**Turning Point: Key Moment That Propels Celtics to 2-0 Lead in NBA Finals**

 **Dominant 2-Minute Span in the 3rd Quarter Propels Celtics to 2-0 Lead Over Mavericks in the Finals**

**BOSTON** — Waves are thrashing, the sky has turned black, and the boat is taking on water. What’s a frazzled skipper to do? Drill a hole in the boat’s bottom for the water to run out, of course.

That’s essentially what happened to coach Jason Kidd when his Mavericks saw the Boston Celtics’ lead jump from two to six points deep in the third quarter. One timeout quickly turned into two, and Dallas never recovered, losing Game 2 of the NBA Finals on Sunday at TD Garden, 105-98.

**The Moment:** The Celtics turned a 63-61 lead midway through the third quarter into a 69-63 edge, prompting Kidd to call a timeout with 4:56 left. He subbed three players and advised the Mavs on how to reduce Boston’s biggest lead to that point. 

Two minutes later — 119 seconds to be exact — Kidd called another timeout and made more substitutions. By then, Boston had extended its lead to 75-63.

**The Impact:** Boston’s lead doubled between those timeouts. Everything the Mavericks bemoaned afterward showed up in that span: turnovers, missed three-pointers, and the Celtics’ defense generating quick offense. The disparity in depth between the teams was also evident. Kidd, attempting to give key players — Kyrie Irving, Derrick Jones Jr., and Maxi Kleber — a breather, turned to Josh Green and Jaden Hardy, who ranked seventh and 11th in playoff minutes among the Mavericks.

Luka Doncic, battered and overused, soldiered on but had the ball stolen on Dallas’ second possession after the timeout. Jaylen Brown snatched it and got it to Jrue Holiday, who dunked within three seconds. Green missed a three-pointer — the Mavs shot 6-for-26 from beyond the arc overall — and Holiday rebounded. Green fouled Brown, who made two free throws to give Boston its first double-digit lead, 73-63.

Irving subbed back in for Doncic, but nothing changed. The crafty guard launched a 26-foot three-pointer that missed, with Tatum grabbing the rebound. Tatum, double-teamed at the other end, was bailed out by Holiday cutting for a layup.

**From Bad to Worse:** Kidd had seen enough again and called another timeout. There were 15 minutes left in the game, but Boston’s 12-point lead gave the Celtics and their fans room to breathe and a margin for mistakes. Dallas managed an 11-5 run after the second timeout but still trailed by six. Peyton Pritchard’s banked 34-footer to end the quarter made it even more painful, pushing the lead to nine. A 9-0 Dallas run in the fourth quarter cut the gap to five but no closer.

**Jrue Holiday:** Holiday recorded 26 points (11-14 FGs) and 11 rebounds to help the Celtics pull away from the Mavericks for a 2-0 lead in the NBA Finals.

**What They’re Saying:**

“Boston is a team that can run off 3s in a hurry. Just trying to keep that from happening. Also, looking at just trying to give my guys some rest because they were fighting extremely hard. We are playing uphill, and so the lead went from six to 12, but then we responded after that second timeout.” — Mavs coach Jason Kidd on his back-to-back timeouts.

“The whole year the strength of this team has been one through however many guys we’ve got. We trust whoever goes in the game and those guys just work so hard. Every time anybody checks in the game, they just give us great minutes.” — Boston guard Derrick White on his team’s depth and ability to wear out opponents.

“They have a lot of great players. Basically, anybody can get off.” — Doncic on the Celtics’ depth, evident in four players scoring in the 12-2 stretch that cracked open the game.

**What’s Next:** Kidd was satisfied with Dallas’ defense Sunday. What he emphasized was finding a reliable third scorer to join Doncic and Irving and taking better care of the ball. The Mavericks’ 15 turnovers (eight by Doncic) led directly to 21 Boston points in a game they lost by seven.

Holiday’s first season in Boston has been defined by his knack for providing whatever it takes in each game – a steal here, a bucket there, a pass, or nonstop harassing on other nights. In context, that only makes the Celtics more dangerous because they have a half dozen players who can score, defend, or lead by example as needed.

Kidd said the Mavericks were playing uphill in Game 2. An 0-2 start to the Finals means the hill just got steeper for Wednesday’s Game 3 (8:30 ET, ABC).