He was 7 of 18 from the field on Sunday and missed all three of his 3-point attempts. He has to take some pressure off Luka for the Mavs to be competitive.
Did Jayson Tatum take Jason Kidd’s bait?
Kidd did his best to stir the pot by saying before the game that Jaylen Brown, not Jayson Tatum, was Boston’s best player. Would that work to get inside Tatum’s head?
Tatum was a more than willing passer, recording a game-high 12 assists. He attacked Luka on defense, ran past him and kicked his teammates.
However, Tatum’s shot selection wasn’t great at times. That explained a 6-for-22 night from the field.
Tatum takes this shot at the perfect time, as Doris says she won’t be affected by Jason Kidd proclaiming Jaylen Brown the Celtics’ best player. pic.twitter.com/4cjSXofD0L
—Steph Noh (@StephNoh) June 10, 2024
The Celtics haven’t needed Tatum to be at his best during these first two games. At some point they will. He hasn’t been terrible, but he has to play like the All-NBA player he was during the regular season.
How Dallas tries to generate easy points
One way Dallas tried to revive its attack was by picking up the pace. They caught Boston’s defense struggling to finally open up their passing attack a bit. Washington provided a spark by pushing the ball. At other times, however, they seemed out of control. Kleber and Dante Exum tried to go coast to coast and ended, predictably, in disaster.
Another point of emphasis was Daniel Gafford’s post about Tatum. The Mavs did that twice early in the second half, getting baskets from Gafford both times. Given how well it worked, maybe they’ll try to add it more in Game 3.
What happens when Boston really starts making threes?
This game was close on paper, but Boston couldn’t buy a three-pointer. They were just 10 of 39 from deep, 25.6 percent. They looked good too, but they failed.
Despite receiving a big game from Luka and seeing the Celtics open up 3-pointers, Dallas still trailed for almost the entire second half. This was their golden opportunity to steal a game. They got it within five points and almost cut it to 3. Derrick White, who played excellent defense all night, was not going to let that happen.
Holy God pic.twitter.com/bVFJas63da
—Steph Noh (@StephNoh) June 10, 2024
Jaylen Brown may have gotten away with shoving Washington on that play, but it wasn’t called and the Celtics went on to win from that point on.
Jrue Holiday shines
For the Mavs to come so close late was impressive. It looked like Holiday was putting the dagger in around the four-minute mark, making a series of plays to push the lead to 14.
Holiday led the Celtics with 26 points and also pulled down 11 rebounds. From the team’s first basket of the game, where Dallas completely lost it under the basket, until the end, Holiday was making big baskets. He bypassed Luka for a layup, caught passes and hit big 3-pointers. He also played great defense against Irving and others. Kidd might be calling him the Celtics’ second-best player heading into Game 3.
Is Kristaps Porzingis okay?
Porzingis crashed into Washington late in the fourth quarter and appeared to be running cautiously for a few possessions before Joe Mazzulla replaced him with 4:40 left.
Mazzulla stated after the game that he had “no concern” about Porzingis’ calf, but the center seemed slow going up and down the court. Could be something to monitor heading into Game 3.
