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June 9 (UPI) -- Derrick White stalked P.J. Washington like a starved predator before blocking a dunk attempt and sealing a Boston Celtics win over the Dallas Mavericks on Sunday in the final seconds of Game 2 of the NBA Finals. The block of that shot, which could have cut the Celtics lead to three points with 51 seconds remaining, halted a late Mavericks run and secured the 105-98 triumph in Boston. The Celtics now own a 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven game series.
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"It was hectic," White said on the ABC broadcast when asked about his clutch defensive play. "I was just sprinting back trying to make a play."
Veteran guard Jrue Holiday led the Celtics with 26 points and 11 rebounds. Jaylen Brown logged 21 points. Fellow Celtics forward Jayson Tatum recorded 18 points, 12 assists and nine rebounds. White logged 18 points.
All-NBA guard Luka Doncic recorded a game-high 32 points, with 11 assists and 11 rebounds, for the first NBA Finals triple-double in Mavericks history. He scored 23 points in the first half, but struggled down the stretch, making just 1 of 6 shots in the fourth quarter.
"We were just trying to show them different bodies and crowd the paint, but at the same time being able to cover the three," Holiday said.
Doncic scored 13 over the first 12 minutes to help the Mavericks carry a 28-25 lead into the second quarter. He continued that surge by scoring the Mavericks' next seven points.
The Celtics, who missed their first eight 3-point attempts, eventually rallied with a 9-0 run to take their first lead four minutes into the second quarter. The lead switched hands several more times before the Celtics took a 54-51 edge into halftime.
The Mavericks snatched the lead back early in the third quarter, but the Celtics answered with an 8-2 run. Celtics defenders continued to swarm Doncic, forcing turnovers and slowing the Mavericks offense, which failed to produce a consistent secondary scoring threat.
The Mavericks went on a 7-0 run over the final minutes of the third quarter, cutting a 13-point deficit to six. Celtics guard Payton Pritchard then sank a 3-pointer from nearly half court, beating the buzzer and pushing the advantage back to nine.
The Celtics went up by a dozen on a White 3-pointer with 3:34 remaining, but Doncic and the Mavericks answered late with an 9-0 run to cut the deficit to five with 75 seconds remaining.
Tatum drove to the rim on the next possession, but was blocked by Mavericks forward Derrick Jones Jr. Mavericks guard Kyrie Irving then took off on a breakaway, bouncing a pass to Washington as he ran through the paint. White proceeded to launch himself airborne while using his right arm to block Washington's dunk attempt.
Brown made a layup on the next possession to put the game away.
The Mavericks outshot the Celtics 47.5% to 45.2% in the loss. Neither team shot well from distance, with the Celtics making 25.6% of their 3-pointers, compared to the Mavericks' 23.1% clip. The Celtics edged the Mavericks 15-7 in points off fast breaks and 21-12 in points off turnovers.
The Mavericks will host the Celtics in Game 3 at 8:30 p.m. EDT Wednesday at the American Airlines Center. Game 4 will be Friday in Dallas.
