Why the Celtics’ Game 2 victory over the Mavericks was their most impressive playoff win yet
"We got a lot of weapons on our team, so we just got to trust what we've been doing all season long."
The Celtics’ performance on Sunday night in Game 2 of the NBA Finals had all of the hallmarks of a frustrating defeat.
Jayson Tatum sank just six of his 22 shots from the field. Kristaps Porzingis was hampered in crunch time due to an injury scare.
And in arguably the most damning result of the night, Boston’s commitment to firing salvo after salvo from 3-point range wasn’t leading to positive results. Entering Sunday night, the Celtics were 68-8 this season when shooting 32 percent or better from beyond the arc.
In games shooting below 32 percent? They were 8-12. On Sunday, they only shot 25.6 percent from 3-point range (10-for-39).
Had similar scenarios played out during Boston’s previous two playoff runs in 2022 and 2023, the final result on the scoreboard would have been rather apparent.
But the 2024 Celtics are cut from a different cloth.
And even with several factors working against Boston on Sunday night, the most telling result — the final score — told a different tale for the Celtics at TD Garden.
Amid a poor shooting night from 3-point range, the Celtics still managed to gut their way to an impressive 105-98 win in Game 2 of the NBA Finals — with a dominant night in the restricted area, augmented approach from Tatum, and a stingy defensive effort keying Boston to a 2-0 series edge.
“I’m really tired of hearing about one guy or this guy or that guy and everybody trying to make it out to be anything other than Celtic basketball,” Joe Mazzulla said postgame. “Everybody that stepped on that court today made winning plays on both ends of the floor, is the most important thing.”
Even though the Celtics haven’t necessarily shot the lights out from 3-point range in this series, Boston has continued to shred Dallas’ defense around the paint — a surprising result, given the Mavericks’ stout rim production this season behind frontcourt options like Dereck Lively and Daniel Gafford.
As noted by SB Nation’s Josh Bowe, the Celtics converted on all 15 of their attempts in the restricted area in Thursday’s Game 1 win over Dallas — following that up with a 20-for-27 night in that same area around the basket in Game 2.
Even if Sunday’s shooting slump from deep carries over into Game 3 in Dallas, the Celtics have the means to stay afloat offensively so long as they can drive into the paint and make the most of their free throws (19-for-20 from the charity stripe in Game 2).
And if the Celtics can continue to limit Dallas’ offensive conduits like Kyrie Irving (35.1 percent shooting through two games) and take away the Mavericks’ ability to claw back in games on lobs and 3-point shots (just 6-for-26 from beyond the arc in Game 2), even 50-point performances from Luka Doncic may not be enough to topple Boston.
“We got a lot of weapons on our team, so we just got to trust what we’ve been doing all season long, trust our game plan,” Jaylen Brown said. “We didn’t hit shots tonight. I thought we had a bunch of great looks. … But we didn’t panic.
“We kept guarding, we stayed in the game and we kept trusting it and we made enough tonight to win the game. But we expect to shoot the ball better going forward when we get on the road.”
Tatum’s poor shooting performance in Game 2 was assuaged by a dominant offensive performance from Jrue Holiday (26 points, 11-of-14 from the field). But even when his shots weren’t falling, Tatum still found ways to impact the game in favor of his team.
With Tatum regularly double-teamed, his ability to drive into the paint often led to an open man (and a quality shot). Tatum still finished Sunday’s game with 18 points, nine rebounds, and 12 assists. Boston is now 6-0 this postseason when Tatum shoots under 40 percent from the field.
The Celtics’ odds of snuffing out the Mavericks and securing Banner 18 will greatly improve if Tatum starts hitting his shots and Boston’s 3-point attempts start finding twine.
But even when Mazzulla’s formula for success isn’t working, this Celtics team still has the means to pull off wins on basketball’s highest stage.
That should further encourage a Celtics roster now sitting just two wins from basketball immortality — and terrify a Mavericks team that seems woefully ill-equipped to slow down this juggernaut.
“It has a lot to do with that I’ve been here before and we didn’t win,” Tatum said of his poor shooting nights. “It’s just like we’re so close to what we’re trying to accomplish, why would I let my ego or my need to score all the points get in the way of that?
There are going to be times where I need to score, and obviously, I need to shoot better. Golly. But you know, really, we always talk about doing whatever it takes for however long it takes. If I need to have 16 potential assists every single night and that’s what puts us in the best position to win and it doesn’t mean I’m the leading scorer, by all means, if that gives us the best chance to win, sign me up.”
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