The Boston Celtics fell to the Dallas Mavericks Tuesday night by a final score of 110-107. This game was tightly contested for most of the duration. Unfortunately it was another disastrous fourth quarter for the Celtics, with Luka Doncic hitting a game winning shot with 0.1 seconds left.
Celtics:
The Celtics they were in this game for the entire duration. Offense was not the problem for the C’s scoring a total of 110 points. Unfortunately the Celtics could not get stops down the stretch. With Marcus Smart out it makes the Margin for error very thin for the Celtics defensively, as defense has started to become a liability.
Three Players scored in double figures for the Celtics last night. Leading the way in scoring was Jaylen Brown with 29 points on 12-20 from the field. Also scoring, Jayson Tatum added 28 points on 10-23 shooting. And Kemba Walker added 21 points on 8-19 shooting. This is a frustrating trend for the Celtics with their inability to be consistent.
As for the shooting end they shot 47% from the field and 30% from beyond the arch. Boston now drops their second straight game as this is definitely a rough stretch for them. They fall a game below 500. and drop to a disappointing 15-16 on the season.
Mavericks:
Dallas, for a team that has been struggling they definitely played some inspired basketball. The Mavericks did a terrific job breaking down the Celtics defense by doing great ball movement and getting great shots and open looks. As far as the defensive end for the Mavericks they struggled early stopping the Celtics high powered offense. The Mavericks made stops when it mattered getting key stops in the fourth quarter, and knocking down big shots to secure the victory.
The Mavericks had five players score in double figures. Leading the Mavericks in scoring was Luka Doncic with 31 points on 11-23 shooting while adding 10 renounds, also scoring for the Mavericks was Josh Richardson with 16 points on 7-12 shooting. Also scoring for the Mavericks Tim hardaway jr added 14 points on 6-17 shooting. While Boban Marjanovic added 10 points on 5-7 shooting. Also Jalen Brunson had 22 points on 6-11 shooting.
Takeaways/Final Thoughts
- Brad Stevens needs to take some of the blame for the struggles.
- The Celtics need more options other than Tatum and Brown
- Brad Stevens should consider starting Rob Williams.
- Boston needs to execute better in the fourth quarter
- The Celtics need to play with more fire and energy on the defensive end
- Kemba Walker is a liability on defense
The Celtics look to avoid their third straight loss as they head to Atlanta to face the Hawks on Wednesday night at 7:30.