NBA Finals: Boston Celtics take 2-0 lead against Dallas Mavericks

The Boston Celtics defeated the Dallas Mavericks 105-98 on Sunday night to grab a 2-0 lead in the NBA Finals. Jrue Holiday led the team with 26 points and 11 rebounds, while Jayson Tatum made up for a poor shooting night with 12 assists and nine rebounds.

Less than two hours before the first tip-off, Luka Doncic was labeled as doubtful to participate. However, he finished with 32 points, 11 rebounds, and 11 assists, recording the first-ever triple-double in Mavericks team history.

With 28 seconds remaining, he missed a one-footed, running floater from 3-point range, negating Dallas' final opportunity to rally. Game 3 is scheduled for Wednesday night in Dallas.

To avoid a whitewash and earn a trip back to the Boston Garden, where local fans are already reserving spaces in the rafters for what would be an incredible 18th NBA championship banner, the Mavericks must win then or in Game 4 on Friday.

For the ninth time in the NBA Finals, the Celtics prevailed in the first two games.

They have won the last eight and have never needed to go to a seventh game in any of those victories.

For the top-seeded Boston team, Jaylen Brown scored 21 points, Tatum had 18, and Derrick White added 18 points.

Kristaps Porzingis hobbled to 12 points in the game. The Celtics were 10 for 39 from long range overall; Tatum was 6 for 22 from the field and 1 of 7 from 3-point range.

Kyrie Irving scored 16 points; he has lost 12 straight games against the Celtics and has been the target of hostility from the local fans ever since he ended his 2019 season in Boston.

The Mavericks now host two games as they aim to tie up the series.