Mavericks need a solution in the NBA Finals

BOSTON (AP):

When the Boston Celtics make a ton of three-pointers, forget it. They’re probably not going to lose.

That was surely something the Dallas Mavericks understood before Game 1 of the NBA Finals – and if they, or anyone else, somehow were unaware of that fact, it was on full display in the opener.

The Celtics made 16 threes, outscoring the Mavericks by 27 points from long range, in their 107-89 victory on Thursday night. Game 2 is tomorrow night in Boston.

“We’ve got to be better,” Mavericks coach Jason Kidd said. “Nerves or not being in this situation, we can’t use that as an excuse. It’s just basketball, and we’ve got to be better at the game of basketball on Sunday.”

And it’ll start with doing a better job on threes – either making more, giving up fewer, or both. Consider these trends for the Celtics this season:

When making 16 or more threes, Boston are 51-6. When making 15 or under, the Celtics are 26-14. That’s still a very good mark, but at least opponents have a realistic chance of winning when that happens.

When the Celtics make more threes than their opponents, they’re 61-5. When they don’t, they’re 16-15, basically a coin-flip to see who wins.

When the Celtics make at least four more threes than their opponents, they’re 49-3.

When factoring in both the regular season and the playoffs, not only have Boston made more threes than anyone else (1,572 so far this season, 24 away from matching the league’s total-season mark the Celtics set last year), but the Celtics also have a better percentage this season than any other club.

“I think they are the best three-point shooting team in the NBA, so sometimes (it’s) really hard to take those away,” Mavericks guard Luka Doncic said. “Especially when they have five guys out and they can all shoot. Obviously, we’ve got to make more.”

And it was a team effort for the Celtics in Game 1. That has to be what makes it doubly scary for Dallas – because just about everyone in Boston’s rotation was part of the prowess from deep.

Jayson Tatum and Derrick White each made three threes, while five other Celtics each made two. It was only the seventh time in NBA playoff history that seven teammates made at least two threes a game; it was the second such instance for Boston in this year’s playoffs, and the first time it ever happened in an NBA Finals.

“They are going to make some threes at times, but we want to make them tough,” Mavericks guard Kyrie Irving said. “When they are at home, they shoot incredibly well.”