Luka Doncic and the Mavericks made history with their 38-point loss to Boston in Game 4.
Dallas rarely missed. Boston did it for the most part. The result was a double-digit lead for the Mavericks.
And it was only the first trimester.
The Mavericks played for 48 minutes and led by as many as 48 points before closing out the game. 122-84 Victory in Game 4 on Friday. The 38-point victory gap is the third largest NBA Finals history.
Only the Michael Jordan-led Chicago Bulls (against Utah in 1998) and the Boston Celtics (against the Lakers in 2008) have beaten a team with more points in a Finals game.
Largest margins of victory in NBA Finals history
| Margin of victory | Winning team | Losing team | Date | Score |
| 42 | Chicago Bulls | Utah Jazz | June 7, 1998 | 96-54 |
| 39 | Boston Celtics | Los Angeles Lakers | June 17, 2008 | 131-92 |
| 38 | Dallas Mavericks | Boston Celtics | June 14, 2024 | 122-84 |
| 36 | San Antonio Spurs | Miami heat | 11 June 2013 | 113-77 |
| 35 | Washington Bullets | Seattle SuperSonics | June 4, 1978 | 117-82 |
| 34 | Boston Celtics | St. Louis Falcons | April 2, 1961 | 129-95 |
| 34 | Boston Celtics | Los Angeles Lakers | May 27, 1985 | 148-114 |
Luka Doncic fueled the Mavericks’ rout, scoring a franchise-record 25 points in the first half.
” It is very simple. We don’t need to complicate things. It’s not surgery,” Mavericks coach Jason Kidd said. “Our group was ready to go. They were ready to celebrate and we took a stand. We were desperate. We have to keep playing hard.” This way. They try to close the door. The hardest thing in this league is to close the door when you have a group that has nothing to lose. Tonight, you saw that.
On the other hand, Boston experienced the worst defeat in its illustrious history in the final. Before Friday, the 17-time champion Celtics’ worst championship-round loss was 137-104 to the Lakers in 1984. That was worse. Much worse, sometimes. Dallas’ largest lead in the fourth was 48 – the largest deficit the Celtics have faced all season.
“Preparation doesn’t guarantee automatic success,” Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla said. “I thought we had a great process. I thought we had a great shoot. I thought we had a great movie session yesterday. I thought the guys went out with the right intentions. I just didn’t think it went our way, and I thought Dallas dominated us. They just played harder.
Dallas will need more wins to continue making history, especially one that has never been made before: a team recovering from a 3-0 deficit in an NBA playoff series. Four teams forced a Game 7 after being down 3-0, but none were able to win the series..
Game 5 will take place in Boston on Monday (8:30 a.m. ET, ABC).
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
