NBA Finals Game 4: Luka Doncic’s Dallas Mavericks avert whitewash with rout of Celtics
- Dallas show life in extending series after Boston were the dominant team while winning first three games
Luka Doncic scored 25 of his 29 points in the first half, Kyrie Irving added 21 points and the Dallas Mavericks avoided a sweep with a 122-84 rout of the Boston Celtics in Game 4 of the NBA Finals.
The series shifts back to Boston for Game 5 on Monday as the Celtics will look to close it out at home. However, Dallas showed life in extending the series after Boston were the dominant team while winning the first three games of the best-of-seven series.
The script flipped in Game 4. Doncic and the Mavericks got off to a fast start and did not look back. Doncic started a 10-0 spurt in the first quarter with a floater and closed it with a driving lay-up as Dallas took a 25-14 lead with 3:19 left in the period. That early run was a sign of things to come.
Dallas had a 34-21 lead by the end of the first quarter, scoring the final six points on three-pointers by Irving and PJ Washington.
The Mavericks kept pouring it on. They doubled up the Celtics 50-25 on a lay-up by Irving at the 5:16 mark of the second quarter. To close the half, Maxi Kleber drilled a corner three-pointer off an assist by Doncic. That gave Dallas a 61-35 lead at the break.
The Mavericks shot 52.3 per cent from the field compared to the Celtics’ 29.7 per cent in the opening half. Dallas also won the rebounding battle 29-13 over the opening 24 minutes.