By SCHUYLER DIXON AP Sports Writer
DALLAS — Luka Doncic’s message is simple for the struggling 3-point shooters around him, and with Dallas trailing Boston 2-0 while coming home for the NBA Finals.
“Just one thing: Keep shooting,” the Mavericks superstar said. “We all believe in those shots. That’s how we came to the Finals. That’s how we played the whole season. We believe in those guys.”
Dallas faces several daunting numbers going into Game 3 on Wednesday night.
The Celtics are on a nine-game playoff winning streak, a franchise record in pursuit of an NBA-best 18th banner. Just five of the previous 36 teams to face this deficit (14%) have come back to win the title.
One number has to change for the Mavs to rally. Players not named Doncic are 5 for 32 from behind the arc, with co-star Kyrie Irving misfiring on all eight attempts.
When it comes to 3-pointers, the supporting cast is just about as important as Irving. P.J. Washington Jr., a catalyst for the deep playoff run with his deep ball and defense, is 1 for 8. Derrick Jones Jr. is 1 for 5.
Doncic, who is 8 for 21 from deep, is the only Dallas player with more than one bucket from 3-point range. His role-playing partners have to figure out how to produce without forcing things.
“I think it’s just taking good shots, taking open ones,” said Washington, who shot 47% from behind the arc in a second-round victory over top-seeded Oklahoma City but is at 23% since then. “Obviously, we haven’t been making shots. We feel pretty good coming home. It’s all about just making open ones, taking open ones.”
Let’s not forget the defense of Jaylen Brown, Jayson Tatum and Jrue Holiday, among others. Boston had the second-best defensive rating in the regular season, and has the size and tenacity on the perimeter to make Doncic and Irving uncomfortable.
While Doncic just had the first playoff triple-double in Dallas history with 32 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists in a 105-98 loss in Game 2, the five-time All-Star has 12 turnovers in the series. Irving is shooting 35% with significantly more shots (37) than points (28).
Brown has guarded both, often picking up Doncic at midcourt and occasionally poking the ball loose for easy buckets the other way.
“He’s been one of the emotional leaders on the team,” Irving said of his former teammate. “Defensively, he’s making it difficult. For the past few years, he’s tried to make his mark on that end. When you take pride in what you do on the defensive end, it’s going to show.”
Dallas has been outscored 39-25 in points off turnovers against a team that struggled with those miscues in a six-game loss to Golden State in the NBA Finals two years ago.
“I sound like I’m repeating myself,” Mavs coach Jason Kidd said. “But if we can take care of the ball and not give them live-ball turnovers where they are not just laying up the ball or dunking, it puts us in a better seat. We’ve got to take care of the ball. That’s the next step in the series.”
Those Celtics had a 2-1 series lead in 2022 before losing three in a row to the Warriors. Part of where they are now started with where they ended up against Steph Curry and company.
“It’s almost like you got to trick your mind almost in a sense,” Brown said. “You almost got to play like you’re down 0-2 rather than up. That’s hard to do.”
Everything about the Finals is new for Doncic, including the 2-0 deficit. Not for Irving, who is in his fourth title series and won his championship with LeBron James and Cleveland in 2016 when the Cavaliers erased a 2-0 deficit against the Warriors.
Or for Kidd, the point guard when Dirk Nowitzki led Dallas to its only championship 11 years ago. Those Mavs won three in a row to close out Miami in six games.
“A lot of it is just a learning curve for myself, for my teammates, and also a peace of mind that we give each other that we want to give ourselves a chance by leaving it all out there on the floor,” Irving said. “That’s literally been the focus since Game 2 ended.”
In this series, Doncic added a chest contusion to the sprained right knee and sore left ankle the 25-year-old has been dealing with most of the playoffs.
The Celtics are facing uncertainty again with Kristaps Porzingis, the 7-foot-2 Latvian who missed 10 consecutive playoff games with a right calf strain before sparking the 107-89 Game 1 win with a dominant first quarter.
Porzingis has what the team called a rare tendon injury in his lower left leg, which was sustained in Game 2. He hasn’t been ruled out in Boston’s pursuit of a commanding series lead.
“Same old, same old,” Brown said. “(Porzingis) has been tremendous for our group, not just in the playoffs, but all season long. It’s obvious him on the floor just helps elevate us to a different level. But … we prepare for these moments to be able to play with or without anyone.”
Porzingis, who hasn’t played a game in Dallas since the Mavericks traded him nearly 2½ years ago, was asked if it was a pain-tolerance issue or if he could do more damage and said he didn’t know the specifics.
“That’s something I’ll leave in the medical staff’s hands to determine whether I can go or not,” he said. “Nothing is going to stop me unless I’m told I’m not to, or not allowed to play. That’s the only reason I would not be out there.”
Porzingis has a tear in tissue that holds tendons in place. The Celtics said it was unrelated to the earlier calf strain.
Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla described it as a “serious injury” and said that the team wouldn’t put Porzingis in any bad situations.
“We’ve taken the decision to play out of his hands because the importance of him,” Mazzulla said. “He’s going to do everything he can to play. We’re going to leave it up to our medical team. That’s really it.”
Porzingis was wearing slides instead of sneakers when he spoke with reporters before practice. He walked with a slight limp and had a black sleeve covering his lower left leg on the off day.
Without elaborating, he said he was having treatment all day and doing whatever the medical staff told him. He wasn’t on the court for the open portion of practice.
“I can’t trick them into allowing me to play,” he said.
Porzingis said he felt something after bumping knees Sunday night with Dallas center Dereck Lively II but kept playing. He left the game in the final minute of the third quarter and played only about 3½ minutes in the fourth.
After the game, Porzingis downplayed any injury concern, saying he was optimistic and would “die out there if we need.”
On Tuesday, he said, “I’m living by those words. … I mean I hope not, but if it comes to that to win, I guess.”
The Celtics know they would be less formidable without him.
“We’re just so much of a better team when we have him. 7-4 unicorn, right? He’s as talented as they come,” Celtics forward Jayson Tatum said. “Yes, we’ve had success and found ways to win without him. Obviously, we’re better when he’s on the team, when he’s out there playing with us.”
TATUM’S STRUGGLES
There have been two versions of Jayson Tatum so far in these NBA Finals.
Version One is shooting a dismal 12 for 38 from the field, just 31.6%, the worst percentage by far of any starter in this series. Version Two is second in the Finals in total rebounds, leads the series in assists and, according to BetMGM Sportsbook, is currently favored to win the NBA Finals MVP award.
Add them up, and the Celtics seem completely satisfied what they’re seeing from Tatum, as usual.
“I understand that I do need to be more efficient,” Tatum said Tuesday. “I do need to shoot the ball better, I would not disagree with anybody on that. But I’m not letting it bother me. I’m still trying to find ways to impact the game and dominate the game in other areas.”
Getting too deep into Tatum’s numbers in this series – or even when adding the 2022 NBA Finals to the totals – isn’t a great idea, simply because of the sample size. He’s been in a total of eight Finals games. It’s not enough to draw conclusions.
That said, while the shooting is almost shockingly bad – no player in the last 60 years, with as many shot attempts as Tatum has all-time in NBA Finals play, has shot worse than his 35.4% clip – he’s on pace to do something historic. If his averages of 17 points, 10 rebounds and 8.5 assists hold up through the rest of the series, he’d be the second player to finish a Finals with those numbers.
The other is LeBron James, who did it four times.
“Criticism is the ultimate beauty,” Mazzulla said. “It’s a sign of ultimate respect. It’s just a beautiful thing. I really love the way Jayson has handled that. It’s just a testament to who he is.”
It is good news for the Mavericks that they’ve done well on Tatum through two games.
The bad news, of course, is that it hasn’t mattered much. Tatum fills up the box score in other ways, and the Celtics won both games at home.
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“He’s one of the best players in the world,” Kidd said. “You’re trying to just make it tough. That’s all you can do, is hopefully guard the first move, guard the second move, guard the third move and contest. Guys are doing that at a high rate, trying to make it tough on him.”
Shooting-wise, these two games in the Finals represent the worst two-game span of Tatum’s season. He was barely better in games against Denver and Houston in mid-January, shooting 31.7% in those.
The next game after that little stretch saw Tatum score 39 points. The Mavericks should know that one well; it was against them. So, they’re likely pretty certain that Tatum’s shooting won’t stay cold for long.
“Over time you learn how to deal with all the extra noise and attention, whether it’s positive or not so positive,” Tatum said. “You know, I’m a fair, smart person. I know when I’m doing things at a high level. I know when I need to do certain things better. So I’m not, like, oblivious to what’s going on. At the same time, just keeping the main thing the main thing and focusing on trying to win the next game. That’s what’s most important at this time.”
AP sports writers Stephen Hawkins and Tim Reynolds contributed to this story.