Everything you need to know about the Celtics beating the Mavs 114-93 in BSJ Quickie Form
Box Score
HEADLINES
Great ball movement turns into blowout win: The Celtics were down three key rotation players (Kyrie Irving, Marcus Morris, Aron Baynes) but their offense did not miss a beat thanks to some of their best ball movement of the season. The Green dished out a season-high 35 assists and were red-hot from beyond the arc (21-of-45) on their way to a runaway win over the Mavericks. Jaylen Brown (21 points) led five different Celtics in double figures as the C’s played plenty of small-ball in the starting five (Brown starting for Morris) and managed to hold their ground against a high-powered Mavs offense that shot a paltry 39 percent on the night.
Hayward flirts into a triple-double: The last time Hayward scored 30 points, he followed it up with a quiet eight-point outing. The story was different a month later as Hayward was just two assists away from his first triple-double of the year, posting 16 points, 11 rebounds and 8 assists off the C’s bench to captain an undermanned second unit. He was aggressive on both ends of the floor, ranking second on the team with 15 field goal attempts on a night where opportunities were plentiful with Irving out of the fold.
Success at home without Kyrie continues: The road has been unkind to Boston without Irving for the last couple seasons but this group keeps showing that it can step up when the All-Star needs a night off at the TD Garden. The Celtics improved to an incredible 21-3 over the past two years when Irving has been sidelined at home (including the postseason), with the last two victories coming in impressive fashion. Irving is expected to return to the floor on Monday night against the Nets but Boston’s depth is clearly paying serious dividends with him watching.
TURNING POINT
After the Mavericks erased a 17-point deficit in the first half, the Celtics put them away for good with a 21-6 run midway through the third quarter which pushed a one-point lead back into double digits. Dallas would fail to close the deficit the rest of the way after their 3-point shooting (11-of-44) went ice cold.
TWO UP
Jaylen Brown: The swingman is finally showing some scoring consistency that has escaped him for most of the season. He shot above 50 percent from the field for the fifth straight game on Friday night and is 6-of-11 from downtown over the last three games. This was the guy Celtics fans thought they would be getting this season and it's helping the Celtics offense look potent despite missing two of their best weapons in Morris and Irving in the win.
Brad Wanamaker: The rookie guard set a new career-high in just nine minutes of action in the first half, knocking down back-to-back 3-pointers at the end of the first quarter to help push the Celtics lead back up to double digits. He scored eight points in nine first-half minutes, proving himself as worthy of minutes over Guerschon Yabusele against the more perimeter-oriented Mavs.
TWO DOWN
Terry Rozier from downtown: The fourth-year guard missed his first five 3-point attempts from 3-point range on his way to a 2-of-9 shooting night. The good news for Boston? He managed to be more of a facilitator than usual, dishing out a season-high seven assists as the Celtics once again as C’s posted a season-high 35 assists.
Dirk Nowitzki: The Garden crowd gave him a warm welcome when he entered the game but Brad Stevens should send Rick Carlisle a thank you card for playing him double-digit minutes in this one. He missed all five of his 3-point attempts on his way to a scoreless night and was a team-worst minus-23. At the end of a storied career, he can’t move much on the defensive end and just isn’t hitting enough 3s to justify rotation minutes. It did not take away from a cool few minutes at the end of the game with the entire Garden rooting for him to drill a bucket and set the building point record for a visiting player.
TOP PLAY
Jayson making it look easy. pic.twitter.com/xDUkaO5K1v
— Boston Celtics (@celtics) January 5, 2019