Apologies for not writing this earlier but you can understand that the Celtics (23-25 overall, 13-9 home) are not exactly an inspiring team at the moment. Last night at the TD Garden, they fell 113-108 to the Mavericks (25-21 overall, 14-11 away) as they trailed by as many as 23 points, trimmed that down to two points in the fourth quarter but of course they couldn't close the deal. It's the first time since the 2015-2016 campaign that Dallas has swept a two-game season series with Boston. These are two teams in similar places that are going in different directions as the C's tumbled to eighth-place in the Eastern Conference after going 3-7 in their last 10 games while the Mavs are up to seventh-place in the rugged Western Conference after winning their last two games and going 6-4 in their last 10.
It feels like Celtics head coach Brad Stevens never has a full lineup at his disposal lately which doesn't help their cause as they try to get this doomed season back on the rails. Shooting guard Jaylen Brown (24 points, 4 steals) was back after missing Monday's loss vs. New Orleans (21-25) with a left hip contusion. Center Robert Williams was unexpectedly out for the Mavericks game with an illness (supposedly not Covid-19, again) that was revealed by the team a few hours before tip-off. Hmm, interesting. Dallas superstar Luka Doncic (game-high 36 points, 8 rebounds, 5 assists) was the best player in February when his club beat Boston (110-107 on Feb. 23) and he outdid himself last night and showed once again why he's one of the best players in the world.
Point guard Jalen Brunson (21 points, 5 rebounds) is becoming a Celtics killer as well since he had another big performance off the bench against them. Mavs center Kristaps Porzingis added 19 points, eight rebounds, three blocks and two steals while power forward Dorian Finney-Smith notched 11 points, nine rebounds and two steals. Celts swingman Jayson Tatum (25 points, 9 rebounds, 3 steals), point guard Kemba Walker (22 points, 6 assists) and guard Marcus Smart (17 points, 7 assists, 5 rebounds, 2 steals) were all good but they really missed Robert Williams since in his place, they were forced to start Mo Wagner (2 points, 4 rebounds in 16 minutes). Also, Brunson outscored Boston's bench by himself as the Mavs had 34 bench points compared to 18 for the C's. Not ideal!
Can we already put to bed the notion that the Celtics would be extra motivated by finally having their fans back at the Garden? They are 0-2 with people paying to see this pathetic underachieving club live and in person. I get that we want life to get back to normal as soon as we safely can but who is dumb enough to buy tickets right now to watch this mess? Dallas led 30-25 after the first quarter and 64-45 at halftime. Boston outscored them by a basket (28-26) in the third quarter and by 12 (35-23) in the fourth quarter but that didn't matter one bit. PS it's nice that they don't give up and keep having these comebacks but when they never result in wins, who cares? Maybe try not getting behind by a huge deficit so early and you'll have a better chance to come out on top.
Dallas shot nearly 50% from the field (49.4%) which was almost eight percent better than Boston (41.5%). The Mavs hit eight more 3-pointers (19-11), grabbed seven more rebounds (43-36) including 11 more defensive rebounds (39-28) and blocked twice as many shots (4-2) as the Celts. So far this seven-game homestand is off to a terrible start (0-2) for the C's who get one of the worst teams in the NBA-the Rockets (13-34 overall, 7-17 road)-to pay them a visit tomorrow night (7:30, NBC Sports Boston). Houston is one of the few teams that could get swept by Boston this season after the Celtics crushed them 134-107 on March 14 in Houston. With how things are going for the C's right now though, one of their best players will probably test positive for Covid-19 in the next few days and they'll find a crazy way to lose to the Rockets. Sigh.
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