Everything you need to know about the Mavericks beating the Celtics 113-104
Box Score
HEADLINES
Another defensive egg: The so-called top defensive team in the league looked out sorts for the better part of 48 minutes against an aggressive and rested Mavericks attack. Dallas came out and made their first seven attempts from beyond the arc, on their way to 16 for the night with JJ Barea (20 points, 8 assists) and Harrison Barnes (20 points) leading a balanced scoring attack that featured five different Mavericks in double figures. The Celtics tried to keep pace behind Jayson Tatum (team-high 21 points) and Marcus Smart (season-high 19 points) but a brutal shooting night from Kyrie Irving (9-of-24) along with lackluster pick-and-roll defense and rebounding (13 offensive rebounds for Mavs) sunk any hopes of a Celtics victory in the fourth quarter. Boston led at just one point in the game (74-73) before the Mavericks closed out the victory on a 40-30 run over the game’s final 16 minutes.
JJ Barea drops 20 PTS and hands out 8 AST off the bench to help the @dallasmavs beat BOS! #MFFL pic.twitter.com/xqfI5E1LBn
— NBA (@NBA) November 25, 2018
Jaylen Brown has an injury scare:
The shooting guard fell hard on his back and tailbone while attempting to contest a Mavericks layup in the final two minutes of the defeat. Brown left the game and immediately headed to the locker room after the spill, spoiling an otherwise positive night for the starting guard (16 points on 7-of-9 FG). X-Rays were negative on Brown's back after the game, but it seems very possible that he could miss some time with the injury if it becomes sore ahead of Monday’s tilt with the Pelicans.
Back to .500: While the Celtics may have run out of gas to a degree in the closing minutes of the back-to-back, there wasn’t any mistake about which team was better on the floor tonight. The C’s looked disconnected during long stretches on both ends of the court, which produced a season-high 19 turnovers for the Green and ultimately a return to the .500 mark at 10-10. With another tweak to the starting five (Marcus Morris for Aron Baynes) stunting any progress from Friday’s win, Brad Stevens has his work cut out for him to try to piece together any semblance of consistent basketball within this group in the coming weeks.
TURNING POINT
The Mavericks erupted for a 12-2 run midway through the fourth quarter behind the play of Barea (seven points) to help turn a six-point lead into a 16-point edge with just over five minutes left in the game. The outburst took the wind out of Boston’s sails as they failed to cut the deficit under 10 until a meaningless 3-pointer from Morris in the final minute of the defeat.
TWO UP
Jayson Tatum:
The 20-year-old shot a season-high 64 percent from the field, knocking down nine of his 14 attempts, including a pair from 3-point range on his way to 21 points. He’s now scored in double digits for 10 straight games and is shooting 46 percent from 3-point range during the month of November.
“I’ll take that.” -@jaytatum0 pic.twitter.com/VqGrHhWZzj
— Boston Celtics (@celtics) November 25, 2018
Marcus Smart:
The reserve point guard provided a needed source of outside shooting in the first half, knocking down his first three 3-point attempts of the night on the way to a season-high 19 points off the bench. He also finished the game with a team-high six free throws as he played the game in front of 50 friends and family in his hometown of Dallas.
TWO DOWN
Terry Rozier:
Barea had his way with the Celtics’ defense all night long and Rozier was his main defender on a lot of those possessions. It’s hard to blame the fourth-year guard entirely for communication breakdowns but he wasn’t sharp on his defensive assignments all night long and Dallas made him pay repeatedly. Things didn’t get much better on the offensive end either (1-of-6 from the field), which led to him playing a team-low 17 minutes.
Al Horford:
A couple days of rest for his sore knee didn’t seem to do much good in the mobility department as the Mavs backcourt had their way against him in the pick-and-roll and by attacking him at the rim. He played a lot more at the 5 with Morris starting next to him with lackluster results and his shooting (3-of-11 FG) continues to weigh down Boston’s offense when he is in the game. He’s providing role player production for a max-level salary and the C’s haven’t been able to overcome that on most nights this year.
TOP PLAY
Uncle Drew with the left! pic.twitter.com/6SAyVwB46M
— Boston Celtics (@celtics) November 25, 2018
TWO TAKES B-ROBB WILL PROBABLY REGRET LATER
Kyrie Irving is coming back to earth:
After carrying the Celtics throughout the month of November on the offensive end, the All-Star has started to look mortal again in the past few games, particularly with his 3-point shooting. He’s just 6-of-28 from downtown over the past four contests and has shot 38 percent or worse from the field in three of those games, including an ugly 9-of-24 on Saturday night along with five turnovers. These type of ruts are expected for any player over the course of the season but the C’s can’t afford to overcome them on most nights given their consistency issues in other areas of the lineup. The Celtics are not going to be able to slow down elite point guards defensively with Irving head-to-head, so they need him to be able to go toe-to-toe with them on the offensive end. When Boston loses that battle decisively, things can get ugly quickly, something we saw in the fourth quarter on Saturday night.
The Celtics could use Shane Larkin or another defensive-minded guard:
Roster construction never appeared to be an issue for this roster with so many players returning but after watching the C’s get lit up by so many speedy guards in the past month (Jamal Murray, Trey Burke, JJ Barea), it’s evident that they are missing a situational defender on this roster for that type of player. Smart is an elite defender but doesn’t have the speed to handle smaller players. Rozier has a rough go of it in this department. Horford and Baynes don’t have the foot speed to keep up. Brad Wanamaker was given Larkin’s role as a depth piece due to his size difference (6-foot-5) but a Larkin-type piece is something this team could use more of right now for situational basketball. It will be interesting to see if Ainge addresses this area in the coming weeks (perhaps if Jabari Bird’s roster spot opens up) or if he remains patient in the face of these struggles.