DALLAS Mavericks kept their slim title hopes alive with a dominant 122-84 victory over Boston Celtics in Game 4 of the NBA Finals on Saturday (Philippine time) at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas.
Luka Doncic spearheaded the attack with 29 points, five rebounds, and five assists, while Kyrie Irving added 21 markers as the Mavericks trimmed the best-of-seven title series deficit to 1-3.
Tim Hardaway Jr. tallied 15 points, built on five three-pointers, while Dereck Lively II and Dante Exum contributed 11 and 10 markers, respectively, for the Mavericks.
From a slim 15-14 lead early in the first quarter, the Mavericks started to pull away behind triples from Doncic, Irving, and P.J. Washington to establish a 34-21 advantage.
The Mavericks continued to pound on the Celtics’ subpar offense in the second frame with Doncic, Lively, and Exum making their contributions for a 61-35 halftime lead.
Dallas went on to pull away further in the second half as the lead grew to 42 points in the fourth quarter at 122-79 following a three-pointer from Markieff Morris.
“It’s real simple. We don’t have to complicate this. This isn’t surgery,” Mavericks coach Jason Kidd said. “Our group was ready to go. They were ready to celebrate and we made a stand. We were desperate.”
“We’ve got to continue to keep playing that way. They’re trying to close the door. The hardest thing in this league is to close the door when you have a group that has nothing to lose. Tonight, you saw that,” he added.
Jayson Tatum led the Celtics with 15 points, Sam Hauser and Payton Pritchard added 14 and 11 points, respectively, while Jaylen Brown and Jrue Holiday ended with 10 markers apiece.
The Celtics will try to clinch the historic 18th NBA championship on Monday night (Tuesday in the Philippines) at the TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts./PN
BOX SCORE:
DALLAS 122 — Doncic 29, Irving 21, Hardaway 15, Lively 11, Exum 10, Gafford 7, Washington 6, Jones 5, Kleber 5, Hardy 5, Green 3, Morris 3, Lawson 2, Powell 0, Prosper 0.
BOSTON 84 — Tatum 15, Hauser 14, Pritchard 11, Brown 10, Holiday 10, Brissett 7, White 6, Horford 3, Tillman 3, Mykhailluk 3, Queta 2, Kornet 0, Springer 0, Walsh 0.
Quarterscores: 34-21; 61-35; 92-60; 122-84.
