BOSTON – The Celtics were tough enough on the defensive end in the NBA Finals to make the Marlboro Man look like Tinkerbell.
As the clock ticked down on their season, with the Celtics and their passionate crowd ready to celebrate, the Mavericks couldn’t think about their grand showing in 2023-24, the way they overachieved or the way they surpassed all reasonable expectations.
There was too much disappointment in their eyes to appreciate one of the best seasons in the franchise’s 44-year history.
That will come later.
But on Monday night, when the Mavericks were long on willpower, but must have left their shooting eyes back in Texas, they could mostly point toward the Celtics’ defense as the reason they were bounced in the NBA Finals 4-1 by the Celtics, who won Game 5 106-88 to close it out.
The Celtics were on a string. The Mavericks weren’t quite there with defensive rotations that were a half-step slow, particularly on getting out to the Celtics’ three-point shooters, of which there were many on this night. And Jayson Tatum got by anybody who got in his way.
What the Mavericks learned as they trudged off the parquet court at the TD Garden was what great defense looks like.
The Mavericks shot just 29.7 percent from three-point range. Yes, they had a few good looks that they just couldn’t make. But they also had a lot of contested shots that they had to take.
In short, they found out that to win on the biggest stage, you got to play defense. Maybe not like the Celtics did, which was beyond strong. But you got to play defense better than they did.
“They were physical – a lot,” said Luka Dončić. “They have great defenders. They’re a great team. That’s what they do.”
And that’s what the Mavericks must learn to do. Their defense took a strong step forward in February with the midseason trades for Daniel Gafford and P.J. Washington.
The next step is to build on that and learn from this experience, which showed just how much the Celtics had learned from their 2022 trip to the NBA Finals, where they lost to Golden State, and their other deep playoff runs.
Their defense kept the Mavericks under 100 points in all four of the Celtics’ wins. The Mavericks scored 122 on Friday in their lone win, when they were determined not to be swept on their home floor.
But the other four games were simply snuff-jobs by the Celtics’ defense.
“We learned,” said MVP Jaylen Brown. “We learned from all our adversity, all our mistakes of the past. And we got better from it and it’s (sweet) to get to the mountaintop.”
Boston improved to 26-0 this season (regular season and playoffs) when holding opponents under 100 points. That is the most victories in a season without a loss when holding opponents under 100 points since 1971-72, when the Milwaukee Bucks went 32-0 in such games.
Despite the clamps that the Celtics applied, this season will go down as an unqualified success for the Mavericks. You don’t start the season at 28-to-1 long shots to win the NBA title and play in the championship series without doing a lot of things right.
Dončić had the best individual season in Mavericks’ history and one of the best in the 80 years of the NBA’s existence. And he led the Mavericks like one of the best players in the world should lead his team, despite knee, ankle and chest injuries during the course of the playoffs.
On Monday, he had 28 points and 12 rebounds and while he never got his three-point shot dialed in during this series, he learned a lot about the way the Celtics handled business, particularly on defense.
“This season started in Abu Dhabi (in the preseason) and it’s been going for a long time,” coach Jason Kidd said. “We had five months together (after the trades).
“So for this group to spend time together, to understand what it feels like to fail and also realize how do we get better and learn from that. I think I’ve got a great troup of young me who will be hungry this summer.”
The Mavericks rolled through the Western Conference in the playoffs with a 12-5 record and beat three teams seeded higher than they were (fifth), starting each of those series on the road.
They ran into a rugged opponent in the Finals, a seasoned opponent.
At some point in the future, they expect to be that seasoned opponent.
X: @ESefko
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