Celtics vs. Mavs highlights: Holiday leads Celtics to thrilling Game 2 win

Celtics vs. Mavs score: Holiday leads Celtics to thrilling Game 2 win. Published on NBC Sports Boston

BOSTON — The Boston Celtics head to Dallas with a commanding 2-0 series lead in the 2024 NBA Finals.

After a dominant Game 1, the C’s persevered to win Game 2 in front of a TD Garden crowd, falling behind the Mavericks throughout the first quarter and taking a slim three-point lead by halftime, but Dallas couldn’t catch up in the final two quarters.

Boston led by 13 points late in the third quarter and held on for a 105-98 victory that put the team two wins away from Banner 18. In league history, teams that have won the first two games of the NBA Finals at home have gone on to win the series 84.4% of the time (27-5).

Jrue Holiday and Jaylen Brown led the Celtics with 26 and 21 points, respectively. Jayson Tatum and Derrick White added 18 points apiece, and Kristaps Porzingis came off the bench to chip in with 12 points in 23 minutes.

It was a tough night for the Dallas offense, but Luka Doncic scored a game-high 32 points and Kyrie Irving finished with 16 points on 7-of-18 shooting, making it another night to forget.

Game 3 will be played on Wednesday at 8:30 pm ET at the American Airlines Center. Ahead of that matchup, here are three takeaways from Boston’s Game 2 win.

happy holiday

Jrue Holiday proved in Game 2 that the superiority of the Celtics’ supporting cast could ultimately be the deciding factor in this series.

While the Mavericks struggled without Doncic, Holiday helped fill in some of the Celtics’ offensive weaknesses by scoring a team-high 26 points on 11-of-14 shooting, and was unstoppable in the paint, making 2-of-4 3-pointers.

Holiday finished with 11 rebounds, one steal and one block, once again proving the stellar two-way performance that has earned him All-Defensive selection each year. His and Derrick White’s defense were a big reason the Celtics were able to keep Irving in check in the first two games of the series.

When Holiday is on a roll offensively, good things happen for Boston. The Celtics are 23-1 this season when Holiday scores 14 or more points.

Jayson Tatum: Facilitator

Sunday’s game didn’t get off to a great start for the Celtics superstar, as Tatum started the game 0-for-4 from the field and finished the first half with just five points on 2-for-10 shooting and 0-for-3 from deep.

When the shots weren’t falling, Tatum was the playmaker, and his eight assists in the first half were a career-high for assists at halftime in a playoff game and tied the Mavericks’ team total through the first two frames.

Tatum finished with 18 points on 6-of-22 shooting (1-of-7 from the 3-point line) and shot just 12-of-38 from the field for the series. While those aren’t ideal numbers, his ability to impact the game in a variety of ways earned him a spot on the All-NBA First Team. He finished with 12 assists and nine rebounds, edging out a triple-double.

Holiday was one of the beneficiaries of Tatum’s playmaking and expressed his gratitude for his teammate in post-game interviews.

Another defensive masterpiece

NBA veteran Danny Green infuriated Celtics fans by saying Boston’s stellar defensive performance in Game 1 was “unsustainable.” Well, at least the performance held up in Sunday’s showdown.

Without Doncic, the Mavs made just 2 of 17 3-point attempts. Irving was 7 of 18 from the field and 0 of 3 from deep, going 13 of 37 (35.1 percent) from the field and 0 of 8 from 3-point range in the first two games of the series.

A defensive effort helped Boston overcome its struggles shooting from beyond the 3-point line (10-39, 25.6%). Prior to Sunday, Boston was 11-13 on 3-point attempts when opponents made more 3-pointers.

The game ended with a crucial block by Derrick White, who denied P.J. Washington when Dallas tried to cut the lead to two with under a minute left.

If the Celtics defense can continue to play at anywhere near this level, this series could be over quickly.