Game 2 preview: Mavericks need to relocate two old reliable friends

BOSTON – If the Mavericks want to extend their recent tradition of bouncing back sensationally from Game 1 disappointments in the playoffs, it will help immensely if they can relocate a couple of important weapons that went AWOL in the NBA Finals opener.

The Mavericks shot only three corner three-pointers, far below their usual number. And one of those was heaved by Luka Dončić, whose job it usually is to find the shooters in the corner, not be one.

The Mavericks also had a virtual non-existent lob-pass attack in Game 1 on Thursday, which Boston won in a breeze, 107-89.

Their defense actually wasn’t bad on Thursday – after surrendering a 37-point first quarter. Boston scored just 70 in the final three frames.

But the Mavericks couldn’t score. They didn’t score more than 24 points in any quarter. Missing two big parts of their attack didn’t help.

So how do they rectify the corner three-point shortage?

“Just get into the paint and collapse the defense,” said P.J. Washington, who is one of the corner flingers the Mavericks rely on the most, along with Derrick Jones Jr. and Josh Green. “Maybe get them in transition, run better. Just be aggressive into the paint and we feel like those shots will come.

“We’re obviously not going to make all of them, but just take the open ones and we’ll be fine.”

The onus is on Dončić and Kyrie Irving to get into the paint and draw the defense. The way the Celtics played defense, however, stifled that strategy, which was a big reason why the Mavericks had only five assists through three quarters and just nine for the game.

Without the lob or the corner three, the ball began to stick a bit too much.

“Yeah, I thought we were too much one-on-one,” coach Jason Kidd said. “We’ve got to move bodies. We’ve got to move the ball. Multiple guys have to touch the ball. We were just too stagnant, and that’s not the way we play. We’ve got to be better tomorrow.”

And that includes taking what the Celtics are giving, he said.

“Yeah, we’ll make some adjustments,” Kidd said. “But Boston is going to give the layup to Luka, so he’s got to take it. They’re not going to give him the lob, and they are not going to give the corner three. So it’s two-on-two, and we have to take advantage of that. We missed some layups. We missed some shots in the paint. That happens. But we believe that Kai and Luka will get into the paint and make them in Game 2.”

Kidd said it’s not much different than what Minnesota did in the Western Conference finals.

So it will be a matter of the Mavericks forcing their will on the Celtics as opposed to the other way around, which is the way it was in Game 1.

“I think there’s no panic with this group,” Kidd said. “We didn’t play well in Game 1. Give credit to Boston – they did.

“But it’s a series and . . . we’ve lost Game 1 a lot of times, and we’ve responded. We believe that we can respond in Game 2. (This is) very similar to the way the playoffs started for us with the Clippers. We didn’t play well. We cut that 30-point lead down and made a game of it. But we responded in Game 2 on the road. Hopefully we can do the same thing here in Boston.”

As Dereck Lively II said: “I feel like it’s not panic. It’s more urgency of getting the job done.”

Here’s what else to watch for in Game 2 of the NBA Finals:

• Boston has lost Game 2 at home twice already in these playoffs. Miami and Cleveland both won Game 2 in the first and second rounds at the Garden. The Celtics rebounded to win both series in five games before sweeping Indiana in the conference finals.
• Kidd gave the Celtics something to think about on Saturday when he was asked about Jaylen Brown, who had 22 points in Game 1 and was guarding Dončić much of the time. “Well, Jaylen is their best player,” Kidd said. “Just looking at what he does defensively, he picked up Luka full court. He got to the free-throw line. He did everything, and that’s what your best player does. He plays both sides at a high rate. And he’s been doing that the whole playoffs. I mean, (he was) the Eastern Conference MVP, and it seems like he has continued to pick up where he left off. We’ve just got to be a little more physical with him.” The debate in Boston has raged for several seasons about whether Brown or Jayson Tatum is the alpha dog on the Celtics.
• The 72-hour break between Games 1 and 2 gave players plenty of rest time. Maybe too much time. “I don’t like it,” said P.J. Washington on Saturday. “I feel like it’s too much time. I’m ready to play.”
• The Mavericks will adjust things, probably strategizing to heed more attention to Kristaps Porzingis, who had 18 first-half points to spring the Celtics to a big lead in Game 1.
• The opening game of the Finals drew 11 million viewers, which was off slightly from last season’s Denver-Miami Game 1. However, Game 1 averaged a higher share of the overall audience (20 percent) than any other Finals opener on ABC. A more competitive game on Sunday likely will help stoke the ratings.
• The Celtics are favored by 7½ points in Game 2 with the over/under set at 214.5 points.
• One thing that should help the Mavericks is getting over any jitters that most of the players probably had as they were playing their first NBA Finals game. “I couldn’t sleep,” Washington said of the night before Game 1. “I was super-excited to get out there and get warmed up and get ready to play. For me, it was just a dream come true to be out here on this stage in front of the world. I’m pretty sure it was like that for my teammates as well. We can’t wait for Game 2.” Asked if Game 2 should feature less nervous energy, he said: “I think the nerves went away. Everybody’s ready to play, for sure. It’s the biggest stage, but at the end of the day, it’s playing basketball.”

MAVERICKS (0-1) at BOSTON CELTICS (1-0)

When: 7 p.m., Sunday.

Where: TD Garden, Boston.

TV: ABC

Radio: KEGL 97.1 FM The Eagle; 99.1 FM Zona MX (Spanish)

X: @ESefko