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After losing only five games throughout the Western Conference playoffs on their way to the NBA Finals, the Dallas Mavericks are staring at the precipice after dropping the first two games to the Boston Celtics, who protected their home court.
The Mavericks now return to Dallas hoping to tie the series and that begins with a must-win Game 3 on Wednesday night. Depending on the outcome, the Mavs’ season could end as early as Friday if they’re unable to solve the Celtics. In order to give themselves a puncher’s chance, Dallas will be looking for an assist from the home crowd.
Star performances from the Star backcourt
The 105-98 Game 2 loss stung more than the blowout in Game 1 as Dallas had every chance to win. Coming home with a 1-1 tie was right there for the taking. All-World guard Luka Doncic made 4-9 from deep on his way to 32 points but only made half of his free throws. The continuation of Doncic’s stellar play as he accumulates injuries is adding to his mystique, but it’s not adding to victories in these Finals thus far.
Doncic is averaging 40 minutes per game in these Finals and nearly 42 per game for the playoffs, all while playing through injuries that would keep him out were it the regular season.
Doncic has scored 30+ in each game so far in this series as the rest of the Mavs have struggled to acclimate against the Boston defense. Doncic may need to dig even deeper and take over for a monster performance, figuratively putting Dallas on his back to make this a series again.
Meanwhile, running mate Kyrie Irving made both of his free-throw attempts but continued to shoot blanks from three, going 0-for-3 and raising his series total to 0-for-8. Irving is having a horrid series to date, averaging just 14 points in his crucial role as secondary scorer.
Even with those performances, Irving has averaged 23 points and 4.9 assists in the playoffs to date, and Dallas will hope that he gets right while returning home to the American Airlines Center and away from the ghosts that he left on the parquet floor from his time with Boston.
In addition to their ability on offense, Dallas needs more out of Irving and especially Doncic on the defensive end. Doncic’s defense in the Game 2 loss was especially egregious and will either
need to be covered up by other players if he’s physically unable to give the needed effort, or he’ll have to figure out a way to cover his man without allowing them a free lane to the rim.
Shooters shoot
The Celtics wreaked havoc on the Dallas perimeter attack in the Game 1 blowout. Doncic, an assist machine throughout his career, was limited to just one handout as the shooters around him failed to take advantage. The Mavs’ offense seemingly responded better in the closer Game 2 loss, but the shooting will need to improve to be able to close out a victory.
P.J Washington and Derrick Jones were good from within the arc, but suffered on setup threes, going a combined 1-for-8 from deep. Maxi Kleber has not been the same since returning from injury and appears gunshy on attempts from deep, while Josh Green has also been largely quiet.
The Mavs will need to come out shooting at home and establish their rim attack/three-point shooting combination and hope that the Dallas crowd feeds their emotion.
Porzingis replacement
Kristaps Porzingis will not play in Game 3 due to a Mr. Burns-esque sounding injury to his tingus pingus.
After going on an insane run in Game 1 that saw him score 20 points in 20 minutes, Porzingis went 0-3 from deep on his way to a 12-point night in Game 2 before aggravating his leg in a separate injury from the one that cost him playing most of this playoffs run.
Porzingis neutralized the Daniel Gafford-Dereck Lively II duo at the rim. But the two-headed center monster had been a dominant offensive outlet for Dallas up to this series.
No Porzingis may mean the chance for the Mavs bigs to tire out Al Horford and the Boston back-up big men that will also be dealing with Doncic and Irving attacking the rim.
Return to Lob City
The Mavericks tertiary scoring weapon after their star duo has also been effectively neutralized. Dallas has only had two lobs in the series after feasting on over 50 against Los Angeles, Oklahoma City, and Minnesota. With Porzingis out, the combination of a familiar setting and the removal of the suddenly elite-at-rim-protection unicorn would bode well for bringing back the dump-and-dunk attack.
Regardless of their current situation, Dallas is in an enviable spot that 28 other NBA teams would love to be in with a prime opportunity to make this a series again with a big Game 3 performance. There are several teams in recent history that have overcome this deficit to claim a championship, including the 2016 Cleveland Cavaliers that won on a heroic Game 7 performance from Irving.
Doncic has continued his historic playoff run despite being encased in medical wrappings until the game whistle. Dallas must hope that there is still another gear for their superstar while he awaits his teammates picking him up and responding in kind with the crowd now on their side.
Do you think the Mavericks will be able to win with some home cookin’? Share your predictions with Irvin on X (formerly Twitter) @Twittirv.
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