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On Tuesday, the Dallas Mavericks played the Boston Celtics on the second night of a back-to-back. The Mavericks are looking to sneak in the playoffs as they try to keep the momentum on their side. The Mavericks are looking to win their sixth game in their last seven to get to .500 on the season.

On Monday, the Mavericks played the Memphis Grizzlies as they resumed action following the devastating snowstorm that hit the metroplex. The Mavericks were coming into this game off a 8-day layoff and were hoping that it wouldn’t affect their rhythm. Both teams started this game a little bit rusty but it was the Mavericks that were able to get hot. The Mavericks were able to take a 54-36 lead at halftime and it was up from there as they never trailed in this game. The Grizzlies were trying hard to catch up to the Mavericks in the fourth quarter but it wasn’t enough as the Mavericks held off for a 102-92 victory. The Mavericks got tremendous help from their bench as Tim Hardaway Jr scored 29 points to lead the game. With the win, the Mavericks record improved to 14-15 on the season and puts them within striking distance of the eight seed.

The Boston Celtics are coming into this game by going 4-6 in their last 10 games. They are recently coming off a 120-115 loss to the New Orleans Pelicans on Sunday to drop their record to 15-15 on the season. The Celtics currently stand at sixth in the eastern conference and have hopes of making a run in the playoffs but if they continue to struggle down the stretch then you can kiss the playoffs goodbye as other teams are looking to pass them. The Celtics, led by Jayson Tatum, are looking to fix their struggles as they want to grab a top seed in the playoffs.

Coming into this game, the Mavericks lost the regular season series last season as they were swept by the Celtics 2-0. The Celtics have taken three straight and seven of the last eight meetings. Overall, the Celtics lead the all-time series with a record of 42-36.

The Mavericks started this game without Kristaps Porzingis again as he recovers from his back injury and also Maxi Kleber as he sustained an ankle injury in the previous game. As a result of the injuries, the Mavericks went with Doncic, Richardson, Johnson, Finney-Smith and Powell as their starting five in this game. The first points in the game would belong to Jayson Tatum as he nailed a jump shot for the Celtics to get this game underway. The Celtics were able to take a 4-0 lead before the Mavericks could get on the board and they would soon do so as James Johnson nailed a two pointer with 10:53 left in the first quarter. Jayson Tatum would give the Celtics five of its first nine points in the quarter to take a 9-4 lead with 9:51 left in the quarter. The Celtics would get off to a fantastic start as they would nail five of their first six attempts that would force Rick Carlisle to call a timeout with 9:05 left in the quarter, that saw the Celtics take a 14-9 lead. Prior to this timeout, the Mavericks were good shooting the ball but the Celtics were that much better. Coming out of the timeout, the Mavericks turned to Josh Richardson as he was able to convert on a jump shot to come within 14-11 of the Celtics with 8:51 left in the quarter. Luka Doncic had a chance to give the Mavericks its first lead of the game as he attempted a three pointer but couldn’t convert but the Celtics would turn the ball over on the following possession. The Mavericks would grab their first lead of the game with 6:02 left in the quarter as a result of a goaltending call on the Celtics to lead 17-16. Both teams would have their time with the lead as a result of exchanging baskets on following possessions. That trend would continue for nearly three minutes in the quarter until the Mavericks would break away from the Celtics just a little bit by going on a mini 4-0 run to grab a 23-20 lead. The Celtics would call a timeout with 2:37 left in the quarter as they found themselves trailing 23-22. Prior to this timeout, the Celtics were struggling shooting the ball as they could only convert on two of their last ten attempts. Coming out of the timeout, the Celtics turned to Jaylen Brown as he was able to convert on a three pointer to retake the lead for the Celtics at 25-23 with 2:24 left in the quarter. In the final minutes of the quarter, the Celtics couldn’t hold onto their lead as the score would end 33-31 in favor of the Mavericks, as this game goes to the second quarter. The game leading scorer after one quarter of play would belong to Luka Doncic as he scored 11 points for the Mavericks. The Celtics were led by Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum as they both scored 9 points. The Mavericks shot 56% from the field but struggled making three pointers as they shot 25% from behind the arc.

The Celtics were able to get their first points in the second quarter as Kemba Walker was able to nail a jump shot to come within 34-33 of the Mavericks with 11:16 left in the quarter. On the following possession, Tim Hardaway Jr was able to give the Mavericks their first points in the quarter as he nailed a two pointer to keep their lead at 36-33 with 11:01 left in the quarter. The Celtics would retake the lead again by having Payton Pritchard nail a three pointer to take a 39-38 lead as that would force Rick Carlisle to call a timeout with 9:03 left in the quarter. Prior to this timeout, the Mavericks were struggling to shoot the three-ball as they came up empty on their only attempt in the quarter. The Celtics had their luck on their side as they were able to drill all of their three point attempts taken in the quarter thus far. Coming out of the timeout, the Mavericks turned to Jalen Brunson but he couldn’t convert on a pull-up jump shot to overtake the lead from the Celtics. The Mavericks were able to do so on their next possession as Josh Richardson drilled a three pointer to give the Mavericks a 41-39 lead with 7:53 left in the quarter. Following a Celtics’ turnover, the Mavericks got a thunderous slam dunk from Tim Hardaway Jr as they extended their lead to 43-39 with 7:07 left in the quarter. The Celtics were trying hard to reclaim the throne from the Mavericks as the closest they were able to get was within three points. With 4:06 left in the quarter, the Celtics were able to pull within one point of the Mavericks as Tristian Thompson drilled a hook shot to make it 48-47. On the following possession, the Mavericks got some help from Luka Doncic as he nailed a three pointer to extend their lead to 51-47 with 3:52 left in the quarter. The Celtics would call a timeout with 3:08 left in the quarter as they found themselves trailing 53-50. Prior to this timeout, the Mavericks were starting to gain momentum by getting good looks on their shots. Coming out of the timeout, the Celtics turned to Jaylen Brown but he couldn’t convert on a jump shot, luckily for them, James Johnson would send Payton Pritchard to the free-throw line, where he would convert on both of his free-throws to come within 53-52 of the Mavericks. With 2:13 left in the quarter, the Celtics took the lead from the Mavericks as Jayson Tatum nailed a floating jump shot to take a 54-53 lead. In the final minutes of the quarter, the Celtics would hold onto their lead as the quarter ended 56-55. The game leading scorer through two quarters of play would belong to Jayson Tatum as he scored 15 points for the Celtics. The Mavericks were led by Luka Doncic and Josh Richardson as they scored 14 points. The Mavericks were shooting 51.1% on 23 of 45 shooting from the field but were out rebounded 25-19 in the first half. Despite being out performed in every statistical category, the Celtics were still able to grab a one point lead at halftime. Every member of the Celtics’ starters scored while the Mavericks had four starters with Dorian Finney-Smith being held scoreless. This game would be neck-and neck as both teams couldn’t break away from each other.

Coming out of the half, the Mavericks got points right out of the gate as Luka Doncic nailed a tip-in shot to take the lead at 57-56 with 11:43 left in the third quarter. The Celtics got their first points in the quarter by having Jaylen Brown nail a two pointer to retake the lead at 58-57 with 11:22 left in the quarter. The Mavericks turned to Luka Doncic again and he delivered by drilling a three pointer to regain the lead at 60-58 with 10:44 left in the quarter. The game would have its first tie in the game as Tristan Thompson made a two pointer for the Celtics with 9:20 left in the quarter, to tie the game at 60-60. The Celtics would go on a 7-0 run to take a 65-60 lead which forced Rick Carlisle to take a timeout with 8:00 minutes left in the quarter. Prior to this timeout, the Mavericks absolutely struggled shooting the ball as they could only nail on two of their first ten attempts taken in the quarter thus far. The Celtics took advantage of the Mavericks’ struggles as they converted on four of their first eight attempts taken in the quarter. Coming out of the timeout, the Mavericks turned to Dorian Finney-Smith but couldn’t convert on the layup. Both teams would struggle out of the timeout as neither of them could make a basket until Tim Hardaway Jr nailed a tip-in shot for the Mavericks with 5:13 left in the quarter to come within 65-62 of the Celtics. With that basket, the Mavericks broke their 5:00 minute drought without making a single basket as that’s how this game was going for them. The Celtics would call a timeout with 3:39 left in the quarter holding a 69-68 lead as they saw the Mavericks coming back. Prior to this timeout, the Mavericks went on a 8-4 run. Coming out of the timeout, the Celtics turned to Jayson Tatum as he was able to covert by nailing both of his free-throws to extend the Celtics lead to 71-68 with 3:27 left in the quarter. The Mavericks were able to tie the game as Jalen Brunson nailed a three pointer to tie the game 71-71 with 3:08 left in the quarter. In the final minutes of the quarter, the Mavericks were able to take a 80-76 lead into the fourth quarter. The game leading scorer after three quarters of play would belong to Jayson Tatum as he scored 23 points. The Mavericks were led by Luka Doncic as he scored 22 points on four of six shooting from behind the arc. This game would quickly turned into a classic as both teams competed hard through three quarters of play. The final 12:00 minutes of the game would dictate the winner of this game in a very hard fought battle.

The Mavericks played tremendous defense on the Celtics as they forced Kemba Walker to miss a jump shot. The first points in the fourth quarter would belong to Jaylen Brown as he nailed a jump shot for the Celtics to come within 80-78 of the Mavericks with 11:07 left in the game. The Mavericks got their first points in the quarter by having Josh Richardson nail a jump shot to extend their lead to 82-78 with 10:54 left in the game. Kemba Walker was starting to feel it as he gave the Celtics five quick points to regain the lead for the Celtics at 83-82 with 10:10 left in the game. The Mavericks quickly took it right back as James Johnson nailed a layup to lead 84-83 with 8:48 left in the game. To this point, there have been 21 lead changes throughout the course of this game and there was still eight minutes to be played. Rick Carlisle would call a timeout with 7:54 left in the game as they hold a 86-85 lead. The Mavericks would need to play excellent defense for the reminder of this game if they want to find themselves on the winning end. Coming out of the timeout, Jalen Brunson would finish off his “three point play” opportunity by make the free-throw to keep their lead at 87-85. The game would once again be tied as Robert Williams III made a thunderous slam dunk for the Celtics to tie it at 87-87 with 7:24 left in the game. The Mavericks were able to go on a 9-2 run that forced the Celtics to take a timeout with 6:31 left in the game. Prior to this timeout, the Celtics were struggling shooting the ball which allowed the Mavericks to go on a run. Still, there were plenty of time left in the game for anybody’s taking. Whoever plays the best basketball in the final six minutes of the game would reward themselves with the victory. Coming out of the timeout, the Celtics turned to Jayson Tatum but he couldn’t convert as he missed a two point shot. With Jalen Brunson nailing a three pointer with 3:57 left in the game, that would give a double digit lead, something that hasn’t happened in the game, as the Mavericks extended their lead to 101-89 lead. The Celtics were forced to call a timeout with 3:56 left in the game as a result of the Mavericks starting to break away. Coming out of the timeout, the Celtics turned to Jayson Tatum as he was able to convert on a layup to come within 101-91 of the Mavericks with 3:47 left in the game. Rick Carlisle would call a timeout with 3:28 left in the game as the Celtics were trying hard to come back in this game as they found themselves trailing 101-93. The Celtics were able to come all the way back to make it a four point game with 2:29 left in the game as Rick Carlisle was forced call a timeout as a result. Coming out of the timeout, the Mavericks turned to Luka Doncic but he couldn’t convert on a jump shot to extend their lead. The Celtics took advantage of the miss as Kemba Walker nailed a three pointer to come within 104-103 of the Mavericks with 1:55 left in the game. The officials would review an out of bounds call with 1:37 left in the game as they initially ruled the ball went off of Jayson Tatum to retain the Mavericks possession. After the review, the officials would not overturn the call, therefore the possession would stay with the Mavericks. The Mavericks couldn’t convert on the possession as an offensive foul would be called on Jalen Brunson with 1:23 left in the game. With 37.5 seconds left in the game, the Celtics got a huge basket from Jaylen Brown as he nailed a 13-foot shot to give the Celtics a 105-104 lead that forced Rick Carlisle to call a timeout. Coming out of the timeout, the Mavericks turned to Luka Doncic as he hit a CLUTCH STEP BACK THREE POINTER to give the Mavericks a 107-105 lead with 15.8 seconds left in the game that forced the Celtics to call a timeout. Coming out of the timeout, the Celtics turned to Jaylen Brown as he was able to convert on a layup to tie the game at 107-107 with 9.5 seconds left in the game. With no timeouts left for the Mavericks, all eyes were on Luka Doncic and HE DID IT AGAIN!!! AS HE NAILED THE GAME WINNING THREE POINTER TO WIN THE GAME FOR THE MAVERICKS!!!! UNBELIEVABLE!!!! YOU BETTER PUT SOME RESPECT ON LUKA DONCIC’S NAME AFTER NAILING THE CLUTCH SHOT.

This team looked like they couldn’t breakaway from the Celtics as they allowed the Celtics to be in the game. There were at times the opportunity was there for the Mavericks but couldn’t take advantage of it. The Mavericks couldn’t get their three pointers to fall as much as they would like which caused them to be trailing 56-55 at halftime. The Mavericks were able to fix their shooting woes and make it a game in the second half. This game quickly turned into a classic as both teams fought hard every possession.

In the end, it was the Dallas Mavericks defeating the Boston Celtics 110-107 behind Luka Doncic’s game winning shot. The Mavericks record would improve to 15-15 on the season. Despite the injuries to the team, Luka Doncic scored 31 points and 10 rebounds in the close win. The Celtics were led by Jaylen Brown as he scored 29 points. With the win, the Mavericks have now won back-to-back games and get back to .500 on the season. This was a huge game for the Mavericks as they are getting closer to that eight seed in the western conference. WHAT A GAME WE JUST WITNESSED!

The Mavericks will travel to play the Philadelphia 76ers on Thursday in their first road game since February 3rd, 2021.

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