BSJ Game Report: Celtics 122, Mavericks 107 - C's bury 3-pointers, White buries Mavs

Everything you need to know about the Celtics win over the Mavs, with BSJ insight and analysis.

IN A NUTSHELL

The Celtics started slow again but recovered to briefly take a first-quarter lead before falling behind by four. The offense took off in the second quarter as the Celtics hit seven 3-pointers, moved well, and built a 10-point halftime lead. They doubled it in the third quarter behind Derrick White’s 16-point outburst. The Mavs made a run in the fourth, but the C’s were able to hold it off.

Box Score

HEADLINES

- Back on track: LOL just kidding. It looks like they could be back on track if they keep up the stuff they did in this game. This was a much better overall effort across the board. They moved well on offense, they defended, they rebounded, shots fell. They didn’t start great and the ending could have been better, but they generally played really well.

- Backcourt bellwether: I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve said White (and Jrue Holiday) might be the number one indicators of how well Boston is playing. They combined for 40 points on 13-29 shooting (9-20 3pt) and eight assists. That's too much for other teams to overcome. 

- Successful road trip: I know how the Lakers game went, but a 3-1 trip out west is successful. They’ve gone 6-2 over two trips against the Western Conference, which is important to keep in mind when evaluating everything. 

TURNING POINT 

They broke it open in the third, but the game flipped in the second when shots started to fall. The Celtics went on an extended 24-10 run over eight-and-a-half minutes to open up an 11-point lead. From then on out, Dallas was playing Boston’s game. 

THINGS I LIKED

- Derrick White: He had the whole thing working in this game. He was hitting floaters, 3-pointers, making passes … he even had his little skip in his step. You know he’s feeling it when he’s skip-jumping up the court. 

- Offense on a string: The Celtics' ball movement was back in this game. I loved this possession. 

Jayson Tatum cut, White lifted, Tatum looked for the ball in the post but White read that he had the dribble into the paint, and then Holiday relocated to White’s level to give him an easy line-of-sight pass for a 3. 

Is this play simple? Yes. But it’s also a bunch of guys making reads off a designed play instead of standing around, which has happened too often lately. The Celtics finished with 33 assists on 44 makes, which is notable because they only shot 42.7% from the field. They got baskets when they moved the ball.

- Jrue Holiday: He hit a huge fourth-quarter 3 as part of his 5-10 night from deep. 

- Jaylen Brown: He went 0-5 from 3 but he was 10-16 from 2, hitting a variety of mid-range shots to make his contribution. He also had eight rebounds and six assists. 

- Kristaps Porzingis: 18 points, four rebounds, five assists, and two blocked shots. He did a nice job on mismatches without stalling possessions. He was quick and decisive. He was also 3-5 from 3.

- Luke Kornet: He rebounded well in this game. He finished with 10 overall, four offensive, to do a nice job extending possessions. He also had five assists. 

- 103 shot attempts: The Celtics getting 100 or more shot attempts is one of my favorite things. It tells me they got offensive rebounds (17 for 14 second-chance points) and turnovers (13 for 21 points). I said pregame that, “I think the Celtics can force some turnovers tonight, which will get them clean transition opportunities. I think they can step into a few trailing 3-pointers and get themselves going.” And they did.

- Protecting the ball: Boston had zero turnovers in the first half and five in the second. Of course, all of those ended up leading to points, but the Celtics mostly did a great job of limiting their turnovers. 

THINGS I DIDN’T LIKE

- The fourth quarter: I can dismiss some of this as the Mavs making a run and Boston holding it off. But also, the Celtics got away from a lot of what worked in the second and third quarters and started to slow things down a little too much. Considering how they ended the second quarter (which was not great) and how they’ve slowed way down to end games, I would have rather seen a stronger close to the game. If they didn’t have that recent history, I wouldn’t have even mentioned it. 

- Fouls: 24 personal fouls is too much. 

- Jayson Tatum: He didn’t play poorly, but it’s also a little telling that he is the only negative in the starting group. My biggest gripe with Tatum right now is his 3-point shot selection. I’ve seen this from him in the past and it will probably go away if he gets hot at some point, but he’s really searching for shots to fall and it’s not happening consistently. He was 4-12 from 3 in this game, and I’d love for him to not worry about some of the contested 3s he taking. Just run the offense and the shots will come. 

He did score his 13,000th point, though. Congrats to him on that.

HIGHLIGHTS

ONE TAKE KARALIS WILL PROBABLY REGRET LATER

- PLAY OFF TWO FEET JAYSON TATUM!!!!

I want to highlight this play, even though it was ultimately ruled a block shot by Daniel Gafford. 

Tatum still loves to glide to the basket off one foot, and I’ve said a million times that I think it costs him foul calls because everyone on the floor is gliding with him and the refs don’t notice the contact. He needs to play off two feet to get more foul calls. 

Well, he went up off two feet on that play. He went up with force and he got the foul call. Of course, the play is a little different because the contact came from in front of him rather than from a trailing player, but my point still stands. He went up strong and got contact, which immediately drew a whistle.

The play being overturned proves my point. It wasn’t a foul but they called it one before the challenge. It’s the opposite of what he usually gets. Play off two feet, play with force, and the fouls will come. 

Next up: The Celtics return home to take on Houston on Monday night.