PJ Washington was the second-leading scorer for the Dallas Mavericks on Sunday night, but it was the bucket he didn’t score that was the highlight of the game. You were probably busy watching the Kentucky baseball team punch their ticket to Omaha when it happened, but with the Mavs down five with less than a minute to go, Washington got the ball on a fast break. As he went up for what looked like an easy two points, both Derrick White and Jaylen Brown converged on him and turned away the dunk attempt at the rim. Boston scored on the ensuing possession to put them up for good as they held on to win 105-98.
Skeptics will say Jaylen Brown pushed Washington in the back on his way up and there should have been a foul called. I might be one of those skeptics. Regardless, it went down as a block and the Celtics hold a 2-0 series lead in the NBA Finals.
PJ Washington finished the night with 17 points, seven rebounds, one assist, and he had a block himself, but he shot just 1-5 from behind the arc. The former Kentucky power forward’s accuracy from 3 has been one of his strongest attributes in these playoffs, but he is shooting just 1-8 in the Finals.
Their star, Luka Doncic, did his part, notching a triple-double with 32 points, 11 assists, and 11 rebounds, but the Celtics were just too much to overcome. The biggest knock on Dallas is that they need someone besides Doncic and Irving to step up, and while Washington arguably did that with 17 points, they’ll need that more to beat the red-hot C’s, who have now won nine straight postseason games.
Game 3 will be on Wednesday in Dallas.
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