Dallas Mavericks Delays Holidays With A 12-84 Defeated Victory Over Boston Celtics

Kyrie Irving added 21 points, for Dallas Mavericks (photo: x @dallasmavs)

JAKARTA - Coach Jason Kidd gave a simple explanation as to why the Dallas Mavericks players had their maximum play on Friday night, June 14, or Saturday morning WIB. "This or we go on vacation," Kidd said. The holiday plan had to be postponed because Mavericks responded very impressively in a "loss or home" situation, beating the Boston Celtics 122-84 in the NBA Final 4 Game.

Luka Doncic scored 25 of his 29 points in the first half and Kyrie Irving added 21 points, helping Mavericks avoid a clean sweep of defeat. The match will return to Boston for Game 5 on Monday, June 17 or Tuesday morning WIB, where the Celtics will try to close the series at home.

However, Dallas showed signs of life on Friday after Boston dominated the first three games of this best-of-seven series.

The scenario changed in Game 4. Doncic and Mavericks started quickly and never looked back. Doncic started the 10--0 rate in the first quarter with a floater and closed it with a layoff, putting Dallas ahead 25-14 with 3:19 remaining in that period. The early pace is a sign of what will come.

"We're focused, especially on the defense side," Doncic said. "We're playing at the tempo. It helps my colleagues. I'm here to help them by all means I can. We just need to play like that."

Dallas took the lead 34-21 at the end of the first quarter, scoring the last six points with a 3-point shot by Irving and PJ Washington. Mavericks kept pressing. They doubled the Celtics score 50-25 with Irving with a layoff on the 5:16 second quarter mark. To close the first half, Maxi Kleber scored 3 points from Doncic's assist, giving Dallas a 61-35 lead at half-time.

Mavericks shot 52.3 percent from the pitch compared to the Celtics' 29.7 percent in the first half. Dallas also won the 29-13 rebound fight in the first 24 minutes.

"They came really excited and I thought they hit us in the mouth," said Celtics guard Jrue Holiday, "and we couldn't recover the way we wanted."

Dallas turned it into a full second half, leading up to 48 points, taking 115-67 with a 3-point shot by Jaden Hardy with 5:58 remaining in the game. Mavericks hit 100 points a few minutes before that with a 3-point shot by Hardaway Jr. Dallas did not reach 100 points in the first three games against Boston.

Hardaway finished the game with 15 points from 5 out of 7 3 points. All five 3-point shots were made in 2:39 in the fourth quarter. The final winning margin of 38 points Mavericks is the third-largest in NBA Final history. Chicago Bulls beat the Utah Jazz with 42 points in Game 3 of 1998, and the Celtics destroyed the Los Angeles Lakers with 39 points in Game 6 of 2008.

"Very simple. We don't need to make this complicated. It's not an operation," Kidd said. "Our group is ready to play. They are ready to celebrate. We made a statement. We are desperate. We have to keep playing like that, understanding they are trying to find a way to close the door. The hardest thing in this league is to close the door when you have a group that has nothing to lose. Tonight, you see that."

For Boston, it was a disappointment for the team to continue to control the Finals. The NBA team had a 156-0 lead 3-0 in the best-of-seven series. This defeat halted 10 Celtics straight wins, which fell to 7-1 in away games in the playoffs.

Celtics are led by 15 points Jayson Tatum. Sam Total added 14 points, and Paytonkahkah scored 11 points.

"Preparation does not guarantee automatic success," said Boston coach Joe Mazzulla. "I think we had a great process. I think we had great training. I think we had a great (Thursday) film session. I think the players came with the right intentions. I just don't think it went the way we wanted it. I think Dallas outperformed us. They just played harder. In the end, we have to keep our process and prepare for Game 5."