The Boston Celtics headed to Texas hoping to wrap up an NBA Finals whitewash, but instead they were blown away as the Dallas Mavericks inflicted one of the heaviest playoff defeats of all time in Game 4. Luka Doncic’s 29-point haul led the way as the Mavs flew to a 122-84 victory that set up a Game 5 on Monday in Boston. “We were desperate,” said Mavs coach Jason Kidd.
The Dallas Mavericks kept their slim NBA Championship hopes alive as Luka Doncic inspired a stunning 122-84 Game 4 victory that marked the third-biggest blowout in NBA Finals history.
Doncic’s 29-point haul – 25 of which came in the first half to set a franchise record – gave the Mavs the momentum to spectacularly reduce the series deficit to 3-1 and take it to a fifth game in Boston on Monday.
That game will be live on TNT Sports and discovery+ on Monday night – 01:30am BST in the early hours of Tuesday.
The eventual 38-point winning margin sits only behind the Chicago Bulls’ 96-54 win over Utah Jazz in 1998 and the Celtics’ 131-92 rout of the Los Angeles Lakers in 2008 on the all-time list.
“It’s real simple. We don’t have to complicate this. This isn’t surgery,” Mavericks coach Jason Kidd said.
“Our group was ready to go. They were ready to celebrate and we made a stand. We were desperate. We’ve got to continue to keep playing that way.
“They’re trying to close the door. The hardest thing in this league is to close the door when you have a group that has nothing to lose. Tonight, you saw that.”
Kyrie Irving was also in fine form with 21 points, while Dereck Lively II had a good night with a double-double of 11 points and 12 rebounds. Tim Hardaway Jr. hit 15 in the fourth quarter alone.
Lively, who got things running with his career-first three-pointer midway through the first quarter, became the youngest player to score a double-double in NBA Finals history at 20 years old, and is now the only rookie in NBA Finals history with a +20 points differential.
Dallas still have more history to make if they are to claim the unlikeliest of comebacks, as no team has ever fought back from 3-0 behind in an NBA playoff series to win, even though four have managed to force a Game 7.
They were 13 points down by the end of the first quarter and the gap had increased to 26 by half-time, and as much as 48 at one point in the fourth quarter.
It marked the worst loss in Finals history for the Celtics, and the result took coach Joe Mazzulla by surprise after a dominant start to the series for his side and a 10-game postseason winning streak.
“Preparation doesn’t guarantee automatic success,” Mazzulla said. “I thought we had a great process. I thought we had a great shootaround. Thought we had a great film session yesterday.
“I thought the guys came out with the right intentions. I just didn’t think it went our way, and I thought Dallas outplayed us. They just played harder.”