It was the tale of two teams, one played desperate like their lives depended on it and the other went through the motions. The Dallas Mavericks still find themselves down in a hole 3-1, however, they made a very convincing argument Friday night to not count them out of the NBA Finals just yet.
Over the entirety of a 48-minute game, the Mavericks came through with an emphatic demolition job and one of the biggest beatdowns in NBA playoff history with a 122-84 victory over the Boston Celtics, forcing a Game 5 at TD Garden in Boston on Monday at 8:30 p.m. ET (ABC).
“Preparation doesn’t guarantee an automatic success,” Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla said. “I thought we had a great process. I thought we had a great shootaround. Thought we had a great film session yesterday. I thought the guys came out with the right intentions. I just didn’t think it went our way, and I thought Dallas outplayed us. They just played harder.”
The Celtics might have three more opportunities to put the Mavericks in their rear-view mirrors, but they still have plenty to work on before their mission is complete if they want to celebrate an NBA record 18th championship. In fact, this game was so lopsided, the Mavericks have now outscored them across all four games of the series.
There was no shortage of history made during the game. The 38-point margin is the third-biggest blowout in Finals history, behind only the Chicago Bulls beating the Utah Jazz, 96-54, in 1998 in route to their sixth championship and the Celtics beating the Los Angeles Lakers 131-92 in 2008, with the lead peaking at 48 points. The Celtics’ 35 points at halftime were the fewest they have scored in a half under coach Mazzulla. Luka Dončić’s 25 points at halftime were the most ever by a Maverick in a Finals half.
Embed from Getty ImagesMidway through the third quarter the game was so far out of reach, the Celtics pulled their starters, with the Mavericks soon following suit and then their reserves, such as Tim Hardaway Jr., continued the onslaught.
“Our group was ready to go. They were ready to celebrate,” Mavericks head coach Jason Kidd said after the win. “… The hardest thing in this league is to close the door when you have a group that has nothing to lose. Tonight, you saw that. They let go of the rope, you know, pretty early.”
However, it still counts as only one win. The Celtics will enter Game 5 with home-court advantage, their raucous crowd behind them, more rest than expected and, potentially, an available Kristaps Porzingis. The Latvian big man did not play a minute in Game 4 despite reportedly being available “if necessary,” and his presence on the court alone would represent a seamless adjustment for Boston to make.
“These are the moments that can make you or break you,” said Celtics star Jaylen Brown, who had an off night, finishing with just 10 points on 3-for-12 shooting. “We have to reassemble. We have to look at it and learn from it, and then we’ve got to embrace it and attack it.
“It’s going to be hard to do what we’re trying to do. We didn’t expect anything to be easy. But it’s no reason to lose our head.”
Sam Hauser had 14 and Jrue Holiday finished with 10 points and five turnovers for the Celtics.
Doncic finished with 29 points on 12-of-26 from the field and added five rebounds, five assists and three steals. Kyrie Irving had 21 points on 10-of-18 shooting with six dimes and four rebounds. Hardaway Jr. dusted off the moth balls and scored 15 points, all in the fourth quarter, and Dereck Lively II had 11 points and 12 rebounds for Dallas. It was Lively who provided the hint that it was going to be a good night for the Mavericks in the early going. He connected on a 3-pointer, the first of his NBA career, midway through the first quarter, a shot that gave the Mavericks the lead for good.
The Celtics finished 29 for 80 from the floor (36.2%), the first time they failed to make 40% of their shots in any playoff game, and their second-worst shooting performance of the entire season.
“I think this is the most stagnant that we’ve been this series, and the worst job of owning our space on the offensive end and doing what we wanted to do, instead of what they were forcing us to do,” said Celtics star Jayson Tatum, who finished with 15 points on 4-for-10 shooting with five rebounds, three assists, two blocks and a steal in 27 minutes.
The Mavericks are not out of the woods just yet, still having the steepest climb possible in this series, no team has successfully rallied from 3-0 down in NBA history, but the first step is done.
“We have nothing to lose,” Kidd said.
