The Boston Celtics continue to cruise to their 18th NBA Championship with a second straight win over the Dallas Mavericks in the 2023-2024 NBA Finals.
The Celtics defeated Dallas 105-98 in Game 2 of the Finals on Tuesday night at TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts, USA. The victory was Boston’s second straight, following an 18-point win in Game 1, and moved them one step closer to the championship.
The Celtics are tied with the Los Angeles Lakers for the most NBA championships with 17. This season, the Celtics are chasing their first-ever 18th title. Game 3 of the best-of-seven series will be played on Dec. 13 at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas.
Boston, which finished the regular season with a 64-18 record and first place in the East, used its trademark stingy defense to effectively shut down Dallas’ offense in this one. They took control of the game in the first quarter with three blocks and forced Dallas ace Luka Doncic into three errors.
Boston battled back in the second quarter, scoring nine straight points to take a 54-51 lead into halftime thanks to a last-second three-pointer from Jrue Holiday. In the middle of the third quarter, the Celtics scored 10 straight points to take control of the game. Jaylen Brown’s fastbreak layup and Holiday’s dunk brought the home fans to their feet.
After Peyton Pritchard’s quarter-ending buzzer-beating 3-pointer made it 83-74, Boston settled down in the fourth quarter. Back-to-back 3-pointers by 토토사이트 Holiday and Derrick White with 4:03 left and 3:34 to play tied the game. Brown’s layup with 29.1 seconds left sealed the win.
For Boston, Holiday led the team with 26 points and 11 rebounds, while Brown added 21 points and seven assists and Jayson Tatum had a triple-double with 18 points, 12 assists and nine rebounds. Derrick White chipped in with 18 points and five rebounds, including four 3-pointers.
Dallas’ Luka Doncic had a triple-double with 32 points, 11 rebounds, and 11 assists, but eight turnovers cost him the game.
The Boston Celtics will look to continue their winning ways in Game 3 and continue their quest for their 18th championship.