Jrue Holiday stars as Boston Celtics beat Dallas Mavericks 105-98 for 2-0 NBA Finals lead
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Dallas Mavericks centere Daniel Gafford (centre) reaching for the ball against Boston Celtics forward Jayson Tatum (left) and guard Jrue Holiday at TD Garden.
PHOTO: REUTERS
BOSTON – Although he considers himself part of the supporting cast, Boston Celtics guard Jrue Holiday looked like a star on June 9.
He racked up team highs in points with 26 and rebounds with 11, leading Boston to a 105-98 victory over the Dallas Mavericks in Game 2 of the National Basketball Association (NBA) Finals.
The Celtics now lead the best-of-seven series 2-0, with Game 3 set for June 12 in Dallas.
“I’m a utility guy. I’ll do whatever. I’m here to win,” said Holiday, who went 11-for-14 from the field. “I feel like they brought me here to win, and I’ll do my best to do that. But at the end of the day, this is (Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown’s) team.
“And I know it’s probably just as much my team as theirs, but... the pressure that they have on themselves to execute and to be great is a little bit different than my pressure.”
Brown and Tatum were still very much in the picture on June 9. Brown went for 21 points, while Tatum collected 18 to go along with nine boards and 12 assists. However, both knew the series very well may have been tied 1-1 had it not been for Holiday.
“Tonight, they wanted to emphasise loading up, making us make the right reads over and over again, and Jrue had a lot of opportunities tonight and he took advantage,” Brown said.
“He’s just a hell of a player, hell of a person, great teammate. I credit the victory to him tonight. He played well.”
Derrick White also had 18 points for Boston, while Kristaps Porzingis chipped in 12 off the bench.
White’s biggest play of the night came on the defensive end, as he blocked P.J. Washington with 50.5 seconds left in the game. Had Washington scored, the Mavericks would have pulled within 103-100.
“That was sick,” Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla said of White sending back Washington’s dunk attempt.
He also hoped the win showed the kind of total team effort that will silence debate over who is Boston’s best player.
“I’m really tired of hearing about one guy or this guy or that guy and everybody trying to make it out to be anything other than Celtic basketball,” said an impassioned Mazzulla.
“Everybody that stepped on that court today made winning plays on both ends of the floor.”
Mavs coach Jason Kidd had raised eyebrows when he said on June 8 that Brown is Boston’s “best”, in comments interpreted as an attempt to stoke tension in the Celtics camp, particularly between Brown and five-time All-Star Tatum.
Luka Doncic supplied 32 points, 11 boards, 11 assists and four steals for Dallas, who still managed to outshoot Boston 47.5 per cent to 45.2 per cent overall. Washington chipped in 17 points, Kyrie Irving had 16 and Daniel Gafford went for 13.
Irving finds himself in familiar territory.
Back in 2016, Irving and the Cleveland Cavaliers were down 2-0 after losing road games to the Golden State Warriors in the Finals, but they rallied to win in seven games.
“Now I’m just really leaning in on what I’ve experienced, what I’ve learnt and some of the lessons I’ve been able to make sense of in how to come back in this series,” Irving said.
“It is going to be a possession-by-possession thing, and it is going to be the hardest thing that we’ve ever done.”
Kidd said: “We are not down. We’re positive. This is a group that believes. We didn’t get an opportunity to get a split or win two here on the road. Now Boston held serve. Now we’ve got to go home and hold serve.” REUTERS, AFP
