Mavericks vs Celtics Game 2 Thoughts — Adjusting to Luka, Tatum’s Playmaking, Mavericks Finding their Offense?

So, we did get a more competitive game in the NBA finals. Only ever so slightly, though. Despite the score being much closer than what it was in game or that the Dallas Mavericks did have a 7-point lead at one point, or still having one final lead to start the second half, the Boston Celtics felt like they were in constant control

For the most part, this game was similar to what it was like in game one. Many of the main schematic tidbits, how each team went about whatever they were doing, and how this game ended were pretty much the same.

It involved a lot of mismatch hunting from the Celtics, picking apart anyone in front of the ball. The Mavericks showed some more resilience on defense with the initial rotations but still found themselves in such positions too often. That’s why the Celtics continued to shoot over 60% from 2pt.

The Mavericks on offense did look better offensively(well, some did) and that was mainly because they(Luka Doncic) hit the play better button and made more shots. That adjustment from Doncic did force slight adjustments from the Celtics.

There were signs of good for the Mavericks because of it on the offensive end, but not anything “that” significant or good enough to offset whatever is still happening on the defensive end.

Just keeping track:

So, let’s go through a whole bunch of things that stood out to me!

Mavericks offense, Celtics defense

Let’s start with the positives. They also shot extremely well from inside the arc — shot 59%, including 18/22 at the rim. Things were better. Though, I also wouldn’t say solved or exploited anything when thinking about the series overall.

It all started with Doncic playing better by making the shots he missed in game one:

This is the exact defensive scheme that the Celtics were running against him. They were giving up those switches. They didn’t allow his pick-and-roll game to punish them. They weren’t giving up the corner 3s. The only difference is that Doncic was hitting everything. That’s why he had 13 points in the quarter, but still only had one assist. That continued until it didn’t.

That’s where we did see an adjustment from the Celtics. They did kind of blink. They were starting to send more help than what we’ve seen from them in game one:

There are straight-up doubles being sent. There were identical possessions with Doncic going into the post vs either Derrick White or Jrue Holiday where early on, they didn’t send help. But as the game went on, they did come to double or at least show enough help to be in his vision.

Even later in the game, it did feel like they were sending and showing a lot more help in the paint to discourage him from getting a shot off. That didn’t happen in game one where they were opening up those looks.

HE GENERATED A CORNER 3 MULTIPLE TIMES!

There was definitely a shift in how they wanted to approach defending Doncic. But they still didn’t give up a lot. As much as of the shift was, their base was still the same thing. It still didn’t open up any other looks or allow the Mavericks to put them in rotation, but this is a start.

Here’s a thread going through those adjustments individually!

Another thing from Doncic that was fun to see is him working away from the ball.

Not just starting off the ball to get into on-ball actions but just getting shots out of it too. I don’t remember the last time I’ve seen Doncic have this kind of play where he’s actively moving away from the ball. He had a great cut when he was getting overplayed by Brown and he pushed him to cut to the basket.

One of the things that did continue to work, though, and even more in this game, is going at Kristaps Porzingis in the pick-and-roll. They found a lot more success going at it and it did create a bunch of good looks.

Kyrie Irving had a couple of good drives himself. Doncic had the open pull-ups. But more importantly, they were beginning to put 2 on the ball. I don’t think I’ve seen a Dereck Lively short roll-making decision in game one.

Having the PNR game be anything else than simply a switch-and-go attack in isolation with poor spacing, is a first win that could lead to something more. The whole point needs to be to force the Celtics to blink on defense to open up so many more pressure points because outside of the small difference in how they were treating Doncic, everything remained the same.

Outside of that, the biggest “main” thing, the Mavericks needs more out of Irving. The offensive load can’t just fall on Doncic creating shots for himself. They’re also playing a similar defense vs Irving, where they’re not sending as much help(though, he’s seeing it differently in my view).

They also looked to go into this more often:

They used Gafford more as a scorer. One way was through Irving’s PNR. He did a good at sealing the switch inside near the rim. Or in the second half, they were feeding the ball to him against Jayson Tatum and Derrick White in the post. This could be one of the options to go into, especially if he’s being guarded by the wings.

But still, the Celtics are playing the same kind of defense and it’s working. The Mavericks again couldn’t crack 100 points and couldn’t get any of their 3pt shooting going. And even with their poor shooting, I don’t see that having a significant impact.

Until the Mavericks continue to make shots that they are given — those isolations for Doncic and Irving. And until Irving plays better. And until they take care more of the ball. And until they beat guys off dribble to put them in rotation. This will continue to be a win for the Celtics.

Because everyone on the team is playing hard on defense. I don’t think I’ve seen a single liability. Everyone is doing their job as well as they can and that is the wildest thing about all of this.

And one of the players that I’m most impressed with is Porzingis.

He continues to be a highly impactful defender and just giving it all on that end. He hustles back in transition, has had many great recoveries, and is continuing to take anything away from the rim. The Celtics are over 16pts better on defense with him than not!

Celtics’ offense, Mavericks defense

The Mavericks did look better on defense and it did feel that the effort and the rotations were much better. And somehow it still didn’t matter with the Celtics shooting over 60% inside the arc. They still cooked at the rim. They still got whatever they wanted. They were still dominating offensively without the 3pt shooting.

The Celtics on offense are almost perfect. Whenever they look to attack in isolation, they’re getting those dribble penetrations almost every single time

Look how easy all of that is. They’re just walking by everyone to the rim and there’s no resistance. That is just the beauty of their offense. All of the little details are nailed too.

They exploited defenders. They organized each matchup and player to be in positions that maximize everyone and pressure the defense even more.

Watch who is looking to help on those drives. It’s usually either Doncic or Irving. That is just smart basketball to have the weakest rim protectors be rim protectors. At the same time, that also means the bigs are on the perimeter who aren’t the best at point-of-attack defense.

Everything with their offense feels planned to exploit everything.

Here’s the kind of looks that they’ve been able to generate:

The Celtics had absolutely zero issues of generating good offense and that’s with them missing good, open looks from 3pt. I honestly haven’t seen much of major issues with their offense.

That’s a lie.

There’s one and it’s happened in each game so far in the first few minutes of the third quarter. It looks like the Celtics come out of the locker room with the Monstars taking their basketball IQ. Not their skillset or ability, but everyone’s IQ. That 3–4 min stretch where they go scoreless, settle for bad shots, drain clock, and have no purpose whatsoever is one of the most confusing things to me. But they did bounce back each time and remembered what worked for them.

Finally, we’re still seeing Tatum struggling to score but his passing and decision-making has been on display and that has been great:

His scoring woes shouldn’t be ignored. He’s taking a lot of shots and missing a lot of shots. Some are just bad shots being taken. Some are open shots being missed. I don’t even know what this is. He’s not asked to create against elite defenders, but the shots haven’t been falling.

Nevertheless, his passing has been the bright spot. I’ve gone through all of these passes here!

What stands out a lot is his decision-making and how fast he makes those decisions as he draws a lot of help because he’s still seeing so many bodies everywhere. Some of the passes may look simple and I think that’s also the point. It’s a simple, good read instead of a dribble-dribble, stepback middy over a defender’s face.

Everyone else is still contributing(outside of shots falling from deep). Holiday is taking advantage on cuts and his amazing off-ball movement. Brown is getting what he wants at the rim. And Porzingis is still getting his whenever they switch a smaller guy on him.

Vibes are good on offense for the Celtics and it kind of just makes the analysis or a discussion about it pretty straightforward.

Though, there’s one thing to mention. Many people are saying that they’re not playing isolation basketball or that they’re playing the right way by moving the ball as opposed to the Mavericks. That may look the case because of what is actually going on in the end. How the Celtics end up getting points does come in a way of elite movement and fun basketball.

But almost half of the offense starts with an isolation. Their offense is created with a Tatum or Brown drive after picking on Doncic, as they hunt for mismatches. They’re almost always taking him off the dribble. There’s extra help showing in gaps and there’s a big that’s rotating. Viola. Now, you have the rotations happening.

That is almost the same what happens with the Mavericks, with how they start…but they don’t see the extra help or get the rotation because there’s no need. The Celtics don’t have to put themselves in positions to overhelp and rotate to allow kicks and passes for no reason.

That is the difference.

With the series now heading to Dallas, maybe they’ll play better at home in front of their own crowd. Maybe this is the game where we will see Maxi Kleber or PJ Washington combine for 10 3s. That would definitely help within a game.

There needs to be a better effort defensively. No matter what happens on offense, they can’t just get cooked that easily on defense every single time. Their chances of winning start there.

I’ve mentioned at the end of game one thoughts that their offense has more solutions available and there are more ways of going around that. They did find some success with Doncic drawing a different kind of approach from the defense. They continued to attack the PNR which opened up different looks. Now, if they can get some good 3-point shooting and Irving showing up, they’re in a much better spot offensively.

Everything else will just come down to the defense… but I’m worried that won’t happen.