Jrue Holiday had 26 points and 11 rebounds, and Jayson Tatum made up for a rough shooting night with 12 assists and nine rebounds as the Boston Celtics beat the Dallas Mavericks 105-98  to take a 2-0 lead in the NBA Finals.

Luka Doncic, who was listed as questionable to play for Dallas less than two hours before the opening tip-off on Sunday (Monday AEST), scored 32 points with 11 rebounds and 11 assists – the first NBA Finals triple-double in Mavericks franchise history. 

But he missed a one-footed, running floater from three-point range with 28 seconds left, ending the Mavericks’ last chance at a comeback. 

The match was in the balance late with PJ Washington driving to the hoop for Dallas but Derrick White came out of nowhere to chase him down and block the shot to ensure the Celtics hung on.

Game 3 is on Thursday (AEST) in Dallas. The Mavericks need a win then or in Game 4 on Saturday (AEST) to avoid a sweep and earn a trip back to the Boston Garden, where the local fans are already making space in the rafters for what would be an unprecedented 18th NBA championship banner.

The Celtics won the opening pair in the NBA Finals for the ninth time. They won the previous eight, and have never been forced to a Game 7 in any of them.

Jaylen Brown scored 21 points, Tatum had 18 and Derrick White also scored 18 points for the top-seeded Boston. Kristaps Porzingis limped his way to 12 points. 

Tatum was 6-for-22 shooting and 1-of-7 from three-point range. The Celtics were 10-for-39 from long distance overall. 

Kyrie Irving, who has drawn the animosity of the local fans ever since cutting short his stay in Boston in 2019, scored 16 points for Dallas. He has lost 12 games in a row against the Celtics. 

The Mavericks’ two Australian players contributed but didn’t really have much impact.

Josh Green had one rebound and four points from his 14 minutes of court time, while Dante Exum had one rebound, one assist and three points from his 11 minutes.

Unlike their 107-89 victory in Game 1, when a fast start from three-point range took them to a 29-point first-half lead, the Celtics missed their first eight attempts from long distance and were about 20 per cent for most of the game. 

Tatum scored zero points in the first quarter and had only five at halftime, when he was still 0-for-3 from three-point range. 

Boston were still just 5-for-30 from long distance when Peyton Pritchard banked in a half-courter at the third-quarter buzzer to give Boston an 83-74 lead.