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.
