The Boston Celtics secured a 2–0 series lead over the Dallas Mavericks on Sunday night, winning Game 2 of the NBA Finals by seven on their home court.
After the game, Jaylen Brown linked up with members of the NBA TV postgame show for a quick interview, during which Shaquille O’Neal took the opportunity to offer him some “G-14 classification information,” or advice regarding the NBA Finals.
“Jaylen, I don’t have a question. But I’m going to give you some G-14 classification information, because this will be the last time you see me. It’s a riddle; do not get fixated on useless titles. Do what you gotta do. Doesn’t matter who’s who, or they say who’s what. It ain’t time for all that right now. Do what you gotta do and get it done,” O’Neal advised Brown.
Shaq: “Do not get fixated on useless titles. Do what you gotta do.”@MattWinerTV: “That made sense to you?”
Jaylen: “No.”
Shaq: “Okay well let me break it down… It don’t matter who the man is!”
Matt Winer then asked Brown if that rambling made sense to him, to which Brown honestly admitted that it did not. O’Neal then proceeded to break it down further.
“They’re trying to separate you and your guy [Jayson Tatum] by saying who’s better… Don’t worry about useless titles, it don’t matter who the man is. Kobe’s the man, Shaq’s the man, it don’t matter. I’m getting my 40, Kobe’s getting his 39, let’s go win a championship.”
Ahead of Game 2, Mavericks coach Jason Kidd told reporters that he felt Brown was the Celtics’ most important player, rather than Tatum. It appeared to be an attempt at some mind games from Kidd, aiming to pit Boston’s two superstars against one another.
Although no one on the Celtics seem to have taken the comments to heart, O’Neal felt the need to offer his advice to Brown amid the outside chatter surrounding who truly lifts the team. Brown, though not quite understanding fully where Shaq was headed, politely accepted the advice from the all-time great.
The Dallas Mavericks lost Game 2 of the NBA Finals to the Boston Celtics in a 105–98 defeat arguably filled with as many defensive highlights as offensive ones.
For Boston, Jaylen Brown expertly defended Mavs star Kyrie Irving in one lockdown sequence early on, and Kristaps Porzingis also made his presence felt with a crucial block late in the game. But it was Derrick White’s game-sealing defensive play with the Celtics up by five points and roughly 50 seconds left to go that essentially clinched Boston’s win and created buzz on social media for several reasons.
After the Mavericks stuffed Jayson Tatum in the paint on one side of the court, Irving and P.J. Washington blazed forward on a fast break looking to narrow Boston’s lead. Washington collected a pass and leapt for a dunk when White denied him at the rim with what appeared to be an epic block.
Fans were reminded of LeBron James’s clutch block on Golden State Warriors’ Andre Iguodala in the Finals eight years ago.
However, slow-motion replays revealed that Celtics forward Jaylen Brown appeared to have pushed Washington from behind during the sequence, and that White made contact with Washington’s hand on the block, meaning a foul easily could have been called.
ESPN’s Mike Breen admitted after the game was over that the officials did indeed miss the foul on Washington.
"There should've been a foul called." - Mike Breen on the Celtics' game-sealing block.
The Dallas Mavericks and Boston Celtics will be squaring off in the 2024 NBA Finals, meaning star guard Kyrie Irving will be up against one of his former teams with a championship on the line.
Irving spent two seasons with the Celtics from 2017-19, and his exit from the franchise was anything but ceremonious. After joining the rival Brooklyn Nets in '19, the relationship soured further over the next few seasons, including one infamous moment in which Irving could be seen "flipping the bird" at a fan in the TD Garden crowd after a Game 1 loss back in the 2022 playoffs.
"...when we played in the playoffs and everyone saw me flip off the birds and kind of lose my s--- a little bit–that wasn't a great reflection of who I am and how I like to compete on a high level," said Irving, via ESPN. "It wasn't a great reflection on my end towards the next generation on what it means to control your emotions in that type of environment, no matter what people are yelling at you."
Since pairing up with Luka Doncic in Dallas, Irving has earned nothing but rave reviews from teammates, who often look to him as the team leader. His leadership culminated in the franchise's first NBA Finals appearance since 2011, and it's a trait he feels he truly honed in on while with the Celtics, who were a young and upcoming team during his tenure.
"...the greatest thing I learned from Boston was just being able to manage not only my emotions or just what's going on on a day-to-day basis of being a leader of a team or being one of the leaders, and having young guys around you that have their own goals, but you have to learn how to put the big picture first," he said.
Four wins separate Irving from the second ring of his career, and although his past with the Celtics figures to be a prominent storyline in this NBA Finals matchup, he'll look to demonstrate the growth he's made as a leader and help guide Dallas to a championship.
BOSTON – Jason Kidd made 10 All-Star teams during his NBA career, earning his place among the great playmakers with size, skill and, yes, smarts. Kidd saw the game better than most, still does. On Saturday, as Kidd’s media availability was wrapping up, he was asked a a boilerplate question about Jaylen Brown’s game.
“Well, Jaylen,” Kidd said, “is their best player.”
Boom, there’s your story. Kidd knew what he was doing with that answer. Of course he did. Few dynamics are more closely scrutinized than Brown and Jayson Tatum. Just last week, ESPN Zapruder-filmed a video of Tatum applauding Brown’s conference finals MVP win—not hard enough for their liking—to wonder if there was an issue. Brown is routinely measured against Tatum, two All-NBA wings, teammates, forever in competition. Kidd’s comment was less praise for Brown than a chance to toss a grenade into Boston’s locker room.
“J-Kidd, man,” said Celtics center Al Horford, laughing. “I see what he is doing.”
Indeed, everyone does. And why not? If there was anything learned from Boston’s 107–89 shellacking of the Mavericks in Game 1, it’s that in this series, Dallas is outgunned. Luka Doncic got 30 but he needed 26 shots to get there, while the Celtics’ ability to defend him straight up held Doncic to a single assist. Gone were the lobs, the corner threes that powered the Mavs through a rugged Western Conference. Instead, it was congested drives and contested jumpers while Dallas struggled to get anything past the 7’2” Kristaps Porzingis waiting for them at the rim.
“I thought we were too much one-on-one,” said Kidd. “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.”
Kyrie Irving will be better because, for Irving, it couldn’t go much worse. Irving scored 12 points on Thursday, connecting on 31.6% of his shots and missing all five of his threes. Much was made of how the Boston crowd would respond to Irving on Thursday, and while there were the obligatory chants, all things considered the reaction was relatively tame. “I thought it would be louder,” Irving said. Many of Irving’s misses were off open looks and Dallas is confident if he gets the same looks in Game 2, those shots will go down.
“I mean it was our first time being together as a group in this Finals stage,” said Irving. “Experience is the best teacher at times when you don't know what to expect.”
Even if Irving is better, Dallas needs more. More from Dereck Lively II, the springy rookie who got off one shot in 18 minutes. More from Derrick Jones Jr., who finished 2-for-9 from the floor. More from Josh Green, who was 1-for-4. The Mavs committed 11 turnovers in Game 1, which led to 18 Celtics points.
“We've got to take care of the ball,” Kidd said. “We've got to make it easier for Ky and Luka. Being able to put those guys in different spots on the floor so there's a little bit stress-free so they can do what they do at a high level. We just didn't do that in Game 1.”
Kidd’s press conference tactic doesn’t appear to have had its desired effect. / Jesse Johnson-USA TODAY Sports
Kidd created a firestorm with his lofty praise of Brown but inside Boston’s locker room, it isn’t going anywhere. For years the dynamic between the two has been scrutinized, and all it has done is make the bond between them stronger. They are very different people, Tatum and Brown, but they share the same goal. Six conference finals, two NBA Finals and all that matters now is that they don’t leave this one empty handed.
“This is a team sport, right?” Tatum said. “We understand that. We wouldn't be here if we didn't have JB on our team, and we can say that for a lot of guys. We have all played a part in getting to where we're at. We understand that people try to drive a wedge between us. I guess it's a smart thing to do or try to do. We've been in this position for many of years of guys trying to divide us and say that one of us should be traded or one is better than the other. So it's not our first time at the rodeo.”
Said Brown, “We've been just extremely focused on what our roles and our jobs are. We have all had to sacrifice. Jason [Kidd] has had to do that at the highest of levels and I respect him and tip his cap for it. Right now, at this point, it's whatever it takes to win and we can't let any outside interpretations try to get in between.”
Dallas wants Tatum to feel slighted, to overcompensate, try too hard to assert himself in Game 2. Not happening, Tatum says. Tatum wants to score but if the Mavs tilt its defense towards Tatum again, if they continue to load up, Tatum will keep the ball moving. He collected five assists in Game 1 and if more shots had fallen, he could have racked up several more.
“It's just about reading the game,” Tatum said. “Draw so much attention, you know, when I have the ball in my hands. It's about creating an advantage. We always talk about that, watching film, creating advantage, finding the mismatch that we want, and it might not always end up in the shot for you. Or if you set a screen and get a smaller guy on you, just having that mismatch and calling for the ball, right, it may draw other defenders to help, and we can pin in for somebody else to get a shot. Those things won't show up in the stats sheet, but it's part of our execution, and sometimes you have to make a sacrificial cut or things like that to generate good shoots.”
Even after years of success as teammates, after All-Stars and All-NBA teams, 50-win seasons and deep playoff runs, questions about Tatum and Brown’s relationship still linger. Only one thing will kill them off. On Sunday, Boston will look to move one win closer to doing so.
