Yaron Weitzman
Fox Sports NBA writer
Heading into the NBA Finals, and after watching the Dallas Mavericks blow it out in the Western Conference Playoffs, the Boston Celtics made a bet. Instead of trying to take the ball out of the hands of the Mavericks’ two dynamic playmakers, they would force it into their hands.
The premise of the bet was simple. For one thing, the Celtics believed the Mavs were more dangerous when the entire team was playing well, not just Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving. They also believed their core group was strong enough defenders that the Celtics could execute a strategy of letting both Doncic and Irving score. And Stopping Dončić and Irving from being aggressive and winning many games single-handedly.
“We’re just trying to put pressure on those guys, be as physical as we can, a whole team effort,” Celtics wing Jaylen Brown told reporters Sunday night. “Just keep getting touches to them. That’s it.”
So far, that gamble has worked. The Mavs entered the Finals with a 115.2 offensive rating, a typical rate. In the first two games of the series, that figure has dropped to 100, with the Celtics — after a 105-98 win Sunday night, their eighth consecutive victory — now holding a 2-0 series lead. Game 3 is Wednesday night in Dallas.
There are many reasons for the Celtics’ hot start. Jaylen Brown (21 points, seven assists, three blocks) is playing the best basketball of his life. Kristaps Porzingis has repeatedly harassed the Mavericks in the mid-post and kept the rim off the wall. Jayson Tatum is consistently making his way into the paint. But somewhere high up on the list is that Irving has so far failed to punish the Celtics for guarding him one-on-one.
Irving finished Game 2 with 16 points and six assists. It wasn’t a terrible performance, but it wasn’t good enough. He was inefficient, making just 7 of 18 shots from the field. In the first two games of this series, he has scored just 28 points on 35 percent shooting and has failed all eight of his deep looks. What may be most notable is that he has attempted just two free throws.
How disappointing has Kyrie Irving been in the NBA Finals?
“I’m a little disappointed in myself that I wasn’t able to capitalize on the opportunities I had in the lane,” Irving told reporters after the game. “Obviously, I’ll play against Jrue Holiday and Jaylen Brown on some occasions, but I feel like I had the upper hand on some occasions where I just had to capitalize.”
Dončić, meanwhile, has 62 points and 12 assists on 51 percent shooting in the first two games of the series. He’s done his job. Irving hasn’t done it yet.
When was the last time we saw him have so much trouble moving like this — even against a great defender?
And when was the last time an opponent felt comfortable leaving a hulking center alone on an island with Irving?
The Mavericks’ offense is based on the idea that Doncic and Irving can repeatedly break down the defense, triggering rotations and scrambles. That leads to easy, rhythmic jumpers or cuts or rim-runs for the supporting cast.
When those breakdowns disappear, so do the corner triples and alley-oops that carried the Mavericks to the Finals. Instead, players like PJ Washington and Derrick Jones Jr. are sent up to line up spots for deep, above-the-breaks, out-of-rhythm triples, an area neither excels in. The non-donkick Mavericks were only able to launch 17 three-pointers, and they drilled just two of them. The Mavs have also only hit one alley-oop in their two games against the Celtics, while averaging nearly four per game before entering the Finals.
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“It wasn’t all on me, but I definitely took the majority of it because my teammates expected me to convert these shots and take the load off of not only Luka but everybody else and organize our team,” Irving said. “Offensively, I have to play better.”
Irving really came out strong in Game 1. On the Mavericks’ second possession of the game, he found Derrick White behind the line for a lay-up. Two minutes later, he hit a long jumper. Two more lay-ups in the first quarter gave him eight points.
The Celtics did a better job of sitting on Irving’s right end the rest of the game. “Pushed me a little bit more to my left end,” he said. They’re also showing once again why they were the second-best defensive team in the league this year. Irving is far from the first guard to be locked down by the Derrick White-Jrue Holiday backcourt. Credit must also be given to the Celtics for collapsing on Irving in the paint and using their size and length to take away his passing lanes.
And yet, despite it all, Irving managed to hit some nice shots.
“They had great looks,” Mavericks head coach Jason Kidd said. “They just didn’t go down.”
That’s fine for one game. Maybe two. But with the way the Celtics are playing, there’s no room for error. Either Irving turns things around now, or the Mavericks will be watching the Celtics celebrate a title on their home field.
Yaron Weitzman is an NBA writer for Fox Sports and Getting to the top: The Philadelphia 76ers and the boldest process in the history of professional sports. Follow him on Twitter @yaronweitzman,
Kyrie Irving
Dallas Mavericks
National Basketball Association
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