Finals Game Two: Backs Against the Wall

After a dominate Western Conference Finals upset, the Dallas Mavericks fell totally flat in Game One of the NBA Finals against the Boston Celtics. The winner of Game One wins the Finals close to 70% of the time, but even so, a series isn't decided in the first game. Boston drew first blood in the Finals, but the Dallas Mavericks entered Game Two in Beantown looking to strike back.

At the start, it definitely looked like we would get that from Dallas. It was a much better start from the Mavericks. The lead they had in the opening frame actually lasted the entire quarter. It was 28-25 Dallas after the first quarter, and the second quarter saw an apparent continuance of that excellent play from the Mavericks. However, the Celtics did catch up and take the lead for the first time, but even so, it was still better than Game One. Boston had a halftime lead, but it was only three points this time. Dallas still had a chance.

Until they didn't.

The third quarter saw the Celtics regain their form and hold on to that control that they took back in the second quarter. Ironically, the third quarter of Game One was actually better for Dallas than the third quarter of this one. In Game One, Dallas started to mount a comeback, only to fall off again. In this outing, they were still down and couldn't get back up. A three point lead at the half for Boston became nine points heading into the fourth quarter, though Dallas still had their chances. Even as late as under thirty seconds remaining, Dallas had a chance to cut their deficit to just one possession, but a key block ended up preventing that. There was a foul on that block, but unfortunately for Dallas, that wasn't called, and Dallas was out of chances after that.

The Celtics won Game Two, 105-98, to take a commanding 2-0 lead in this year's Finals. Jayson Tatum had another double-double, scoring 18 points and racking up 12 assists. He also had nine rebounds, putting him one short of a triple-double. Jaylen Brown, who received a big verbal endorsement from Mavericks coach Jason Kidd, finished with 21 points, but the leader for Boston was Jrue Holiday with 26 points. For Dallas, it was another 30+ point game for Luka Doncic, who finished with a triple-double: 32 points, 11 rebounds, and 11 assists. Kyrie Irving disappointed yet again, as he had only 16 points in 41 minutes. Seriously, why did Dallas trade for this guy?

The Mavericks definitely have their backs to the wall here. In NBA Finals history, teams who lead 2-0 in the series are 31-5. However, Kyrie Irving was on a Cleveland Cavaliers squad who came back from down 3-1 in the Finals to win it, so there is that. On the flipside, it can be said that it was 8 years ago, and that was a different Kyrie. I won't call the Mavericks frauds. They beat a #1 seed and they beat the team who dethroned the defending champions. That's a pretty big deal. They are, unfortunately, underperforming, and that's dangerous against the team with the best record in the NBA.

Game Three is Wednesday night in Dallas--the first Finals game in "Big D" in 13 years. As I said before, the odds, right now are against the Mavericks. This series isn't over, though. Dallas has the home court, and if they win Game Three, then they should have a pretty solid chance to even it up in Game Four.

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