The Dallas Mavericks laid a historic beatdown on the Boston Celtics in Game 4, and while Boston shouldn’t be too concerned about the 38-point loss, it did give the Mavericks some hope. However you look at that shocking Game 4 result, credit has to be given to Dallas for turning in an all-time performance to avoid a sweep. Now, the series shifts back to Boston, where the Celtics are favored to win Game 5 and hoist the franchise’s 18th championship. But there’s reason to believe — even if it’s just a sliver of hope — that the Mavericks can extend this series further and try to stage a dramatic comeback.
Derrick White succinctly described what Dallas did to Boston in Game 4 as “an ass-kicking.” And given the context, one would expect the team fighting for its season to pull out all the stops. But no one could’ve predicted that the wheels would fall off quite this spectacularly for the Celtics, who were likely already thinking about hoisting up the Larry O’Brien trophy Friday night.
Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla credited the Mavericks’ aggressive defense for forcing Boston into an area of indecisiveness, which resulted in poor shot selection and turnovers. Still, it’s just one of the reasons the Mavericks found so much success, and something the team can lean into as they try to force a comeback.
As the Mavericks try to keep their season alive for another game, here are three things they can gleam from Game 4 to use as they try to stave off elimination.
Just three minutes after checking into Game 4 in the first quarter, Lively knocked down the first 3-pointer of his career, on just his third attempt ever. It was just the beginning of what ended up being one of Lively’s most impactful performances of this postseason. And that’s saying a lot, because in each of the previous three rounds Lively was an essential cog in Dallas’ offensive and defensive engine.
But through the first three games in this series against the Celtics, his strengths had been neutralized. Without many lob attempts, his rim protection didn’t prove to be a…
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