The Boston Celtics, fueled by 26 points from Jrue Holiday, thwarted a desperate rally by the Dallas Mavericks in the final minutes for a 105-98 victory and a 2-0 lead in the NBA Finals on Sunday.
On a night where early struggles from three-point range frustrated the Celtics, their all-round efforts on both ends of the court saw them secure a second straight win at home.
Jaylen Brown scored 21 points and Jayson Tatum added 18 points, nine rebounds and 12 assists.
Holiday credited Tatum with keeping the Celtics’ offense alive.
“I would say a lot of it was JT,” Holiday said.
“They double-teamed him and he made the right play. The way he played tonight, the way he led us, got in the paint, made plays, found me wide open – it was all about him.”
Ailing Mavericks star Luka Doncic – now nursing a chest contusion in addition to the right knee sprain and sore left ankle that bothered him during the playoffs – delivered a 32-point, 11-rebound triple-double and 11 assists.
However, he didn’t get enough help from his supporting cast.
PJ Washington scored 17 points and eight-time All-Star Kyrie Irving had 16 – going 7 of 18 and missing all three of his three-point attempts.
The Mavericks, trailing by 14 with less than four minutes to go, made a final push to cut the deficit to five with 1:15 to play, with Doncic driving for a layup and converting the free throw after had made a mistake.
Boston’s Derrick White came up with a monster block on Washington that would have cut the deficit to three, and Brown made a layup as the Celtics closed the deficit.
