BOSTON – Jrue Holiday scored 26 points and grabbed 11 rebounds, and Jayson Tatum made up for a tough night with 12 assists and nine rebounds as the Boston Celtics beat the Dallas Mavericks 105-98 on Sunday to take a 2-0 lead in the NBA. NBA Finals.
Luka Doncic, who was questionable to play less than two hours before the opener, scored 32 points to go along with 11 rebounds and 11 assists to complete the first triple-double in Mavericks franchise history in the NBA Finals. But he missed a one-foot shot from 3-point range with 28 seconds left, ending Dallas’ last chance at a comeback.
The third game is scheduled for Wednesday night in Dallas. The Mavericks need a win after that or in Game 4 on Friday to avoid the sweep and earn a return trip to TD Garden, where home fans are already making room in the rafters for what will be an unprecedented 18th NBA championship banner.
The Celtics won the opening pair of contests in the NBA Finals for the ninth time. They have won the title the past eight times and have never had to take a Game 7 in any of them.
Jaylen Brown scored 21 points, Tatum added 18 points, and Derrick White scored 18 points for first-seeded Boston. Kristaps Porzingis played his way to 12 points. Tatum was 6-for-22 shooting and 1-of-7 from 3-point range; The Celtics were 10-for-39 from long range overall.
Kyrie Irving, who has antagonized the local fans since cutting short his stay in Boston in 2019, scored 16 points; He has lost 12 straight games against the Celtics.
Unlike Boston’s 107-89 win Game 1when a quick start from 3-point range gave the Celtics a 29-point lead in the first half, they missed their first eight attempts from long range and were shooting around 20% for most of the game.
Tatum scored zero points in the first quarter and had just five in the first half, when he was still 0-for-3 from 3-point range. Boston was still going 5-for-30 from long range when Payton Pritchard hit a shot at halfcourt at the third-quarter buzzer to give the C’s an 83-74 lead.
“Introvert. Subtly charming web geek. Lifelong entrepreneur. Amateur social media expert. Coffee trailblazer.”