Breathe a sigh of relief, Dallas. Your Mavericks will not be swept in these 2024 NBA Finals after Friday’s 122-84 thrashing of the Boston Celtics in Game 4 at American Airlines Center.

The Mavs finally played the inspired brand of basketball on both ends of the court in the one-sided Game 4 affair that helped them conquer the Western Conference on this playoff run. And it didn’t hurt that, at the same time, the Celtics couldn’t hit the broad side of a big ole’ barn when they had the ball.

Even if all the Game 4 win accomplishes is delaying what is still at least a little bit inevitable, the entire roster — nay, the entire organization — nay, the entire region — needed this win in a bad way after the bad taste left over from Game 3’s collapse. Luka Dončić scored 29 points in just 32 minutes and Kyrie Irving added 21 in just 30 minutes, as the Mavs’ star duo both rested for the final 14 minutes of the win.

The 84 points the Mavericks held Boston to in Game 4 was seven points fewer than their previous low-point output in a game this year, which came in a 104-91 loss to the Bucks in April after the Celtics had already clinched the Eastern Conference’s No. 1 seed.

And that was a freebie, so here are six more key stats from the season-saving win that, in the grand scheme, really only brings a slight breeze back into the Mavericks’ sails. But, hey, as North Texans can attest this time of year, a slight breeze is better than no breeze.

38: The margin of victory

The Mavs’ 38-point win represents the third-highest margin of victory ever in an NBA Finals game. Celtics coach Joe Mazzula waved the white flag and took out his starters late with 3:18 left in the third quarter.

Dallas led by as many as 48 points in the lopsided win. Jaden Hardy put Dallas ahead 115-67 midway through the fourth on a 3-pointer assisted by Tim Hardaway Jr. in extended garbage time.

36.3%: Boston’s field goal shooting

The Mavs kept the Boston offense in front of them on defense, avoiding the dreaded blow-by, which in turn prevented the Celtics from getting as many open 3-pointers on kickouts.

Dallas held Jaylen Brown to 3-of-12 shooting. They held Jayson Tatum to 4-of-10, and Derrick White to 2-of-8 in the win. No one in green scored more than 15 points in Game 4.

21-7: Mavericks’ first/second quarter run

The Mavericks put the game away early with a run that started in the first quarter and leaked into the second. Dallas and Boston traded jabs for the first six minutes of the game, as is customary in this series, before Xavier Tillman’s 3-point play in the lane pulled them to within one, down 15-14, with 5:36 left in the frame.

In the next two minutes and change, the Mavs rattled off 10 straight points, six coming from Dončić. He bullied his way to 13 points in the first with businesslike precision an attack-first, complain-less attitude.

That 10-0 spurt became a 21-7 run early in the second when Dante Exum drove through the teeth of that vaunted Celtics defense for a nice finish to give the Mavs their largest lead of the series to that point, 36-21, with 11 minutes left in the first half.

Dallas had a 12-point lead early in Game 3, but collapsed for the next two-plus quarters to lose in demoralizing fashion. On Friday, though, the Mavericks turned on the afterburners with that 15-point lead. After Jaylen Brown went 1-for-2 from the free throw line, the Mavs outscored the Celtics 22-13 in the final nine minutes of the first half to take a 61-35 lead into the break.

60-26: Dallas’ points-in-the-paint advantage

The Mavericks owned the paint against the Celtics Friday, the same way they did against the Oklahoma City Thunder and Minnesota Timberwolves win Rounds 2 and 3 of this playoff run. Boston did not score a basket inside the 3-point line at all in the second quarter, and that’s exactly when the game got away from them.

65-39: Dallas’ rebounding advantage

Everyone who entered the game for the Mavericks was active on the boards. The effort was relentless, and it translated to a lopsided win in the battle of the boards as well.

Dereck Lively II earned his second straight double-double in these NBA Finals with 11 points and 12 rebounds. His 11 points and 13 boards in Game 3 may have been Dallas’ lone bright spot in that otherwise horrific loss. He brings an energy off the bench that is unmatched on this roster.

1-for-1: Dereck Lively II’s 3-point shooting

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Photo by Jim Cowsert/NBAE via Getty Images

Visions of sugarplums danced in the heads of Mavs fans everywhere when Dončić found Lively alone in the right corner midway through the first quarter and the big man rose up for a 3-pointer with the confidence of guard and splashed in his only attempt from deep of these playoffs.

With the 3-pointer, Lively is now the youngest player ever to make a 3-pointer in the NBA Finals. He’s also now the only player in Mavericks franchise history to record four or more offensive rebounds and hit a 3-pointer in one half of a playoff game. The 13 rebounds he grabbed in Game 3 made him the youngest player in NBA history to record double-digit boards in an NBA Finals game. Only Lively and someone named Magic Johnson have ever recorded back-to-back double-doubles at age 20 in NBA Finals history. If we are effusive in our praise of the youngster, it’s because he continues to make it crystal clear at every turn that he is no normal rookie.

We’ve heard tell of a developing jump shot from the 20-year-old rookie, but seeing him hit one in the NBA Finals can only make one wonder just how good this kid can be going forward. Even if the Mavs can’t pull off the impossible in the next three few games, Lively’s continued development will be huge for this team in the coming years. He’s grown so much throughout this playoff run, and the sky appears to be the limit for this young man.

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