The only thing they have to worry about is they always let teams come back. It's like they get bored or something, they have to be careful with that against the Mavs because they are a really clutch team that has pretty much won most of their games when it comes down to the last few minutes.
Didn't watch it but am not surprised they lost. They were just plain crappy from behind the arc against one of the best 3 PT% teams in the league.
A huge part is they did not let Luka pass to those bigs for the easy lobs........denying them those lob threats is stymying 60% of their Offense. Letting Washington shoot 50%, that comes and goes for sure. Locking down Gafford, Washington and Lively and the passing lanes to them should continue to be the key to this. Plus it is more effortless than trying to contain Luka and Kyrie every game.
No way Celtics should lose this series, if they do, then that's a pure choke job. Way to dominate without Brown or Tatum going off, which one of them is bound to do every other game.
You need shooting/ Yea, Horford/KP were guarding forwards and they put Tatum on the center. Luka tried PnRs with the centers and that didn't go anywhere because it just ended in a Brown/Tatum switch. Then, they just gave up and went to PnRs with the forwards and iso on Horford/KP that was ok but not nearly as effective as the iso on Twolves centers. Plus, the Celtics can always trap if they really get into trouble since they also have big wings to protect the rim.
What stands out in the Dallas' boxscore is the Assists column. It shows that their offense is mostly run either by Luka or Kyrie having the ball, as always, but Boston has taken their passing options away.
Not sure if I've ever seen Kyrie look so shook. Rushed shots, bricking wide open 3s, getting blocked, careless turnovers, he ran the whole gamut of shook. Crowd and the moment obviously got to him. He needs to be the Killer Kyrie from Cavs-Warriors 16 finals for the Mavs to have any shot.
Mavs bought Porzingis to DAL originally to pair up with Luka. They didn't jive, and Luka drove him out. Fast forward a few years, Kristap meets the Mavs in the finals, was a key in beating them in game 1. Karma.
If the Celtics keep up the effort and intensity on defense, Mavs will have a very tough time. On the other hand, everything went wrong for the Mavs in game 1. Maybe the bugs are out of their system now.
