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In Game 4, the Dallas Mavericks handed the Boston Celtics a historic beating. Although the Mavericks’ 38-point loss should not worry Boston too much, it did offer them optimism. Regardless of how you interpret that unexpected Game 4 outcome, Dallas deserves praise for putting on an all-time effort to prevent a sweep.
Now that the series has returned to Boston, the odds on the Celtics to win Game 5 and capture the franchise’s 18th championship are in their favor. However, there is cause for optimism that the Mavericks can continue this series and attempt a stunning comeback, even if it is only a glimmer.
Derrick White put it best when he called Dallas’s performance against Boston in Game 4 “an ass-kicking.” And in that situation, you would think the team battling to survive the season would go all out. However, nobody could have expected that the Celtics, who were probably already considering lifting the Larry O’Brien trophy on Friday night, would collapse with such spectacular abandon.
The Mavericks’ tenacious defense, according to Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla, forced Boston into a state of indecision that led to bad shot selection and mistakes. However, that’s simply one of the reasons the Mavericks have been so successful, and the club may draw on it as they attempt to mount 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.
1. Dereck Lively II everywhere, all at once 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 difference maker as Boston rained 3s and shot ridiculously well at the rim, and his aggressiveness in crashing the offensive glass was more like a footnote and not an important touchstone in Dallas’ effort. But Game 4 came on like a tsunami, where Lively finished with 11 points and 12 rebounds, seven of which were on the offensive glass. On his first two buckets, he took advantage of Boston pretty much ignoring him on offense with Jayson Tatum guarding him.
Although Lively will undoubtedly continue to take threes, the fact that he knocked one down indicates that he can also shoot from beyond the field. In those circumstances, the Mavericks can profit from his second try, a lob from Kyrie Irving during a transition.
The Mavericks need to find any edge they can get against the Celtics, and with Boston not having a ton of size, especially with Kristaps Porzingis still injured, they need to put more pressure on Tatum guarding Lively. With Boston lacking size, Lively became more aggressive in rebounding on the offensive glass, taking advantage of guys like Tatum and Derrick White trying to box him out.
He also showed growth in defending in space against the five-out Celtics offense, something he struggled with through the first three games, which is why Boston got whatever it wanted at the rim or from 3-point range. Despite still coming off the bench, Lively played 22 minutes to Daniel Gafford’s 10 minutes of action, showing that head coach Jason Kidd is leaning on the rookie more and more to be their de facto center in important moments.
Lively’s aggressive play is certainly sustainable for Game 5, and while he may not knock down another unlikely 3-pointer, if Porzingis isn’t playing, he’ll have free reign to get the Mavericks second-chance opportunities and make Boston pay for ignoring him on offense.
2. Luka Doncic’s renewed commitmentDoncic was held to the fire for his uncaring defensive effort through the first three games of the Finals. The criticism reigned the loudest after Dallas’ loss in Game 3, so extra attention was paid to how he would respond in a win-or-go-home situation. He certainly heard the criticism, and what we saw was a committed Doncic on defense, who came away with three steals. He was moving his feet, not letting guys blow past him with ease and was keeping his head down. Previously, he was giving Boston several 5-on-4 situations by jawing with the referees.
As much as Doncic does on offense, he still needs to put in effort on defense, and when he does, Dallas plays significantly better on that end of the floor, especially when he’s holding himself accountable. It shouldn’t have taken for him to be shamed into playing defense, and the Mavericks in a 3-0 hole, before he began to move his feet and not leave his teammates out to dry, but it’s better late then never. Doncic isn’t going to be a lockdown defender, but just by simply putting in the effort, he’s already putting the Mavericks in a better position to at least give themselves a chance to win and keep extending this series.
3. Defensive-minded rotation
One obvious shift from Kidd in Game 3 was Josh Green, Dante Exum, and Maxi Kleber playing longer minutes than Jakeen Hardy. Kleber concluded the game with a plus-25 box score, easily his greatest performance of the playoffs. He had an effect on defense and ended the first half with a tremendous 3-pointer that turned the tide of the game.
The same can be said of Exum, who knocked down two triples, and gave the Mavericks a bigger, more versatile guard to have on the floor than Hardy. When Exum is on the floor, the Mavericks play with a bit of a quicker pace, and while his offense isn’t always reliable, when he can contribute on that end of the floor, it becomes a no brainer to have him out there because of his defense.
He and Kleber do so much of the little things that help make the Mavericks a cohesive unit on defense. And really, above all else, they’re just more reliable defenders than trotting out Hardy and Tim Hardaway Jr.
We’ll have to see if this game plan sticks heading into Game 5, but it felt as though Kidd found what worked in Game 4 from a rotation standpoint. If Kleber and Exum can provide a boost offensively, then their minutes are equally valuable for all of the positive stuff they do on defense. If they can’t be impactful on offense, then Kidd will likely go back to Hardy, and maybe even Hard away after that barn burner he put on in garbage time.
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