Luka Doncic scored 25 of his 29 points in the first half, while Kyrie Irving added 21 points, helping the Dallas Mavericks avoid a sweep with a 122-84 win over the Boston Celtics in Game 4 of the NBA Finals on Friday. The series now moves back to Boston for Game 5 on Monday, where the Celtics will aim to finish it at home. Nonetheless, Dallas showed resilience by extending the series after Boston dominated the first three games of the best-of-seven series.
The script changed in Game 4. Doncic and the Mavericks started strong and kept their momentum. Doncic began a 10-0 run in the first quarter with a floater and ended it with a driving layup, giving Dallas a 25-14 lead with 3:19 left in the period. That early burst hinted at what was to come.
Dallas led 34-21 by the end of the first quarter, finishing with six points on 3-pointers by Irving and P.J. Washington.
