Dallas, TX
Starting 5, June 15: Dallas forces Game 5 in NBA Finals
When you send the series back to Boston.
THE LINEUP 🏀
What’s inside today’s edition?
Start To Finish: Dallas opened the game hot and never cooled off in a 38-point win
Luka Leads The Way: After fouling out of Game 3, Doncic drove Dallas in Game 4
Dallas Defense: How the Mavs held the Celtics to a season-low 84 points
All-Access: Go behind-the-scenes from Game 4 with our on-the-ground correspondents
Game 4 Frames: Some of our favorite photos from Friday in Dallas
BUT FIRST … ⏰
Game 4 and the remaining Finals schedule …
It’s a travel day as the NBA Finals shift back to Boston for Game 5 on Monday night. Stay tapped in on the NBA App for the latest news and exclusive access all weekend.
Trivia Time: Test your knowledge with today’s NBA Play: Expert Mode challenge, and list the five all-time leaders in Finals 3-pointers made.
1. MAVS DOMINATE FROM START TO FINISH
In Game 3, Dallas got off to a hot start, building a 13-point lead midway through the 1st quarter before the Mavs cooled off, and the Celtics regained their poise and got back in the game.
In Game 4, with their season on the line, the Dallas hot start never stopped.
Their 13-point lead after the 1st quarter became 20, then 30, then 40, before ending with the third-highest margin of victory in Finals history (+38) in a 122-84 win over Boston. | Recap
- More History: Dallas became only the third team in the past 70 years to force a Game 5 when trailing 3-0 in the NBA Finals. The others? The 1996 Sonics and 2017 Cavs
- Streak Snappers: Dallas’ win snaps Boston’s 10-game Playoff win streak and hands the Celtics their first road loss this postseason
- Setting The Tone: Dallas’ stars Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving were determined not to see their season end on Friday. They combined to outscore the Celtics by themselves in the 1st quarter (22-21) and the 1st half (36-35) | Best of Luka & Kyrie in Game 4
- The Stars Had Help: The rest of the Mavs combined for 25 points on 57.1% shooting in the 1st half. They shot 4-of-6 from 3, including the first-ever NBA 3 by Dereck Lively II
Lively II (11 pts, 12 reb) posted his second straight double-double, joining Magic Johnson (5x in 1980) as the only players to record multiple double-doubles in the NBA Finals before turning 21 years old.
- 🗣️ Luka On The Full-Team Effort: “It’s big. It’s basketball. It’s five people on the floor. So that’s huge for us. Everybody played with a lot of energy. That’s how we got to do it. We got to think the same way in Game 5 in Boston.”
At the half, the Mavs had doubled their 13-point first-quarter lead to 26 and still didn’t let up after the break. Just 48 hours earlier, the Mavs had gone on a 22-2 run in just five minutes to erase a 20+ point lead, so they kept their foot on the gas.
- After back-to-back dunks by Lively II made it a 36-point game with 3:18 left in the 3rd quarter, Boston coach Joe Mazzulla pulled his starters and emptied his bench
- The Mavs bench kept it rolling. Tim Hardaway Jr, who was scoreless on 0-of-7 shooting in 27 Finals minutes entering Game 4, hit five 3s in the 4th quarter as Dallas’ lead peaked at 48 points
When the final buzzer sounded, the Mavs had racked up 122 points (after being held under 100 in each of the first three games) and had only allowed 84 points — tying Boston’s lowest mark under Mazzulla.
Teams often preach playing for 48 minutes. With their season on the line, the Mavs delivered one of the most dominant 48 minutes in NBA Finals history.
- 🗣️ Coach Jason Kidd In The Locker Room Pregame: “This is what we live for. This is what it’s all about. Someone wrote it [on the whiteboard] ‘We gotta believe’ and ‘Why not us?’ We go to Boston tomorrow, I hope you guys all packed.”
2. LUKA LEADS MAVS TO SEASON-SAVING WIN
All Luka Doncic could do was watch.
- After he and the Mavs had cut a 21-point lead down to three in Game 3, Luka fouled out on a block/charge call with 4:12 left in the game
- And while Kyrie Irving cut the lead to one, the Mavs never regained the lead and fell into a 3-0 hole in the Finals
With the Mavs’ season on the line 48 hours later, how would the scoring champ respond to lowest-scoring game in a month, and his first Playoff foul-out?
The answer: quickly.
Doncic hit three of Dallas’ first four buckets of the game, finishing the 1st quarter with 13 points as the Mavs built a lead of the same amount — on the way to a game-high 29 pts with 5 reb, 5 ast & 3 stl.
Luka and the Mavs kept rolling in the 2nd quarter, with Doncic adding another dozen points to give him 25 at the half, along with four assists and three rebounds.
- Third Youngest: Luka (25 years, 107 days) became the third-youngest player to score 25+ in the 1st half of a Finals game. The only players younger? Hakeem Olajuwon (23y, 125d in 1986) and current teammate Kyrie Irving (25y, 78d in 2017)
- Fourth Ever: Luka joined LeBron James (2x), Larry Bird and Nikola Jokic as the only players to accumulate at least 600 pts, 150 reb, 150 ast in a single Playoff run
- 🗣️ Kidd: “I thought he was great … I thought he played his game tonight. He didn’t force anything. … We talked about it, we got to play faster. I thought he set the pace for us tonight.”
Luka added four more points, two steals and one half-court alley-oop dime to Daniel Gafford in the 3rd quarter before exiting the game for good with 1:29 left in the period.
Once again, all Luka could do was watch. This time for the final 13:29 of game time, after he and the Mavs had built a historic lead (+48), accomplishing their mission to keep the season alive.
- First Step: The Mavs are trying to become the first team in 157 tries (15 in the Finals) to win a best-of-seven series after trailing 3-0
- Next Steps: Of the previous 156 teams to go down 3-0, only 15 have forced Game 6 (which Dallas will try to do in Boston on Monday). And only four have forced Game 7
- 🗣️ Luka On His Walk-Off: “Still believe.”
3. DALLAS DEFENSE STANDS UP
In the regular season, the Celtics boasted an offensive rating of 122.2, the highest in the play-by-play era (since 1997-98).
In Game 4 of the Finals, the Mavericks held the Cs to a season-low 84 points with one of the best defensive efforts by any team this season.
Blitzing Boston from the start, the Mavs entered the break up 61-35, marking the fewest points Boston has scored in a half since Joe Mazzulla took over as head coach.
Leading the way? The scoring champ and the Mavs’ 20-year-old rook.
- Setting The Tone: Lively II led all players with 20+ min in DefRtg, at 81.4, with Luka second at 85.7
- Cool Off: After Boston shot 46.4% in the first three games of the Finals, the Mavs held the Cs to just 36.2% in Game 4
- Playoff Low: That field goal percentage represents Boston’s lowest of the postseason and its second-lowest since December 2022
- Tough 2s: Dallas held Boston to 38.5% shooting from inside the arc, an 18.9% drop-off from its series average entering the night (57.4%)
- Owning The Inside: The Mavs held the Celtics to 58.8% shooting in the restricted area and 18.8% in the rest of the paint — down 11% and 24.8% from their Playoff averages, respectively
- Limited Helpers: Boston was held to 18 dimes after averaging 26 assists through three games
All-Around Effort: Boston entered the night with a 113.6 offensive rating in the Finals, but Dallas held that mark to 87.5 in Game 4.
- Points In the Paint: The Mavs held the Celtics to 26 points in the paint, their second-fewest of the season and 14 fewer than their series average going into Game 4
- Hustle: Boston averaged 12.3 fast break points and 8.7 offensive boards in the first three games of the Finals, but Dallas limited those marks to a series-low six and four, respectively
- Defense ➡️ Offense: Dallas is the seventh team in the last 20 Finals to hold their opponent under 40% from the field while shooting better than 50%
- 🗣️ Coach Mazzulla On Dallas: “Their multiple efforts … every time we went in for a layup, they had multiple guys contest … They just did a great job flying around on the defensive end.”
4. ALL-ACCESS PASS TO GAME 4
Game 4 Like Never Before: Warriors rookie Brandin Podziemski and Content Creator Jenna Bandy served as NBA Correspondents for Game 4 in Dallas, where they experienced the electricity of the Finals.
- 🗣️ Podz: “I think Dallas is going to win tonight … It’s been a great environment, and it’s something I can’t wait to experience.”
- 🗣️Jenna: “Energy is everything … These Dallas fans just really showed me that if you believe, you can achieve.”
Dive deeper with Podz, Jenna and our All-Access team, from watching shootaround alongside 2024 NBA Draft prospect Alex Sarr to hearing Luka’s immediate thoughts after the win.
5. OUR FAVORITE FRAMES FROM GAME 4
The Texas Department of Public Safety, the Drug Enforcement Administration, and Garland Police Department conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Abby Policastro and Marissa Aulbaugh prosecuted the case.
“This verdict should send a clear message to drug dealers that we will dismantle any effort to peddle deadly fentanyl in our community,” said U.S. Attorney Ryan Raybould. “I want to thank our law enforcement partners for their dedicated collaboration in taking thousands of fentanyl pills off the streets of Dallas.”
If the Dallas Cowboys want to get over the hump and back into the playoffs in 2026, they’ve got to see a massive improvement in the defense.
Owner Jerry Jones was brutally honest with just how much the Cowboys were held back by their defense in 2025, and the numbers very clearly spell that out.
How does a Cowboys team that ranked top 10 in passing, rushing and points on offense still miss the playoffs?
Well, Dallas also ranked 30th in total yards allowed, 32nd in passing yards, 23rd against the run and 32nd in points against, that’s how. That putrid showing rightly cost Matt Eberflus his job, which set the stage for Dallas to hire Christian Parker.
It also set the stage for a total overhaul of the defense, with Dallas making many additions to that side of the ball, including at corner, where the Cowboys were bad on the boundary and in slot last season.
Fow now, we’re more focused on the boundary competition, as the Cowboys appear set to roll with Caleb Downs in the slot.
Cowboys’ CB competition is crucial for 2026
The Cowboys won’t have much hope for a playoff appearance if the cornerback play doesn’t improve. Of the 10 teams that landed in the bottom 10 in passing yards allowed last season, only two of them made the postseason.
Of course, the pass-rush played a part in that, and while Dallas has made multiple additions to that group this offseason, there really aren’t any guarantees with Rashan Gary, Malachi Lawrence or Donovan Ezeiruaku.
If that trio fails to improve a pass-rush that was tied for the seventh-fewest sacks in the NFL in 2025, the cornerbacks become even more crucial.
DaRon Bland and Shavon Revel did not play well in 2025, and while the former appears safe for now when it comes to a starting job on the outside, his leash could be short if he struggles again.
Revel, on the other hand, isn’t locked into a starting job on the boundary and is competing with Durant and Caelen Carson. It’s also worth keeping an eye on who finishes in second in that battle because that player could replace Bland if he struggles or gets hurt again.
There is hope Revel can bounce back now that he’s another year removed from the torn ACL he suffered in his final year in college and can enjoy a full offseason, but we’ll have to see it first before we can believe it.
“It’s very beneficial,” Revel said of having a normal offseason. “Just because I can clean up a lot of things, a lot of errors I didn’t see last year, or I did see last year, that I could clean up this year.”
“My knee is 100%, so now it’s time to focus on situational ball and I’ve got to see what I need to fix or get better at,” Revel added.
When training camp kicks off next month, we’re going to be locked into watching the battle at cornerback because it could very well make or break Dallas’ entire 2026 campaign.
Follow
The NFL offseason is moving along as the Dallas Cowboys recently wrapped up their mandatory minicamp. Their next big event takes place at the end of July when they meet in Oxnard for training camp.
Coming off a 7-9-1 campaign, the Cowboys have several areas they would like to improve, and while defense has been the focal point, there will be plenty to watch on offense as well with players fighting for their spot on the depth chart.
That means there will be no shortage of storylines to follow, including keeping an eye on these three players who enter camp with their stock trending in the wrong direction.
Jonathan Mingo, WR
It has been a roller coaster for Jonathan Mingo ever since being traded to Dallas ahead of the 2024 deadline. He made no impact during his first eight games, recording just five receptions. He seemed ready to rebound in 2025, however, as he took advantage of his first full offseason with the Cowboys.
Mingo was one of the stars of training camp and put himself in the WR3 conversation. A knee injury put an end to that run and he wound up playing in just six games and had one catch. Now, Mingo heads into camp with very little chance of making the 53-man roster.
Joe Milton III, QB
At this time last year, Joe Milton III was one of the hottest names in Frisco. The former New England Patriots quarterback was expected to give them a more explosive QB2 behind Dak Prescott after Cooper Rush left in free agency. LeSean McCoy went overboard by saying Dak Prescott’s job was in danger, but there was still a lot of understandable hype.
Now as he enters his second season with the franchise, Milton is going to be battling for the backup spot with Sam Howell, who was signed this offseason. Milton still has a rocket for an arm and unbelievable athleticism for a 6-foot-5, 246-pounder, but he could be in danger of losing his roster spot if he can’t find more consistency.
Malik Hooker, S
Dallas added three safeties this offseason, signing Jalen Thompson and P.J. Locke in free agency and selecting Caleb Downs in the first round of the NFL draft. Thompson has yet to fully practice due to an injury but Downs has been turning heads and Locke has taken advantage of the extra snaps.
That’s not ideal for Malik Hooker, who has also been sidelined with an injury. Unlike Thompson, Hooker isn’t in the first year of his deal, so his missed time is more detrimental. He also doesn’t have experience with the coaching staff the way Locke does. That means he’s entering camp without much momentum at all, and could be in danger of losing his spot.
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