The strategy that is backbreaking and has been driving Luka Doncic as well as the Dallas Mavericks to the brink in NBA Finals Boston Celtics – ESPN

“He’s definitely got a bull’s-eye on his chest,” Mavericks coach Jason Kidd said. “He’s got to be able to guard and understand that we’re there to protect him and help him if he does get beat.”

Ramona Shelburne, ESPN Senior WriterJun 13, 2024, 09:30 PM

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The picture isn’t attractive from any angle but it is the most memorable image from the NBA Finals. The stunning Luka Doncic is lying on the floor, his legs spread wide, his face irritated and his arms in the air with his palms raised, begging anyone willing to stop that sixth foul and allow the Mavericks the chance to win Game 3.

The third time he was fouled in the five minutes in the 4th quarter and possibly the most accurate call of all. The Mavericks had a moment of rage, contested the call but the call was upheld regardless of how long Doncic was sitting and argue. The game was concluded and it was over. Boston Celtics took an impressive 3-0 lead in the series with a 106-99 win.

Doncic’s rage and his struggle to manage his temper with official will become his lasting impression from this Finals and the game itself.

This is the mountain to climb in the next stage in his NBA career should he achieve the status of a champion and fulfil the promises of his extraordinary talent.

However, there’s another team that’s on the other team, driving him to the dreaded seat on the floorby pounding the Mavericks with an unstoppable assault of 3-pointers unlike anything we’ve seen during the NBA Finals.

56 percentage the shots Boston made during Game 3 were three-point shots which is the highest percentage ever recorded in the history of an NBA Finals game. They’ve scored 43 3-pointers during the series, which is nearly twice as many as the Mavericks who scored 22. The plus-21 margin is the biggest of any three-game stretch in the history of Finals.

This is simply math. Cold, hard math. Three is better than two. The more 3s you have the greater your advantage will increase, as long as you can shoot a decent rate, which is what the Celtics have managed to do (barely) with 34 percent (down from 38.8 percent in their regular-season run).

While the math is easy but it has expanded the Mavericks almost beyond their limits.

The numerous instances of Doncic flapping around, complaining, and then slowlyfuriously returning to defense, could be the most memorable image, however, others have mirrored the same sequence.

P.J. Washington had a similarly angry pose after being dismissed for an offensive violation late at the end of fourth quarter, with the Mavericks trying to draw even in the very first game since the beginning of the second quarter. Before he was able to finish pleading his defense the Celtics were racing through the court, and Jrue Holiday was able to drive the lane, then pulled in two defenders, and then found Derrick White on the perimeter to open up a 3 and pushed the lead to the score of 98-92.

White was 3-9 on the field prior to shooting the shot. But he did what Celtics have put their faith in this season, as they have built the most efficient offense in NBA history: He continued shooting.

“I mean I missed a lot in the first half, but they felt good. Back rim. So I just stay confident through the whole year, in that fourth quarter, I’ve shot it really good,” White stated. “I just trust the flow of the game and just take and make good shots.”

The Celtics make use of the phrase “good shots,” all the time. They often refer to shots that are 3 points. This is not an unambiguous analytics-based play similar to the Daryl Morey era Houston Rockets. or an development of the trend that has changed the way offense is played in the NBA over the last two decades.

Boston isn’t home to a superstar shooter such as Stephen Curry or Klay Thompson, whose extraordinary skills behind the 3-point line became the foundation of Golden State’s offensive scheme.

The fact that what Boston is doing as a shooting team is the product of more than a decade’s worth that has been spent building teams, tweaking. A reflection of the road the Celtics have traveled to achieve success with the distinctive yet overlapping abilities of their two upcoming superstars, Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown.

The two players aren’t as powerful offensively as players like Doncic as well as Curry and LeBron James. Each player requires space in order to function. Sometimes, they must switch between scoring or playmaking roles. It’s often an uncomfortable fit. But this season, particularly in the Finals, they’ve “graduated,” as Brown declared during huddles in second half, and moved to a new level.

“We don’t come in and write ‘Let’s take 40 3s’ on the board,” Tatum stated to ESPN following the game. “We simply perform to our strengths each and every night.

“Not to throw other teams under the bus, but a lot of teams kind of struggle with it because they have one or two guys that you can help off on. And we never really have that.”

Boston includes seven players that scored twenty or more three-pointers during this season, which is tied for the most of any team in one playoff season during NBA history.

Everybody can make a 3 and everyone drives and defend. There’s not much defense for a team that is constructed in this way, and the this game is a long period of stress on the defenses of opponents and pushes players like Doncic to breaking point.

“They make it tough,” Kidd said and shook his head. “They will wear on you as the game goes on.”

Boston Coach Joe Mazzulla speaks quickly, with a rhythmic tempo that it’s easy to lose the depth and meaning of his words.

“Anytime you’re developing a new philosophy or a new style, it just takes time for understanding and execution,” the coach said when asked about the number of 3-pointers that the Celtics attempt. “So credit to the guys where we decided how we are going to play, and we fight to do that.”

White has heard enough about Mazzulla’s coach to know what he’s talking about. “The way he sees the game I think is just next-level,” White said to ESPN. “People can say what they want to say. But he sees the game and what advantages we can take, how we can get an advantage and we just make the read off of that.”

Two years ago the Celtics were defeated at the finals against the Golden State Warriors who’s 3-point shooting been the defining factor of the NBA.

It’s tempting for us to view what changes Boston has taken since the loss as a remembrance or response to the loss. However, so much has changed since that time, from the demotion of head coach Ime Udoka, through trades for Marcus Smart, Jrue Holiday and Kristaps Porzingis trades so that the connections blur when you look at it in a simple way.

The Celtics are here because they have been always and thoroughly researching their team and playing on ways to make the most of the potential of their two promising young stars, fuelled by a long-standing devotion to “good shots.”

The result was an assault that has caused Doncic as well as the Mavericks in a tizzy state and flailingas well as the Celtics just one win away from putting up the long-awaited 18th banner on their rafters.