Mavericks (0-1) at Celtics (1-0) NBA Finals Game #2 6/9/24

[ozgod]

Regarding the late Mavs surge from down 14 to almost getting to 3 with under a minute.  Yes, at 14 up at 3:30 it felt pretty secure though the Cs have both let up and come back from these type of deficits with that amount of time left.  This seems to happen frequently around the league - deficits are erased quickly in this era of distance shooting and rules increasing the likelihood of fouls on long balls. And end of game heroics are what some players/teams thrive on.  The other reality is that we?re playing the Western Conference champions. They are a team that defeated their competitors in a tough conference - beating two teams that looked like they were contenders.  And beating Minny pretty soundly.   It shouldn?t be shocking, or seen a weakness, that when desperation-ball kicked in, that the Mavs had the firepower to close the gap.  Any very good team fighting for a championship is capable of cutting 10 points off a lead in about 3 minute?s time. What the Cs showed (again) is that they had the ability to fight it back and hit the necessary shots to seal the win. 

Celtics have displayed a Finals mentality over the first two games.  While they were tied or trailing most of the first half and part of the third, it felt like it was only a matter of time till they put some distance between them and the Mavs. They need to sustain the intensity in Dallas.

To me it's less about losing the lead than about how they responded. You don't always have things go your way, they will make shots while you will miss them, and as a result the lead will get smaller (or their lead will get bigger). As you say, they're not mugs on the other side. It's how the team responds and I was happy with how they responded, in the past they may have crumbled.

Teams will make runs...they just need to make sure they make the last run 

[Birdman]

2 more!!!! Plus I always say Celtics plays better on the road & Porzingus says he?s playing Wednesday

[Birdman]

Waiting for these ?experts? now that going say Dallas gotta win 4 straight lol..and if Luka is hurt like they say he is, it don?t show but dude always crying for a foul call geez

[green_bballers13]

What a great win. We are lucky to be Celtics fans.

[cman88]

Dallas has to win 4/5 now against Boston. I just don?t see it happening.

If we split in Dallas can come home 3-1 to close it out at home.

And we are due for a big 3pt barrage game and a scoring Tatum game

[boscel33]

I was fortunate enough to have been at the game last night, through a vendor in a suite, the crowd was electric! 

It looked like a typical game 2 performance, but there is something about this team, their D is smothering, and they are playing the pick and roll fantastic.   I couldn't count the number of times the picked Luka's defender to get another on him, but most of the time, the person who wound up on him was Tatum.  He had 32 points, but they had to have been the quietest 32 points, probably because of the 8 TO's.  One thing that is interesting to watch, sometimes the C's "fast break" looked awful, like they had no idea how to run it. 

Great team win!  Great win for when they are not shooting well at all.  They had 21 points off turnovers!  WOW!  They did get out rebounded, which I thought they had a big advantage on but last night, just didn't seem like they were in the right positions at times.

MVP through game two, JB, but I'm not getting too ahead of it!

[SHAQATTACK]

Next game is the series .  Throw everything at them .

Tatum and Brown need to go nuke on Luke . Let fat boy get his 35 -10-10 .  And the weirdo flat earther can get his 20 circus points. Our next 5 players should out score their scrubs and G league  bench 5-1 Lock down their scrub crew with defense  and attack the basket often.

[Birdman]

Sweep be great of course but got to win one in Dallas, then it?s over.. if tied 2-2, then we got to hear how Dallas gotta win it all but we really need Porzingus, maybe sit he Wednesday and play he Friday?

[cman88]

Sweep be great of course but got to win one in Dallas, then it?s over.. if tied 2-2, then we got to hear how Dallas gotta win it all but we really need Porzingus, maybe sit he Wednesday and play he Friday?

Boston is a great road team. they will take 1 in Dallas.

their role players and kyrie may play abit better at home. but on the other end, Tatum and our 3pt shooting has alot of room to improve.

[celticinorlando]

For Boston:


-We still have not seen Tatum score big or JB score big. And we have not seen them both score big in the same game.

-Cs winning despite not really shooting the ball well. Defense is playing very well and energy has been good.

-Mavs look completely gassed. Luka can't shoot off both feet. He is playing zero defense at all. Kyrie looks like the same Kyrie we saw late in his Boston stint.

They will put up a fight for a bit in game 3 but I think Boston can just overwhelm them.
-Mavs have zero third scorer

[tonydelk]

I don't know why I watch the media but I have get up on.  I don't know what happened to Perk but I used to love him.  Now he's on my I can't stand to listen to list.  He was ranting about it's all Kyrie's fault the mavs lost and if Kyrie just got his 22pts the Mavs win.

Guess what Perk.  Hauser 0-5 from 3, Zinger 0-3, Tatum 1-7.  If those three hit 30% of their threes last night the C's would have won by 21.  What a joke he's become.  You have former players embrace talking positively about their former team.  Perk takes every chance he can to put them down. 

[celticinorlando]

I don't know why I watch the media but I have get up on.  I don't know what happened to Perk but I used to love him.  Now he's on my I can't stand to listen to list.  He was ranting about it's all Kyrie's fault the mavs lost and if Kyrie just got his 22pts the Mavs win.

Guess what Perk.  Hauser 0-5 from 3, Zinger 0-3, Tatum 1-7.  If those three hit 30% of their threes last night the C's would have won by 21.  What a joke he's become.  You have former players embrace talking positively about their former team.  Perk takes every chance he can to put them down.

Perk has been excommunicated from the Boston family because ALL season he has taken shots at Boston. I can't stand him.

[cman88]

For Boston:


-We still have not seen Tatum score big or JB score big. And we have not seen them both score big in the same game.

-Cs winning despite not really shooting the ball well. Defense is playing very well and energy has been good.

-Mavs look completely gassed. Luka can't shoot off both feet. He is playing zero defense at all. Kyrie looks like the same Kyrie we saw late in his Boston stint.

They will put up a fight for a bit in game 3 but I think Boston can just overwhelm them.
-Mavs have zero third scorer

I feel like Luka tired out in the second half. Huge scoring outburst in the first and didn?t do as much after.

Embiid effect? Celtics made Luka guard all game so by the 4th he was exhausted?

[ozgod]

This might have been their "scheduled Game 2 loss" in that they shot 25% and Tatum struggled for large parts of the game shooting the ball. But he continually made the right play, 12 assists and 9 rebounds. They didn't let their poor shooting from 3 affect their defense and their hustle, so they turned a scheduled loss into a win 

[cman88]

This might have been their "scheduled Game 2 loss" in that they shot 25% and Tatum struggled for large parts of the game shooting the ball. But he continually made the right play, 12 assists and 9 rebounds. They didn't let their poor shooting from 3 affect their defense and their hustle, so they turned a scheduled loss into a win 

I don?t think Boston will shoot that poorly again. It wasn?t anything the mavs did. Boston just missed open looks.