Joe Mazzulla ‘Knew’ Celtics Would Respond Against Mavericks

The Boston Celtics were in need of a momentum boost and that’s just what they found in their 124-95 cakewalk win over the Dallas Mavericks on Thursday night.

In the two games prior against the Denver Nuggets and Oklahoma City Thunder, the Celtics were outscored a combined 273-228. And in both instances, the Celtics were defeated in the assists category, which didn’t complement the consecutive poor outside shooting nights. Against the Nuggets, Boston shot 27.3% from 3-point territory and then 30% versus the Thunder.

Yet, before the contest even began in Dallas, Joe Mazzulla revealed his confidence that the team would indeed respond.

“I knew we were going to (respond),” Mazzulla said, as seen on NBC Sports Boston’s postgame coverage. “Like I said, and because I knew it, it’s a matter of can we do it over and over again. Our guys have a level of maturity about them. That doesn’t mean that they’re not gonna have bad games or stinkers but we have a level of maturity and our guys really wanna win. And so I trust that in them.”

Mazzulla added: “I’m gonna work to make sure that we try over and over again to do that.”

While Jayson Tatum made it easier with his MVP-caliber display, Boston showed improvement as well. The Celtics matched their season average by connecting on 16-of-43 (37.2%) 3-pointers while also dishing out 29 assists.

They also held their own on the defensive end. As a team, Boston totaled eight blocks, which were the most since Nov. 2 against the Cleveland Cavaliers. The Celtics have notched at least eight blocks on just six occasions through their first 39 games.

Malcolm Brogdon was on the same page as Mazzulla. The veteran guard led the way for Boston’s reserve unit with 15 points and four assists to register a plus-22 rating. After the final buzzer, Brogdon shared a nearly identical sentiment and tipped his cap to the Celtics’ maturity.

“I think it speaks to our maturity,” Brogdon said, as seen on NBC Sports Boston’s postgame coverage. “I think some nights like OKC (Thunder) our maturity lets us down a little bit. And when we play the best, we really do beat the best. We bring our best performances against them but we gotta do this consistently night in and night out.”