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As fans filed into TD Garden to support their Boston Celtics in Game 1 of the NBA Finals on Thursday, they were greeted with shirts on the back of their chairs that read “You Got Boston.” Frequently throughout the broadcast, the feed would pan to a Celtics fan donning the shirt while celebrating after Jaylen Brown stole the ball from Luka Doncic for an emphatic dunk, or when Kristaps Porzingis drilled a long-range 3-pointer or when the Mavericks needed to call a timeout to stop the bleeding of what was at one point a 29-point lead. The Mavericks “got Boston,” and on Thursday night, they found out exactly what that means.
The Celtics executed a near-perfect game plan to contain Doncic, Kyrie Irving, and the rest of the Mavericks. Irving was serenaded to a chorus of boos every time he touched the ball, and while he said after the game that he thought the crowd would be better in terms of letting him hear it, it must’ve had some impact considering he went 6 of 19 from the floor for just 12 points. After the game, PJ Washington said the Mavericks “let the crowd get to us,” as most of Dallas’ roster is experiencing the Finals for the first time. The crowd fed off the energy that the Celtics were playing with, primarily on defense, where they limited the Mavericks to a season-low nine assists, and held Doncic, the typically generational facilitator, to only one dime.
It was a product of Boston’s suffocating defense, a defense that rarely — if ever — showed help on Doncic, forcing him and Irving alone to beat them. Doncic did his best — 30 points and 10 rebounds — but with Irving having an off night and no open passing windows to kick it to someone like Washington or Derrick Jones Jr. on the perimeter, it didn’t leave the Mavericks with a ton of options to put the ball in the basket outside of letting Doncic go to work.
This isn’t like when the Mavericks played the Timberwolves, Thunder or Clippers, where Doncic’s driving to the rim forced the defense to collapse, leaving shooters on the corners open for a 3-pointer. Instead, you could look…
Source link : https://www.cbssports.com/nba/news/2024-nba-finals-how-mavericks-can-use-p-j-washington-to-generate-more-assists-force-celtics-to-adjust/
Author : Jasmyn Wimbish
Publish date : 2024-06-07 18:36:26
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