In Game 4, Jayson Tatum and the Celtics shot 13 of 33 (39.3%) in the paint, by far their worst mark of the season.
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The Dallas Mavericks may have the most talented offensive backcourt we’ve ever seen, but defense is a big reason they’re in the NBA Finals presented by YouTube TV…and a big reason to which the final is not over.
The Mavs were eighth at the trade deadline, then posted a West-best 21-7 record over the next two months to climb to fifth place. The improvement was primarily on defense, with Dallas ranking sixth on that side of the floor, up from 22nd before the additions of Daniel Gafford and PJ Washington.
The Mavs didn’t look like a great defensive team through the first three games of the Finals, even though the Boston Celtics scored less efficiently than in each of the previous two rounds. Dallas defenders were constantly getting beaten off dribbles, with those breakdowns leading to quality shots.
Then, with their season on the line, the Mavs finally played championship-level defense in Game 4 on Friday. When Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla pulled his starters with 3:18 left in the third quarter, Boston had scored just 52 points on 65 possessions (0.80 per). Even with the improvement in lost time, this was the Celtics’ worst offensive performance (84 of 96) in the 100 games they have played this season.
Here are some more numbers and films on how the Mavs got the stops they needed to extend the finale…
1. Dallas defends the paint
Number to know: The Celtics shot 13 of 33 (39.3%) in the paint, by far their worst mark of the season. And it was worse (8 for 22, 36.3%) before the starters sat down at the end of the third period.
The biggest difference between the Mavs’ defense before the trade deadline and after the addition of Gafford and Washington was that their opponent was shooting in the paint: 60.5% before the additions versus 52.7% over the 28 stretch. matches that followed. (They rested their starters in the final two games of the regular season.) And that mark was even lower (51.1%) during the first three rounds of the playoffs.
Mavs opponent shoots in the paint
| Games/series | FGM | FGA | FG% | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Games 1-52 | 1,387 | 2,291 | 60.5% | 27 |
| Games 53-80 | 646 | 1,225 | 52.7% | 1 |
| first 3 rounds | 363 | 710 | 51.1% | 3 |
| Finals, games 1-3 | 60 | 92 | 65.2% | |
| Finals, match 4 | 13 | 33 | 39.4% |
The Celtics don’t take many shots inside. Through the first three rounds of the playoffs, they ranked last in the percentage of their shots (42%) in the paint.
But they still need those shots. The Celtics are 17-13 (.567) when shooting worse than league average (57.4%) in the paint and have a better record (27-15, .643) when ‘They shot worse than the league. average (36.6%) over a 3-point range.
Their paint attacks also generate their best looks from the perimeter. The Celtics’ victory in Game 2 came with a record 66 drives, and their best moments in Game 3 came when they attacked, rather than settling for 3-pointers off the dribble.
The Celtics didn’t settle down too much in Game 4. They just couldn’t get into the paint that easily, and when they did, they couldn’t finish.
On the first possession of the game, Jayson Tatum isolated against Gafford, a game that had yielded excellent results for the Celtics (in a limited sample) over the first three games. But Luka Doncic was ready with help from the backline, and when Tatum’s drive was stopped, he had no outlet, with Derrick Jones Jr. staying home in the strong side corner.
As the shot clock wound down, Tatum missed a difficult fadeaway against Gafford’s contest…
Through the first four games of this series, Tatum shot 16 of 26 (62%) inside the restricted area, but just 11 of 48 (23%) outside of it. That includes a 2-of-17 mark on 2-point shots outside the restricted area.
2. Doncic holds his own defensively
Number to know: Doncic was the ball handler’s defender on 47 Finals drives, 10 more than any other defender, according to Second Spectrum tracking.
The Mavs’ defensive improvement started at the point of attack. And as Doncic continues to be the most frequent target in the Celtics offense, improvement had to start with him.
The first drive against Doncic in Game 4 came on the Celtics’ second possession. Jaylen Brown attacked and got help from Gafford and Washington. Three passes later, Derrick White got a pretty good look from the left wing, although Doncic made a decent effort to close out.
The Celtics looked better early in the first quarter and led 9-6 just over four minutes into the game. But the Mavs then went on a 19-5 run, with Boston scoring those five points on 11 possessions.
The first of those Dallas stops came via Doncic. The Celtics got the change they wanted and Tatum hit Doncic with an in-and-out dribble, trying to beat him to the right. But Doncic stayed in front of his drive and forced Tatum into a difficult step back…
Bottom line: Doncic was less of a matador than he had been in previous matches, and that made a big difference.
3. More stops, more transitions
Number to know: Game 4 was the first in which the Mavs dominated the Celtics in transition, according to Synergy tracking.
You generally don’t win by 38 unless you have a good game on both ends of the court. And while Game 4 was both the Celtics’ least efficient offensive performance and the Mavs’ best defensive performance of the season, the Mavs’ 88 points on 65 possessions (135 percent) when Boston pulled its starters Would’ve been their most effective game of the playoffs.
A few easy baskets were among them. Dallas scored 26 points in transition, compared to an average of just 16 in the first three games.
The Mavs were determined in transition, with Doncic starting that 19-5 first-quarter run by pushing the ball after a successful basket at the other end of the court.
Gaps in the paint can also have a cumulative effect, one reason the Celtics don’t do this intentionally. to pull in the paint as much as most teams. If you miss a 3-pointer, you are behind the 3-point line and have less distance to go to get back on defense. If you miss a shot in the paint, you’re more likely to fall behind on a later possession in transition. We saw it several times (after Brown and Tatum’s practices) in the first half on Friday.
Early in that 19-5 stretch, Derek Lively II helped Jrue Holiday past Jones, then recovered to contest a Xavier Tillman layup…
The Celtics picked up five guys, with Tillman running hard to close on Washington in the left corner. But their defense was scrambled as they tried to stop Dallas’ initial surge. Tatum never guarded anyone and Brown left Lively under the basket to go guard Jones on the perimeter. The result was a lob dunk for Lively…
This is an example of how the Celtics just weren’t very accurate (on both ends of the court) on Friday. Regardless of how Dallas played, Game 4 was obviously Boston’s worst game of this series by far.
But more than what we saw in any other Finals game, it was Dallas’ defense that pushed the Mavs to that 21-7 run after the trade deadline. If he reappears in Game 5 on Monday (8:30 a.m. ET, ABC), this series could become very interesting.
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John Schuhmann is a senior statistics analyst for NBA.com. You can email him here, find his archives here and follow him on.
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