This is a well-known pattern this season. A defense thinks it can hold its own against the Celtics then, in a few moments, the shots rain down, the baskets come one after the other and the gap quickly grows. Very quickly. This was the case for the Mavericks, at the end of the first act of Game 1, when Boston went 15-2 to conclude the first quarter.
Kristaps Porzingis hit hard, Jaylen Brown and Sam Hauser followed at 3-pointers during this sequence. Dallas was already on one knee after just twelve minutes (37-20), drowned out by the seven winning baskets from Joe Mazzulla's troops.
“They struck first, and we were down by 17 points. That’s not us, taking 37 points in the first quarter”, regrets Kyrie Irving. “We must do better to make their lives more difficult. They made a lot of 3-pts. »
Do more and better in defense
And so 16 in total, out of 42 attempts. The Celtics therefore shot at 38% success behind the arc when the Mavs were blocked at 7/27 (26%). One of the explanations of the Celtic victory is found here.
“We must not take 3-pts. That’s what hurt us the most.”began a not very talkative Luka Doncic (as always after defeats) in a press conference. “They're the best 3-point team in the league so sometimes it's difficult to limit them. Especially when all five players on the floor can shoot. »
When we look in detail, the Texans sometimes contested the shots made by the Celtics well, especially in the first half. But we still need to do a little more… “We have to do better to contest certain 3-point shots”assures PJ Washington. “They had a lot of shots in the first quarter, we should have done better on defense. »
“They took 27 3-pointers in the first half and scored 11. We have to do better”summarizes Jason Kidd laconically, in the form of a conclusion.
