BOSTON – The Mavericks’ history of strong, winning answers in games after suffering a loss in these playoffs did them no good on Sunday night at TD Garden.
The Boston Celtics took charge in the third quarter and held on for a hard-earned 105-98 victory to take a 2-0 lead in the NBA Finals as the Mavericks lost consecutive games in the playoffs for the first time this year.
Teams that win the first two games of a playoff series have historically been tough to beat. They go on to win a best-of-seven series 92 percent of the time.