The Boston Celtics found their way back into the win column and defeated the Dallas Mavericks, 124-95, at American Airlines Center on Thursday night.
The Celtics remain atop the NBA standings and improved to 27-12, while the Mavericks had their win streak end at seven games and fell to 22-18 on their campaign.
Check out the full box score here.
ONE BIG TAKEAWAY
After back-to-back losses, the Celtics found their offensive momentum and put Tuesday’s atrocity in the rearview mirror. And they did so in cakewalk fashion despite a slow start.
While the matchup was highly anticipated with a pair of MVP contenders on the floor — Jayson Tatum and Luka Doncic — it wouldn’t be a head-to-head battle between the two. The two stars combined to shoot just 2-of-14 from beyond the arc, with both makes credited to Tatum.
The Celtics were aided by strong ball movement as five Celtics finished with three-plus assists en route to a 29-assist night as a team. They also did their part in taking advantage of Dallas’ interior weakness and outrebounded the Mavericks, 52-42.
And while the Celtics didn’t shoot particularly well for their standard, it didn’t take much to overcome a cold hand from the Mavericks. In fact, Celtics interim head coach Joe Mazzulla walked off the court with a spare four unused timeouts in his pocket.
All Celtics players finished with a positive plus-minus.
STARS OF THE GAME
— Tatum started off in cold fashion but regathered to help the Celtics avoid a third straight loss. He notched his second career triple-double with 29 points, 14 rebounds and 10 assists.
— Doncic entered the game with a 44.5-point average through his previous six games. While not nearly as dominant, Doncic did lead the Mavericks’ offensive push. He finished with 23 points with nine rebounds and went 0-for-6 from beyond the arc.
— Malcolm Brogdon was the voice of reason before the Celtics took the floor and he delivered off the bench. Brogdon led the reserve unit with 15 points, three rebounds and four assists.
WAGER WATCH
DraftKings Sportsbook set the over/under for Tatum’s rebound total at 7.5 with -140 odds on the Over. The MVP contender cleared those odds with no issue and finished with seven rebounds in the first half alone. A $100 bet placed on Tatum would’ve resulted in a $171.43 total payout.
UP NEXT
After sweeping the season series over the Mavericks, the Celtics will wrap up their four-game road trip on Saturday. Tipoff against the San Antonio Spurs from AT&T Center is scheduled for 6 p.m. ET.
