By Darryl Harding Sr –
On Friday night was Game 4 of the NBA Finals and the Mavericks played very angrily facing elimination. Refusing to be swept, the Dallas team came out firing on all cylinders and never let up.
In a complete reversal of roles it was now the Celtics that were unable to reach the 100-point mark during the game, something Dallas was unable to do in the first three games. On top of that even with their starters only playing for three quarters the Mavericks managed to thwart any Celtics comeback and continually through the game maintained control.
There must be a Mr Murphy working for Dallas legislation because his law was in effect during the Celtics performance in game 4, anything that could go wrong did. The Celtics were outmatched in every category, out rebounded, lost in this assist column, out worked on defense and worst of all, outscored in the paint by 34 points. No Celtic was able to reach 20 points for the game.
Jason Tatum and Jaylen Brown combined for only 25 points, a sum which is exceeded by Luca Doncic’s 27 points alone. Seeming like there was a lid on the basket, the Celtic squandered their chance to be the first team to sweep the Eastern Conference Finals and the NBA finals.
Celtics still lead the series 3-1 as they travel back to Boston for Game 5 Monday night and Dallas still has a nearly insurmountable mountain to climb in order to win it all. Kyrie Irving who had 21 looks to come to Boston and break his losing streak since he left the Celtics.
Derek Lively had a very productive game with a double-double of 11 points and 12 rebounds. Scoring only 35 points in the first half the Celtics recorded their worst output in a Joe Mazzula coached game. The final score of 122 – 84 marks one of the worst blowouts in NBA finals history. Even with the abysmal performance in Game 4 it is only one game.
No team has ever come back to win four games in a row, the very thing the Celtics tried to do last year and although they brought it to game 7 they were unsuccessful. “A year ago this time we were down 0-3 and we were essentially fighting for our lives,” said Jason Tatum and the post-game press conference, “we understand what it’s like from their point of view.”
The Celtics 10 game postseason winning streak comes to an end and now head back to Boston to bring the Quest for 18 to fruition. They aren’t handing out NBA Championships for free, so the Celtics are going to have to go and take it. Of course Dallas is not going to go quietly.
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