BSJ Game Report: Celtics 105, Mavs 98 - Jrue Holiday, Celtics defense, shines again to take 2-0 Finals lead

Everything you need to know about the Celtics Game 2 win over the Mavs, with BSJ insight and analysis

IN A NUTSHELL

The Celtics really struggled with their shooting in the first quarter while Luka Doncic dropped 13 and Kyrie Irving added eight. But Boston was only down three thanks to going 10-10 from the line. Jrue Holiday found openings around the rim on his way to an 11 point quarter, flipping the deficit to a three-point lead at halftime. The lead got up to 13 despite the rough shooting, but the Mavs were able to cut it to six before a Payton Pritchard buzzer-beater sent the crowd into a frenzy. They got the lead back up to 14 late in the third after Holiday and Derrick White hit consecutive 3-pointers. The Mavs made one last push but White's key late block sealed the win.

Box score

HEADLINES 

- Jrue Holiday comes through: A monster game for Holiday on both ends of the floor. A testament to the depth of the Celtics that anyone can come through at any time, Holiday took full advantage of the space created by Tatum (Six of Holiday’s 11 buckets were assisted by Tatum). 

“He was unbelievable,” Al Horford said. “His effort defensively and everything he brings on that end. And then on offense, making reads, making the game easy, making the right decisions. He’s so poised and you can tell that he has been in these types of moments. Just very composed and just out there getting the job done.”

- Mavs missed opportunity: Boston shot 10-39 from 3, just 25.6%. This is the game the other team is supposed to win, because Boston hasn’t put up consecutive stinkers like that from deep very often this season. Tatum shot 6-22 and he and Brown combined to go 2-12 from 3, but the Mavs had nothing down the stretch and couldn't take advantage. 

- Still following the formula: They let Luka punch himself out, they neutralized Dereck Lively again, and they held Kyrie Irving to a highly inefficient 16 points on 18 shots. Those are the three points I laid out as the key to win this series, they followed it twice, and they are up 2-0. They're 14-2 in the playoffs so far. Every other team that has gone 14-2 in the playoffs has finished the job to win a championship. 

TURNING POINT

Holiday and White hit consecutive 3-pointers to make it a 14-point game with 3:34 to go. That was a big enough lead for Boston to essentially run out the clock despite Dallas’ 9-2 closing run. 

THINGS I LIKED

Jrue Holiday: He does all the little things to be great. And that goes all the way down to the granular stuff like navigating screens defensively and being in the right spots on offense to make sure the spacing is good. Then he crashes to grab four offensive rebounds on top of all. What an absolute luxury to have Holiday on the team. He finished with 26 points, 11 rebounds, and three assists. 

Kristaps Porzingis: He swears he’ll be fine after coming up hobbling after a fall late in the game. I hope so, because he was almost as effective in Game 2 as he was in Game 1. He was a team-best +12, he posted up effectively, and he defended the rim as usual. He’s a huge difference-maker. 

Jayson Tatum: I was too hard on him after the last game. He didn’t shoot well, which he is very well aware of, but he took mostly good shots. I’m not going to overreact to shots falling or not. I think he made the right plays over and over. If Tatum plays that exact game 10 times, he’d average close to 30. His gravity makes a lot of Boston’s offense possible. Hell, 18 points, 12 rebounds, and nine assists is still pretty good for a crappy shooting night. 

Jaylen Brown: Seven assists and I think a perfect night on rim reads. He’s doing everything he needs to do, playing under control, and being an absolute menace defensively. He scored 21 points on 8-15 shooting while hounding Doncic all night. 

Derrick White: The chase-down block, which might have been counted as a half block with Jaylen Brown getting the other half if this was football, was a signature defensive play for White. 

And after a tough start to his shooting night, he finished 4-10 from deep with some timely shots. 

Payton Pritchard: The shot to close the third quarter was so key because it took the momentum back after a Mavs run. 

“You see guys around the league pass up on that shot or fake like they want to take it,” Mazzulla said. “He takes pride in taking that, and that's winning basketball.”

THINGS I DIDN'T LIKE

Sam Hauser’s shooting: He was 0-5 from 3. He had a couple of chances to break the game open and the shots just missed. I would have loved to see some carryover from the shots falling in Game 1.

HIGHLIGHTS

ONE TAKE KARALIS WILL PROBABLY REGRET LATER 

- Dallas is out of answers

Teams have come back from 2-0 before, but I feel like this is different. Dallas had many opportunities to steal this game and they couldn't do it. Doncic and Irving, heralded as the greatest offensive backcourt of all time, have floundered down the stretch. 

I would tell you if it was bad shooting. I would warn you that water will find its level. But that's not what this is. This is a defensive juggernaut with all of the matchup advantages putting all of it together to execute a strategy that is working exactly like it should. 

Doncic even finished with 11 assists by the end of the night and it didn’t matter. 

A lot of people ignored a lot of matchup advantages when predicting this series. Those can’t be ignored anymore. As long as the Celtics are playing with this level of intensity on defense and executing this game plan this well, Dallas has no shot. 

Next up: Game 3 will be Wednesday night at 8:30 in Dallas