Three Studs, Two Duds As Celtics Defeat Mavericks To Close Out Road Trip
The Boston Celtics closed out their four-game road trip Saturday night against the Dallas Mavericks in a rematch of last season’s NBA Finals.
Boston entered the contest 2-1 in its first three games away from TD Garden after suffering a putrid loss to the Los Angeles Lakers on Thursday night.
Dallas came out hot to begin the opening quarter, bolting ahead by 10 points as the Celtics struggled to get on the board. Boston missed its first four 3-pointers before Kristaps Porzingas connected to close the deficit to five. At the end of the first, the Mavericks held a 29-25 edge, but the Celtics bounced back in the second quarter, outscoring Dallas 34-20 in the frame, and never looked back.
Here are three studs and two duds from Boston’s 122-107 win over Dallas:
STUDS
Derrick White
White was questionable entering the game with left knee soreness.
However, after a rough start, White played a solid game, scoring 23 points on 7-for-16 shooting from the field, including 16 of the Celtics’ 37 points in the third quarter.
Jayson Tatum
Boston’s six-time All-Star, once again, did a little bit of everything. Tatum shot 8-of-22 from the floor, including four from downtown, grabbed five rebounds and dished out three assists in 35 minutes. He led the Celtics with 24 points.
Boston’s Three-Point Shooting
The Celtics landed 20 shots from beyond the arc to help Boston defeat Dallas.
Jrue Holiday led Boston with five 3’s, followed by Tatum and White with four each. Kristaps Porzingis went 3-for-5 from the arc and Sam Hauser and Paytonn Pritchard each knocked down a pair off the bench.
Boston shot 71.4% from 3-point range, improving to 15-1 on nights when the team hits 20-plus threes.
DUDS
P.J. Washington
The Mavericks couldn’t rely on Kyrie Irving alone with Luka Doncic out of the contest. Washington scored 17 points, but shot 4-for-13 from the field and 1-for-4 from three.
Klay Thompson
In 26 minutes for Dallas, Thompson scored just six points and had zero assists for the Mavericks. Quentin Grimes outperformed the starter, scoring 20 points in the same amount of minutes off the bench. Thompson’s two buckets came from three, and Grimes matched that while also adding seven rebounds and two assists.