Post Game - Celtics vs. Dallas Mavericks - Monday, January 22 (W)

https://www.espn.com/nba/boxscore/_/gameId/401585239

Celtics-Mavericks takeaways: The Jays bounce back with dominant performances

https://sports.yahoo.com/celtics-mavericks-takeaways-jays-bounce-041817988.html

Justin Leger
Mon, Jan 22, 2024, 11:18 PM EST·4 min read




Celtics-Mavericks takeaways: The Jays bounce back with dominant performances originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston

Three Key Storylines

Jayson Tatum snaps out of slump
Jaylen Brown outduels Luka Doncic
Quiet night for Grant Williams

The second night of a back-to-back didn't appear to bother the Boston Celtics on Monday night vs. the Dallas Mavericks.

The C's took on the Mavs at American Airlines Center less than 24 hours after starting their road trip with a win over the Houston Rockets. Dallas, meanwhile, hosted Boston after four days of rest.

Tired legs seemed to be a factor in the first quarter with the Celtics shooting just 8-for-22 from the floor and 1-for-10 on 3-pointers. However, they snapped out of their funk with a 41-point second quarter in which they shot 9-for-16 from beyond the arc.

From there, the C's took control with help from their two superstars Jayson Tatum (38 points) and Jaylen Brown (35 points). Jrue Holiday added 17 points on 5-of-12 shooting from deep in Boston's 119-110 victory.

Luka Doncic and ex-Celtic Kyrie Irving notched 33 and 23 points respectively for the Mavericks. Tim Hardaway Jr. chipped in 20 points off the bench with 18 coming in the first half.

The Celtics are now 6-2 on the second night of back-to-backs this season and 16-5 under head coach Joe Mazzulla. They have six more back-to-backs on the schedule.

Boston (34-10) will enjoy a couple of days off before visiting the Miami Heat (24-19) on Thursday night. Before we look ahead, here are three takeaways from Monday's game.

Jayson Tatum snaps out of slump

Tatum entered Monday's action with lackluster offensive numbers by his standards over his last four games. In that span, he was just 29-for-81 (35.8 percent) from the floor and a putrid 6-for-28 (21.4 percent) from 3-point range.

From the get-go, it was clear Tatum was determined to snap out of his cold stretch. He notched a season-high 13 first-quarter points and was notably aggressive, getting to the line often and drilling all five of his free throws in the frame.

The four-time All-Star finished the first half with 18 points and topped it off with this emphatic block on former C's teammate Grant Williams at the halftime buzzer:



Tatum didn't miss a beat in the second half as he went on to total a game-high 38 points on 11-of-21 shooting. He was outstanding in every facet of the game as he added 11 rebounds, five assists, three steals, and two blocks to his stat sheet.

This marked Tatum's first 30-point performance since Jan. 10.



Jaylen Brown outduels Luka Doncic

Make no mistake, Doncic was a problem for the C's in this game. The four-time All-Star put up a ridiculous stat line of 33 points, 18 rebounds, and 13 assists.

Those numbers don't tell the whole story, though. In fact, Brown was the better player on both ends of the floor. The Celtics star topped Doncic with 35 points and was far more efficient, shooting 13-of-22 from the floor to Doncic's 12-of-30.

While Doncic dwarfed Brown in the rebounds (three) and assists (four) categories, Brown made far more of an impact defensively and put Doncic on the wrong sideline of multiple highlight reels. He dropped the Slovenian superstar with a filthy crossover and got him again on the following possession.



When the Mavs made a run in the fourth quarter, it was Brown stepping up to propel Boston to victory. He tallied 10 fourth-quarter points to close out the hard-fought win.

Monday's game marked the third time this month that both Tatum and Brown scored 30 or more points. They combined for 73 points and, perhaps most importantly, zero turnovers.



Quiet night for Grant Williams

Quiet is the last word anyone, especially former Celtics teammates, would use to describe Grant Williams. In his first game against the C's, however, he was hardly noticeable.

Williams, who was traded to Dallas last summer after four years in Boston, had just two points on 1-of-5 shooting (0-for-4 from 3) and was a non-factor defensively in his 18 minutes. His most notable highlights were Tatum swatting his half-court heave into the stands before the half and his borderline flagrant foul on Brown.

It was all love after the game though as Williams took a moment to share an embrace with his ex-teammates.



Williams will have an opportunity to exact revenge on the C's when these two teams face off again on March 1.

From another perspective:



3 things from the Mavericks’ loss to the Celtics, 119-110

https://www.mavsmoneyball.com/2024/1/22/24047665/dallas-vs-boston-final-score-recap-dallas-loses-boston-119-110-luka-doncic-jayson-tatum

Even catching Boston on a back-to-back didn’t tilt things enough in Dallas’ favor to manage a win

By Matt Gilroy@ItsGrumpist Jan 22, 2024, 10:17pm CST 0 Comments




The Dallas Mavericks lost to the Boston Celtics 119-110 at home on Monday night. Jayson Tatum poured in 39 for Boston with Jaylen Brown chipping in 34 as well. Luka Doncic scored 33 in defeat for Dallas.

In their first game in five days, at home against a Boston team on a back-to-back and without Kristaps Porzingis, Dallas couldn’t quite steal one against one of the league’s best teams. The Mavericks battled in the first quarter, but the Celtics poured in at least eight threes in the second quarter. Tim Hardaway helped keep things close, but following half time, Dallas found themselves down double digits for most of the rest of the game. They mounted a few fake comebacks, but it wasn’t to be.

Luka Doncic finished with 33/18/13 - a huge stat line for sure, but getting there wasn’t exactly efficient. Kyrie Irving did his part, contributing 23 points, and Josh Green had a strong game scoring 14 while shooting 4-of-7 from three and bringing his usual defensive energy. It wasn’t enough to stop Jayson Tatum, who led Boston with 39/11/5.

First half frustrations

Luka’s final stat line looked as jam-packed as ever, but getting there was not pretty. The Celtics brought their physical defense to Dallas, and for Doncic that meant taking two shots to the face from Jaylen Brown – neither of which were called. So, already, he was no fan of the game’s officiating.

Add to that going 0-5 from three and you could sense Doncic was getting more and more testy. It ended, as it usually does, with a technical foul called on Doncic after he committed a foul on Jayson Tatum that he disagreed with.

His play picked up as the game came within reach in the fourth, but a more Luka Magic-esque first half might’ve been enough to snowball a tired Celtics squad on the second game of a back-to-back. As it was, Boston is just too good a team to let a winnable game slip between their fingers.

Pocket challenge

Mavericks’ head coach Jason Kidd loves using his “use it or lose it” timeout. (A team can only use a maximum of four timeouts in the fourth quarter, forfeiting unused timeouts.) He never lets an opportunity go by to use his “free” timeout. He, apparently, does not feel the same way about challenges.

With the Mavs having finally fought their way to only a seven-point deficit with just over four minutes to go in the fourth, Tim Hardaway Jr brushed by Jaylen Brown, committing some exceedingly light contact, as Brown shot a three from the corner. Brown made the shot, and the shooting foul on Hardaway made it a four-point trip down the court for Boston. Lead back to 11.

Would it have been overturned? Maybe not, but you do yourself no good keeping those challenges in your pocket. At the very least, it is simply another timeout you can use to game plan, and best-case scenario, you save your team a crucial point in a game that seemed like it had a shot to get close.

For the taking

Things were looking up early. Dallas came out and won the first quarter - no easy thing against Boston, the league’s best first-quarter team with a +4.8 point differential. It was the hallmark of a tired team on a back-to-back. Their shots weren’t falling and they ended the frame shooting just 8-of-22 from the field. The two-point lead Dallas had was quickly erased in the ensuing two quarters when the Celtics jumpers began to find the net.

However, with Boston’s lead at just 11 (down from 16 earlier) to start the fourth, it felt like it was still a winnable game if Dallas was just got a little hot. They did what they had to defensively, holding Boston to just 6 points in the opening four and a half minutes of the quarter. However, their offense, which was supposed to buoy them through this season, no questions asked, didn’t come along for the ride. Dallas managed just five points in that same time frame, and that was it. Opportunity gone. The Celtics wrapped up the game rather uneventfully.

Finally found a team with weaker wing defenders than the Bucks, Doncic and Hardaway, really…??? Poor Jason Kidd, with personnel like that, I don’t care who is coaching, you’re just not going to be able to have a good defense. And to make matters worse they have Grant Williams to add further nothing to that defense. Shockingly they have outscored enough teams to have a winning record. Grant Williams, until proven otherwise I see his career ending like Rick Robey, he will be out of the league before he is 30. Nice to see 2 J’s so dominant, our elite athletes against Luka and Hardaway, if we would have stopped with all the nonsense, the 3’s; and really attacked them, both our guys could have went for 40 easily. Jaylen went for 34 was 13-22, 2-7 from 3, that means he was 11-15 from midrange and at the rim. Jayson had an easy 39 was 11-21, 2-8 from 3, he was 9-13 from 2. Those are gaudy efficient numbers from 2 and they had no turnovers, remarkable; and shows how weak that Mavs defense really is. Thankfully our guys don’t have to rely on 3’s exclusively. They are so good at driving and dunking, 3’s might be weakest part of their game. Their numbers from 3 are nothing special.

I like that we are going out of our way to rest certain starters whichever may need be and we are figuring out how to win without them. Good game and we have 2 days off. Heat get up for us and should be a good game Friday.

Here's what I saw:

1. Low TO's....AGAIN! Something's in the water.

2. No D in D. Lanes wide open and the refs were calling just about every drive for us. Gotta make those dang FT's though!!! Easily could have added 6 more points there just shooting normal from the line. 3's on the fault line @ 32%. Nevermind.

3. PITP - Looks bad at first, 42 vs. 50. But I'm guessing that when you get fouled in the lane driving to the basket, the FT's made don't count as PITP. Same number of fouls at 20 each. We shot 30 (horribly I might add 22/30). DAL shot 10/14. BOS got the Mack Truck Memo.

4. Luka's ridiculous. 33/18/13. Give me a break. BOS got the Wilt Memo from Russell, though. Give him his stats. We'll take the Victories and Titles. But not without letting Luka be the punching bag all night long. He's hurting this morning. DAL is still about 2 Big clicks away from having something that may challenge out West. But for now, get ready for an unceremonious 1st Round exit. Luka whines more than JT. That's saying something. Can't complain about Kryrie. At least he was there last night. DAL needs much more from him if they are going anywhere in the upward direction.

5. No KP? DW can't throw it in the ocean? No problem. Hard to believe the +/- discrepancy between JT and JB (+27, -6 respectively). Just keep the crappy nights by both of you at the same time to an absolute minimum and have a game plan that doesn't involve JT shooting 4-17. Jrue simply solid. Love that guy. Still can't wait to see the looks on all the Bucks faces...

6. You gotta cheer for Pritchard. Solidly annoying to the competition. Every time he gets a rebound amongst the trees, I burst out laughing. Clearly, I was LMFAO last night. Solid bench line and huge effort as always.

7. We rose to the occasion yet again. DAL is a good team. I was even surprised to see a modicum of defense show up every once and a while. Had to check and make sure we were playing DAL. Found a way to stay ahead and keep competition at bay. ALL the Celtic champions have that in common.

On to MIA. Time to find out if we have officially put this team behind us from last year's playoffs. Be looking for the zone, although we have that now in our arsenal. Spoelstra has been planning for this game since the beginning of the season. He'll be ready. MIA will be ready. Joe's better, too, though. We have a day or two off. Look out.

db

P.S. Something else I'm seeing. The more all these guys across the league are playing, thanks to the 65-game rule, the less they are getting injured. WAZZUPWITDAT?!!

B2B wins on the road  has cleared the path for the Celtics to continue to lead the pack.

For the record, the Celtics are #1 against teams with .500 or better records.  Their record is 19-8.  I believe their road record is 2nd.  They continue to maintain a healthy point differential which is also tops in the league.

The Jays carried this team all night.  They were special.

Luka has been a real thorn with the way he has managed to knock down a deep 3 to win games for Dallas.  

They have their two stars in Irving and Doncic and we have the Jays.  What is the real advantage for us?  Their stars cannot play defense.  They were well rested and playing at home against the top team in the NBA and they could not beat us.  

Jaylen Brown appears to be on a path to making one of the all defensive teams this season.  His self-awareness is a driving force for him.  The physical and mental demands required to be really good at both ends of the court  is the most difficult accomplishment for NBA players.  

The Celtics have earned a few days rest on South Beach as they prepare to face their Nemesis.

It's time to send a message to MIA, no matter who they've got. This ain't last year and if you do get the chance to play us in the playoffs, we will not be coming up short or spotting you 3 games. Time to turn the tide. Make it a rivalry because right now, they have our number.

db

dbrown4 wrote:It's time to send a message to MIA, no matter who they've got.  This ain't last year and if you do get the chance to play us in the playoffs, we will not be coming up short or spotting you 3 games.  Time to turn the tide.  Make it a rivalry because right now, they have our number.  

db

If the Celtics are going to beat Miami there are two things that must be accomplished.

On offense the Celtics need to get the ball to KP to collapse the zones. JT could also facilitate from the nail. This season, the Celtics move the ball much better than in past years. Miami wants to trap you and force you into playing ISO ball. They are the masters of zone defenses. You simply have to beat their zone defense to be effective on offense. The Heat will push teams out and if you play the 'walk it up' game they got you just where they want to.

On defense, the Heat will kill teams if they are glued into drop coverage. None of the Celtics centers are particularly adept at defending the high screen action that the Heat offense thrives on. The Celtics will need to play some zone themselves.

dboss wrote:

dbrown4 wrote:It's time to send a message to MIA, no matter who they've got.  This ain't last year and if you do get the chance to play us in the playoffs, we will not be coming up short or spotting you 3 games.  Time to turn the tide.  Make it a rivalry because right now, they have our number.  

db

If the Celtics are going to beat Miami there are two things that must be accomplished.  

On offense the Celtics need to get the ball to KP to collapse the zones.  JT could also facilitate from the nail.  This season, the Celtics move the ball much better than in past years.  Miami wants to trap you and force you into playing ISO ball.  They are the masters of zone defenses.    You simply have to beat their zone defense to be effective on offense.     The Heat will push teams out and if you play the 'walk it up' game they got you just where they want to.

On defense, the  Heat will kill teams if they are glued into drop coverage.  None of the Celtics centers  are particularly adept at defending the high screen action that the Heat offense thrives on.   The Celtics will need to play some zone themselves.  

Agreed I also noticed the offense moves the ball much better and our offense has never had better purpose. Having experienced veterans added to the roster with all star pedigree definitely helps too. We seem to hunt for the best shot or mismatch, everyone is playing together, ball always swings back if it’s the right play for right shot/match up.

Actually the way this team wins and plays winning ball with starters out shows the belief and purpose we have been playing with. We’ve already seen many games where we found a way to win, where last year would have been a frustrating collapse….

Heat got crushed tonight by a Grizzlies team without 4 strarters….

Yeah, cowens/oldschool. I'll file that under looking ahead to tonight by MIA. No excuse for losing to MEM except for that reason. Difference will be night and day. The Godfather Pat Riley will be there to make sure the door slams shut on us. Smug-Ass Bastard!

db

db,

Just a gentle reminder to watch the language. (S-A B)