And that's precisely what happened.
Dallas led for the majority of the game and were never really threatened after late in the first quarter, surviving to see another day with a 122-84 victory.
The Mavericks scrapped for every loose ball, dominated the boards 52 to 31, and played exactly like they needed to in staving off elimination.
Boston, on the other hand, was off from the tip in seeing their 10-game playoff winning streak snapped. Cold shooting, bad turnovers, and a step slow on defense all led to their undoing in attempting to secure banner number 18.
Playing only three quarters, Luka Dončić and Kyrie Irving combined for 50 points. Dončić posted 29 points, five rebounds, and five assists, with Irving adding 21, four, and six
Jayson Tatum led the Celtics with 15 points, all coming in the first half.
Dallas, fueled by energetic effort to nearly come back from a huge deficit in Game 3, played a nearly flawless game. The Celtics, however, will be left scratching their heads at being run off the floor.
Mavs out and running
Four lead changes in the early going seemed to point to this game being a close one. Tatum was locked in, as were Irving and Dončić.
Xavier Tillman knocked down two free throws, cutting an early Mavs lead to one, at 15-14. This was the closest the Celtics would be for the rest of the game.
Dallas knocked out a 10 straight points, capping off a stretch where Boston failed to score for 3:07. Three-point shots (2-9) weren't falling and the Mavs gathered a plus ten advantage on the boards.
More of the same repeated in the second quarter, where the Celtics shot only 3-16 from the field. Boston's defense, at this point, was still applying pressure. Long stretches of little offense and foul trouble to Tatum, Jaylen Brown, and Al Horford also plagued the Celtics.
Frustrating for Boston, too, were no less than three shots that rimmed out on layups, plus a couple more on three-point attempts.
Dallas, meanwhile, found the offense that made them so successful in this run to the NBA Finals. Dončić pressed the ball forward, offensive rebounding was stellar, and alley oops returned to the Mavs' game.
Dončić had 25 points at halftime, with Irving chipping in 11 and the Mavs held a 61-35 lead.
Brown eight points at the half, on 3 of 10 shooting, with the Celtics only shooting 5 of 19 from deep.
More struggles from Celtics
Energy did not wane for the Mavs while the Celtics were deflated within the opening minutes of the third quarter. Dallas roamed the paint with ease and knocked down a couple of early threes.
Tatum also picked up his fourth foul at the 10:16 mark. Though he did come back briefly around the six-minute mark, the damage was complete.
The Mavs grew their lead to upwards of 38. Even when the Celtics managed to put in back-to-back buckets, they couldn't find stops and the Dallas momentum train never stopped rolling.
Boston pulled their starters with 3+ minutes remaining and Dallas, who committed zero turnovers in the third quarter, headed into the final frame leading 92-60.
With both teams playing their bench and the game out of reach, Dallas continued to roll on offense. Tim Hardaway Jr. blasted off with four straight three-pointers and the lead swelled to an alarming 48 points.
Dereck Lively II was a force all game, finishing with 11 points and 12 rebounds (7 offensive). Hardaway finished with 15 points and Dante Exum 10.
Sam Hauser found some positivity in this game, finishing with 15 points. Jrue Holiday added ten but also turned the ball over five times.
Boston, who suffered their first road loss of this postseason, will need to regain some of their physicality if they are to secure the title in Game 5. Dallas picked up theirs and locked up their defense, too. This was a perfect storm of a game and expect things to be much different on Monday night.
Game 5 is set for Monday June 17 in Boston on ABC. 8:30 p.m. (ET)
photo credit: Flickr
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