Jayson Tatum and the Boston Celtics responded to a perplexing defeat with a powerful victory, because the native star delivered his second profession triple-double and led the way in which in a blowout win over Luka Doncic and the Dallas Mavericks.
Tatum had 29 factors, 14 rebounds and 10 assists, and the Celtics ended Dallas’ seven-game successful streak with a 124-95 victory on Thursday evening.
Jaylen Brown scored 19 factors for the NBA-leading Celtics, who bounced again from a 150-117 loss in Oklahoma City when the Thunder have been lacking 30-point scorer Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.
“They confirmed me they will do it one time. They should do it time and again,” mentioned interim coach Joe Mazzulla.
Luka Doncic scored 23 factors after averaging 44.5 factors within the earlier 5 video games. The Mavs famous person didn’t play within the fourth quarter, which began with Boston main by 24.
Doncic hit buzzer-beating 3-pointers for the win in Boston’s earlier two Dallas visits. There was by no means an opportunity for a 3rd, or for the Mavs to increase the longest successful streak since their lone championship season in 2010-11.
Doncic missed all six pictures from lengthy vary because the Mavericks completed 7 of 32. Doncic was 7 of 23 total and Dallas completed at 38% two nights after Oklahoma City shot 59% towards the Celtics.
“When we’re at our greatest, we play actually good basketball on each ends of the ground with excessive effort for a protracted time period. And then we undergo a few video games the place we lose that. What I really like about tonight was we did bounce again,” mentioned Mazzulla.
Tatum was not a lot better than Doncic, going 8 of twenty-two from the sphere, however his teammates have been. Boston shot 16 of 43 from 3, with eight gamers hitting at the very least one.
The sixth-year professional’s different triple-double got here on April 19, 2021, when he had 14 factors, 13 rebounds and 10 assists in a 102-96 loss to Chicago.
Marcus Smart and Malcolm Brogdon every scored 15 factors, with Smart going 4 of 9 from deep whereas Brogdon was 3 of 5.
The Celtics by no means trailed after the center of the primary quarter, and Dallas didn’t get nearer than 13 after halftime. The Mavs have been swept within the two-game season collection after trailing massive at half-time in a 125-112 loss at Boston.
“It was sort of like what occurred in Boston. We simply couldn’t rating. We had some nice appears there early. The ball simply didn’t fall for us,” mentioned Mavs coach Jason Kidd.
Fast-starting bench
Grant Williams scored 10 of his 12 factors within the first half, when the Boston bench outscored Dallas’ 27-2. Tatum and Brown took over from there, combining for 33 factors after the break.
No move, no make
Doncic had 9 rebounds however was restricted to a few assists because the Mavs tied their season low in assists with 15. Spencer Dinwiddie scored 18 however was simply 6 of 15 because the Dallas starters shot 32%.