An overall team effort on offense and defense helped the Celtics advance to Game 3 in Dallas with a 2-0 lead.
The Boston Celtics, fueled by Jrue Holiday’s 26 points, thwarted a desperate Dallas rally in the final minutes to beat the Mavericks 105-98 and take a 2-0 lead in the NBA Finals.
Early three-point struggles plagued the Celtics on Sunday, but their all-around effort on both ends of the court carried them to a second straight home victory. They travel to Dallas for Game 3 on Wednesday with a sizable lead.
Jaylen Brown scored 21 points and Jayson Tatum added 18 points, nine rebounds and 12 assists.
Holiday credited Tatum for keeping the Celtics’ offense going despite a rough shooting night in which Tatum made just six of 22 shots with just one 3-pointer.
“I would say a lot of it was JT,” Holiday said.
“They were double-teaming him and he was making the right play. The way he played tonight, the way he ran us, getting into the paint, making plays, finding me wide open – it was all on him.” , Holiday added.
Injured Mavericks star Luka Doncic – now nursing a chest contusion in addition to the sprained right knee and sore left ankle that troubled him throughout the playoffs – had a 32-point triple-double , 11 rebounds and 11 assists.
But he didn’t get enough help from his supporting cast.
PJ Washington scored 17 points and eight-time All-Star Kyrie Irving scored 16 – connecting on seven of 18 shots and missing all three of his three-point attempts.
Doncic said turnovers and missed free throws were also key. He made eight of the Mavericks’ 15 turnovers and Dallas made just 16 of its 24 free throws. The Celtics made 19 of 20 from the foul line.
“At the end of the day, we have to make a few more shots,” Doncic said. “I think my turnovers and missed free throws cost us the game, so I need to do a lot better in those two categories.
“But at the end of the day, we have to make shots to win the game.”
The pressure will be back on in Dallas, with Boston undefeated on the road in the playoffs.
“At the end of the day, it’s basketball, away or home,” Doncic said. “We just have to play better basketball to win.”
The Mavericks, trailing by 14 with less than four minutes remaining, made one last effort and cut the deficit to five with 1:15 left, Doncic driving for a layup and converting the free throw when he been the victim of a mistake.
Boston’s Derrick White made a monster block on Washington and Brown made a layup as the Celtics closed it out.
Dallas, who absorbed a punch from the Celtics in the first quarter of Game 1 and could never recover, came out with energy and determination on the defensive end.
Doncic scored 13 points in the first quarter and Irving scored eight.
The Celtics, who made seven 3-pointers in the first quarter Thursday, failed to hit from long range until Al Horford connected in the final seconds of the period and Dallas led by 28 -25 after one.
Tatum trailed with a layup early in the second, then found Kristaps Porzingis for a pull-up and fed Derrick White for a 3-pointer that gave the Celtics their first lead of the game, 36- 35, with 8:01 to play. in the second trimester. Boston emerged from this back-and-forth with a 54-51 halftime lead.
A 10-0 run put the Celtics in control in the third period and, with everyone involved, they quietly exploited their advantage.
“Very, very proud of our group,” Celtics veteran Horford said. “We understood that we had to protect the playing field. We knew they were going to be more aggressive. We were able to resist their runs and protect our home.
The only bad news of the night for Boston was an apparent injury to center Porzingis, who played in Game 1 after returning from a 38-day layoff with a calf injury.
Porzingis appeared to injure his leg midway through the fourth quarter and left after limping for a few more minutes.
However, Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla said he had “zero” concerns that Porzingis suffered a serious setback.
