Dallas had a season low in assists and its lowest-scoring outing of this postseason in losing the NBA Finals opener to Boston on Thursday.
BOSTON — On the Dallas Mavericks‘ fourth possession, superstar guard Luka Doncic tossed a look-ahead pass to P.J. Washington that led to a dunk. It was Doncic’s lone assist of Game 1.
Dallas‘ entire team had only nine assists in the 107-89 loss Thursday to the Boston Celtics.
Not coincidentally, the Mavs had their lowest-scoring outing of this postseason in the NBA Finals opener.
„We’ve got to move the ball,“ Mavs coach Jason Kidd said. „The ball just stuck too much. And we’ll be better in Game 2.“
The Celtics, the league’s second-ranked defense this season, succeeded in defending Doncic and his co-star, Kyrie Irving, without double-teaming. Doncic finished with 30 points on 12-of-26 shooting. Irving had an off night while primarily being guarded by six-time All-Defensive selection Jrue Holiday, getting held to 12 points on 6-of-19 shooting with a team-high two assists.
