NBA: Celtics no chance! Doncic leads Mavs to victory

The Dallas Mavericks (9-9) leave the Boston Celtics (10-10) no chance in the last quarter and win sovereign with 113:104. Luka Doncic confirms his RotY caliber, while Maximilian Kleber brings a strong performance on the floor.

The Dallas Mavericks had to do without Point Guard Dennis Smith Jr. as well as the injured Dirk Nowitzki. In the Celtics Al Horford came back and slipped right into the starting line-up. On the wing Brad Stevens sent Jaylen Brown, Jason Tatum and Marcus Morris onto the floor. As the Celtics had already played the Atlanta Hawks the night before, Gordon Hayward was not used.

In their own hall, the Dallas Mavericks started like the fire brigade. The Mavs made the game fast, let the ball run well and got some open throws. Especially Luka Doncic used his team-mates strongly, the Mavs led early with 12 points. On the other hand, the ball often went to Jason Tatum, who scorted out of isolation safely.

But the Celtics were also very efficient. In the second quarter, both teams moved in step, but the goblins were able to shorten the gap. Kyrie Irving played a big part in this and found his way into the game better during this phase.

The spectators saw a similar picture in the second half. The Mavericks came better out of the cabin, but didn’t manage to make a decisive break. But Irving and Brown got the Celtics closer and closer. In the middle of the third quarter Tatum met an open Dunk after a beautiful pass from Irving: the Celtics led for the first time in the game, 73:74. However, the Mavericks were not shocked and answered strongly. Maxi Kleber met an important threesome in this phase. The Mavericks went into the last quarter with an 87:82 tour.

The Celtics slept through the beginning of the quarter again. Devin Harris scored five quick points. Dallas, driven by the bench around JJ Barea, was clearly superior at this stage, defending strongly, forcing turnovers and scoring simple buckets. Seven minutes from time, rookie Jalen Brunson hit a layup with foul, 98:88. The Celtics lacked the answers, while Matthews threw two through the cage. The thing was over: Marcus Smart received a technical foul shortly before the end, the free throw was taken by DeAndre Jordan, who rejected him.

Top scorers of the Mavericks were Harrison Barnes (7/12 FG) and JJ Barea (9/16, 8 Assists) with 20 points each. Luka Doncic scored 15 points (3/4 threes) and eight assists, while Jordan had his usual double (14 points, 13 rebounds). Kleber scored 7 points in 22 minutes and grabbed 7 boards. The German on the Celtics side, Daniel Theis, was not used. Top scorer of the goblins was Tatum with 21 points (9/14 FG), Irving and Smart each contributed 19 points. Jaylen Brown scored 16 points.

The Mavericks now have two difficult away games against the Houston Rockets and the Los Angeles Lakers. The Celtics meet the New Orleans Pelicans in the night from Monday to Tuesday.

Dallas Mavericks (9-9) vs. Boston Celtics (10-10) 113:104 (BOXSCORE)

Luka Doncic showed in the match against the Celtics why he is one of the top rookies this season. Without the injured Dennis Smith Jr. Doncic was also nominally the point guard and took over the playmaking as usual. He often put his teammates in the limelight very strongly. Jordan under the basket or one of the hot shooters on the free side, Doncic found the right man. In addition, he scores as efficiently as usual with his stepback threeers.

Al Horford. He wasn’t a total failure, but he caught a weak evening. He only hit three of his eleven litters. But his defensive performance was worse: the Mavericks grabbed 13 offensive rebounds. Above all DAJ was not to be held by Horford. He also did two turnovers. Also weak: Terry Rozier. The Guard took six throws, hit only one and scored a weak four points.

When the Celtics shortened at the end of the third quarter and even took the lead, Carlisle sent his bench on the field, which had the right answers and countered the weakest phase of the Mavs. Carlisle left his bench around Kleber on the field for a long time in the final section: the right decision. Harris and JJ Barea were not to be held by the Celtics and extended the lead of the Mavericks further.

The most important statistics

– The Dallas Mavericks came very strongly into the game and played fast, modern basketball. The first 12 litters of the Mavs were all prepared by Assist. At the end of the game there were strong xx Assists

– Both teams were extremely hot in the first half. The Mavericks hit 53.5 percent from the field and 43.5 percent from downtown. In Celtics, 52.4 percent and 47.1 percent are on the scoreboard. In the second half both teams cooled down a bit. However, the Mavs still hit very hard throughout the game (48.3 and 39 percent).

– The bank of the Mavericks pulled the Celtics at the beginning of the last quarter the tooth. In total she scored a strong 40 points (Celtics-Bank 27). The +/- values of the bench players make the strong performance clear: Harris (+15), Kleber (+9), Barea (+8).

– The Celtics went clearly too lightly with the ball and collected a total of 18 turnovers (Mavericks 16). The Mavericks use these ball losses to 22 points.