After falling behind 3-0 in the NBA Finals, the Dallas Mavericks staved off elimination with a 122-84 win over the Boston Celtics on Friday night.
No NBA team has ever won a playoff series after losing the first three games, so the Mavericks would have to make league history in order to win the franchise’s second championship.
For now though, Dallas head coach Jason Kidd only wants his players worrying about the immediate task at hand.
“We can only focus on Game 5 and trying to find a way to win here in Boston,” Kidd told reporters on Sunday.
The third-year head coach also said the fact his team was in a similar spot going into Game 4 could be to their benefit.
“I think what helps is we were in that situation last game, so not to change or deviate from what we talked about in Game 4,” Kidd said. “It’s just to take each possession one possession at a time and hopefully we can win each quarter. We ended up doing that [in Game 4].”
The Mavericks blitzed Boston from the outset in Game 4, taking a 34-21 lead at the end of the first quarter and doubled that advantage to 26 at intermission.
“We could have quit. We could have laid down,” Mavericks guard Kyrie Irving said after the game. “I think you guys have seen that from other teams in the playoffs or in the finals; just give up like that or let go of the ring. We just wanted to continue playing hard for one another and extend our season.”
We’ll see if Dallas can extend its season for one more game by winning Game 5 in Beantown tomorrow night.