How The Dallas Mavericks Routed Boston Celtics, Forced Game 5

No team in NBA history has ever come back from down three games to none.

But do not tell the Dallas Mavericks that.

On their home floor for the second straight game, Jason Kidd‘s club roared to life, putting together their best performance of the NBA Finals. While Kyrie Irving and Luka Doncic combined a dismal 1-14 from three, they knocked down 50 points between the team and 11 assists. Along with the dynamic duo, the Dallas bench finally contributed for the first time all series. Tim Hardaway Jr. scored zero points in game three but went 5-7 from long-range Friday. Dereck Lively looked like the rookie who dominated the Minnesota series as he had 11 points and 12 rebounds, a double-double.

Meanwhile, Boston competed like a team up 3-0 and came out with no urgency or purpose. The Celtics jacked up difficult threes in the first quarter as their offense fell out of rhythm. Jayson Tatum led his team in scoring with 15 points, but no starter played over 31 minutes, rendering the contest uncompetitive by halftime.

Dallas executed every phase of the game from the jump, while Joe Mazzula‘s men played their worst game of the season. Boston led 11-10, but then Lively drained his first three of the Finals at the six-minute mark of the first quarter, and the burst of energy propelled the Mavs to finish the frame on a 21-10 run.

Up 34-21, Dallas kept its foot on the gas. An 11-0 run held Boston scoreless for four minutes as the Mavericks doubled up the Celtics 50-25. Doncic and Co. took a 61-35 blowout into the halftime break as they executed on both ends of the floor. Their defensive intensity stymied a Boston attack that went into the paint at will in the opening part of the series, and their offensive cohesion ripped apart the Celtic defense that held them under 100 for three straight games.

As Dallas learned in game three, a 24-point lead in these playoffs can evaporate instantly. They almost came back from 21 down in the fourth quarter. With that in mind, their lead ballooned to 34 after five minutes as the beatdown continued out of the break. As the game went further out of reach, Mazzula waved the white towel. The head coach pulled his starters with three minutes to go in the third down 38.

Dallas’ starters sat on the bench to begin the fourth, while the backups played the final quarter in a contest decided long ago. The Mavericks dismantled Boston 122-84 and forced a game five in the  T.D. Garden Monday night.