By Dorothy J. Gentry
Sports Editor
Photos: Charles ‘City” Gbadebo
It was a different Dallas Mavericks team that showed up Friday night at American Airlines Center in Game 4 of the NBA Finals.
With their backs against the wall, the Mavs came out swinging, knocking out the Boston Celtics en route to a 122-84 beatdown. They went into the game down 0-3 to a Celtics team that could have easily wound up celebrating its 18th championship on the Mavs’ home floor.
Instead, the Mavs avoided the sweep by the Celtics by playing defense, offense, and with a mixture of fun and desperation.
Doncic, who fouled out in Game 3 on Wednesday, finished the night with 29 points, 5 assists, 5 rebounds and 3 steals. During his postgame comments he continued preaching belief.
“It doesn’t change anything,” Doncic said of winning Game 4 and earning a trip back to Boston. “Like I said at the beginning of this series, it’s first to four. And we’re gonna believe to the end.
“So, we gotta keep going. I have big belief in this team that we can do it so we just gotta keep believing.”
Mavs rookie Dereck Lively had the highlight of the night when he hit a 3-pointer off an assist from Donicic to extend the Mavs lead. Lively’s 3-pointer was his first of the season. He had previously only attempted 2 in the regular season and had attempted none in the playoffs thus far.
“It was for her,” he said as he pointed to the sky. “Her” is his mom, Kathy Drysdale, who passed away in April after an 11-year cancer battle. She was 53.
“She helped me make it. She will help me make a lot more. She helped me at the free throw line. I’m just thankful to have Luka pass me the ball in that position. I’m happy I knocked it down. Just gotta be able to make the next one,” he said.
Lively finished the night with 11 points and 12 rebounds.
A lot of first, records and highlights came out of Friday’s pivotal Game 4. Among them:
- The Mavericks’ 38-point margin of victory is the third largest in an NBA Finals game, behind the Chicago Bulls’ 42-point victory over the Utah Jazz (96-54) in Game 3 in 1998 and the Celtics’ 39-point victory over the Los Angeles Lakers (131-92) in Game 6 in 2008.
- The Mavericks scored 122 points in Game 4 after averaging 95.3 points in the first three games of the NBA Finals. They had at least 100 points for the first time in the series.
- Dallas led by 26 points at halftime (61-35), the fourth-largest halftime lead in an NBA Finals game.
- The Mavericks are the sixth team (out of 15) to win Game 4 of the NBA Finals when trailing the series 3-0.
- Mavericks guard Tim Hardaway Jr. made five three-pointers in the fourth quarter, tied for the second-most threes by a player in an NBA Finals quarter in the play-by-play era (since the 1997-98 season). The most three-pointers made in an NBA Finals quarter during that span is six by the Golden State Warriors’ Stephen Curry against the Celtics in the first quarter of Game 1 in 2022.
- The Celtics’ franchise-record 10-game playoff winning streak was snapped. Boston lost a game for the first time since Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals against the Cleveland Cavaliers on May 9.
- Boston lost a road game for the first time in the 2024 NBA Playoffs (7-1). If the Celtics had won Game 4, they would have tied the 2000-01 Lakers for the longest playoff road winning streak in a season (eight).
- The Celtics scored a season-low 84 points. Their regular-season low was 91 points (at Milwaukee Bucks on April 9), and their previous playoff low was 94 points against the Cavaliers on May 9.
- The Celtics scored 35 points or fewer in a half for the first time since a regular-season game at the Philadelphia 76ers on Jan. 14, 2022.
With the Mavs Game 4 win and another trip to Boston on the horizon, the team still has an uphill battle – but not impossible. Entering the 2024 NBA Finals, teams that win the first three games of a best-of-seven playoff series (any round) have a series record of 156-0. In the NBA Finals, teams that win the first three games have a series record of 14-0.
The 2016 Cleveland Cavaliers – a team that featured LeBron James and Kyrie Irving – were down 3-1 in the NBA Finals to the Golden State Warriors. They galvanized the troops and rattled off three wins in a row enroute to the Championship that year.
The Mavs now find themselves down 3-1 to the Boston Celtics and are looking to make history. And it all started with Friday night’s pivotal Game 4 win.
“It was either this or go on vacation,” said Head Coach Jason Kidd of the Mavs finally showing the grit and fight that landed them in the Finals.
Game 5 is Monday in Boston and will air at 8:30 p.m. Eastern on ABC.
Dorothy Gentry is an award-winning journalist, PR pro and educator. A University of North Texas alum, she is the Sports Editor for Texas Metro News, Garland Journal and I Messenger.
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