The Boston Celtics entered Wednesday night looking to rebound from a lackluster loss at the hands of the Chicago Bulls on Monday. Luka Doncic and Dallas Mavericks were coming off two straight season series sweeps of the Green team.
The only notable absence for the Mavs was the German big man, Maxi Kleber missing time with a low back contusion. The Celtics were about as healthy as they’ve been all season minus the familiar names of Danilo Gallinari (torn ACL) and Robert Williams(knee surgery), who have unfortunately made a home on the injury report.
Wednesday’s action erupted fast and furiously as each team combined for a perfect 6/6 from the floor. Quickly it became apparent how the Mavs wanted to play going entirely through Luka Isolations with little play-action setup.
Doncic had 10 of Dallas’ first 13 points to open the contest and on the other side the offense was a thing of beauty and the wealth spread far. The quarter ended with Jaylen Brown having the hot hand with 13 points in the opener as Beantown hung 34 on their Texas foes.
As the game approached the midway point it was a complete blowout with Boston leading the Mavs 70-49 at the half. A balanced scoring output from the starters propelled the C’s to greater heights against a Dallas team with a major allergy to defense.
Luka and Co. kept pace with the Celts in the third making the game quite interesting with the emergence of stellar play from Christian Wood off the bench. They cut it down to a hopeful 16 entering the final frame.
The Jays took turns taking over the closing minutes catapulting the Boston Celtics over the Dallas Mavericks for the first time since 2019, though. The final score saw the C’s take the W, 125-112!
Here are 3 takeaways from the Boston Celtics beatdown over the Mavericks
No. 1 The Tatum-Luka duel lives up to the hype
Two of the brightest young pillars of the NBA collided in what was an absolute treat for NBA fans. No matter where you fall on the who’s a better superstar totem pole, there are strong cases to be made for each player.
In a loss, Luka Doncic dominated putting up 42 points, nine assists, and eight boards on 17/28 shooting, 3/8 from the 3-point line, and 5/9 from the foul line. On the defensive end, he may have well been a ghost as he was far too gassed from putting the pressure solely on his shoulder blades to have the Mavs even compete.
During the first three quarters, the Slovenian guard did not look for his teammates much at all. Assists seemed to get jacked up towards the closing frame — context is everything from those who watched a very selfish brand of basketball.
On the other side, Jayson Tatum led the C’s with 37 points, 13 rebounds (a game-high), and five dimes to go with two rejections for good measure. The six-foot-nine forward played within the team concept and got a slew of points off the catch from on-point passes from his teammates. He played with his head up when drawing two and kicking out to open shooters or finding the cutter on the baselines.
The difference in why I am taking Tatum over Luka Magic is his two-way impact. We are looking at one of the best two-way stars in the association right now. He can keep right with the Mavs guard on the offensive end but has an uncanny ability to guard the best perimeter player on the defensive side of the ball.
Something Doncic simply cannot do given how much he expends on the other end of the floor. They also hide him on that end of the floor. He would be tasked with guarding Horford or Smart because either of the Jays would cook him much as Andrew Wiggins did in the WCF.