The Dallas Mavericks avoided an NBA Finals sweep with an emphatic Game 4 win over the Boston Celtics. Dallas sent the series back to Boston with a 122-84 rout on Friday night.
Following the victory, Mavericks head coach Jason Kidd praised his team’s effort to keep Boston’s champagne on ice.
“Our group was ready to go,” Kidd said, via MassLive’s Matt Vautour. “They were ready to celebrate. Understand, we made a stand. We were desperate.”
Kidd implored his team to keep its foot on the accelerator while suggesting the Celtics may have quickly set their attention to the next game.
“We got to continue to keep playing that way; understand they’re trying to find a way to close the door,” Kidd said. “The hardest thing in this league is to close the door when you have a group that has nothing to lose. Tonight you saw that. They let go of the rope pretty early.”
After winning 10 straight playoff games, the Celtics shot just 36.3 percent while allowing the Mavericks to make more than half (50.5) of their field goals. Boston committed 13 turnovers and ceded 13 offensive rebounds, seven from Derrick Lively II.
Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown each tallied their lowest point totals of the postseason with 15 and 10, respectively.
Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla didn’t seem to disagree with Kidd’s assessment when saying the Mavericks “just played harder” in Game 4.
“You have to prepare to put yourself in the best possible position, but it doesn’t guarantee anything,” Mazzulla said. “At the end of the day, we have to just maintain our process and get ready for Game 5.”
Dallas will look to delay Boston’s celebration again beyond Monday’s Game 5, which starts at 8:30 p.m. ET on ABC.
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