BOSTON — In a game that at one point looked like the Dallas Mavericks was gaining momentum to tying up this series, the Boston Celtics found a way to pull out the win Sunday night to take a 2-0 lead in the NBA Finals, 105-98.

First off, Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla right after the game said he has no concern on Kristaps Porzingis’ injury as he hobbled off the court in the second half and didn’t return. The 7’3 big finished with 12 points and got served some rim protection when he was on the floor for the 23 minutes he played.

As for the game itself, the Mavericks began storming back after facing a double digit deficit in the fourth quarter. A Luka Doncic And-1 on Al Horford put the game in reach with only five points down with 1:15 left in the game. However, the next possession, after a failed Tatum drive to the basket Kyrie Irving gets the ball out in transition before passing it to P.J. Washington who goes up for a dunk but is rejected by Derrick White Jaylen Brown. It was truly a defensive effort from the entire team all-around.

Luka finished with 32 points, 11 rebounds and assists while Irving had 16 points. The Mavs made an abysmal six three-pointers out of 26 attempts — Luka made four of those deep balls. The Celtics made it a point of emphasis once again to put a stop to the role players surrounding Luka and it worked.

As for the Celtics, Jayson Tatum nearly had a triple-double with 18 points, 12 assists, and nine boards. Tatum started off the game slow, but began to find his teammates for assists as he drove to the basket attracting help from the Mavs defense. Derrick White some big three-pointers and finished with 18. Jaylen Brown finished with 21 points.

Jrue Holiday the hero

If the Celtics had won the whole thing on Sunday, Jrue Holiday may have won the Finals MVP. He was the man in the first half on offense and defense, and continued his play into the second half. Holiday led the Celtics with 26 points and 11 rebounds. He also played excellent defense on Luka.

Celtics fans will keep an eye out on Porzingis’ health in the upcoming days until Game 3 which is in Dallas on Wednesday at 8:30 PM.