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BOSTON — Derrick Jones Jr. was ready to lift off Thursday night and switch all of TD Garden into airplane mode. He planted the right toe of his highlighter orange sneaker on the charge circle, then caught Luka Dončić’s lob with two hands. These have been the dimes Dončić tossed above the Western Conference playoff bracket that Dallas conquered to reach these NBA Finals. Here was another poster as part of another herculean Mavericks comeback. Until Jaylen Brown said otherwise.
The Celtics’ All-Star forward had been lurking along the baseline, shading his coverage toward Maxi Kleber, who was parked in the left corner. “I was the low guy. I was on some of those bigs. You don’t want to give up lobs,” Brown said. “That’s one thing that we made an emphasis on.” Dončić has feasted on finding Jones, Daniel Gafford, Dereck Lively II and whoever else has leaped toward the rim this postseason. Brown and Kristaps Porziņģis, in a mighty return from his calf injury, plus Al Horford and Derrick White, with his routine rim protection for just a 6-foot-5 guard, combined to shield the basket from any aerial Mavericks attack during Boston’s 107-89 Game 1 victory. The lob to Jones that Brown denied was Dallas’ only such attempt of the evening, and the Celtics rejected as many shots (nine) as assists Dallas tallied.
Jaylen Brown of the Celtics dunks over Daniel Gafford of the Mavericks during the second quarter in Game 1 of the 2024 NBA Finals at TD Garden on June 6, 2024, in Boston. (Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)
Brown not only rejected Dallas’ high-flying wing, but he recovered to block Jones a second time with 2:28 remaining in the third quarter. “I was able to cat-and-mouse a little bit,” Brown said afterward.
A minute later, when Kyrie Irving skirted around Jrue Holiday, Brown refused to allow the Mavericks’ silky scorer a clean chance to break out of a shooting funk in front of his former home crowd. The fans booed on every dance of Irving’s dribble, and he missed all five of his triples and finished just 6-of-19 from the floor, one miss thanks to Brown’s acrobatic swat after leaving…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/2024-nba-finals-jaylen-browns-defensive-brilliance-helps-curtail-mavericks-formidable-3rd-quarter-rally-125053826.html
Author : Yahoo Sports
Publish date : 2024-06-07 12:50:53
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