In a rematch of last year’s NBA Finals, the Dallas Mavericks visit the Boston Celtics. This is the second and final meeting between these two teams this season. Boston won the first game over the short-handed Mavericks in Dallas 122-107. The Celtics won the series 2-0 last season. They also won the Finals over Dallas 4-1. The Celtics are 48-39 overall all time against Dallas and 27-16 in games played in Boston.
The Celtics are pretty much the same team that played in last year’s Finals as they kept their core together. They traded Jaden Springer to Houston ahead of the trade deadline. The Mavericks bear little resemblance to the team the Celtics faced in the NBA Finals. In the off season, they lost Derrick Jones, Jr, who was a big factor for them in the Finals. They also lost Tim Hardaway, Jr and Josh Green. They added Klay Thompson, Quentin Grimes and Spencer Dinwiddie.
Now, heading into the trade deadline, the Mavericks have made a couple more moves. The first move shocked the entire NBA when they traded Luka Doncic for Anthony Davis. Davis has been out with an abdominal muscle strain since January 28 but may play his first game as a Maverick against the Celtics. Max Christie also joined the Mavs in the trade. Markieff Morris and Maxi Kleber both left the Mavs. Their second move was to trade Quentin Grimes for Caleb Martin.
The Celtics remain 2nd in the East. After their win on Tuesday, they are 4.5 games behind 1st place Cleveland. They are 2 games ahead of 3rd place New York and 7 games ahead of 4th place Indiana. They are 16-9 at home and 7-3 in their last 10 games. They are 10-6 against Western Conference opponents. They have won their last 4 games.
The Mavericks are 11th in the West, 14.5 games behind 1st place Oklahoma City. They are 2.5 games behind both the 6th place Clippers. They are tied with 8th place Sacramento, 9th place Phoenix, and 10th place Golden State. 3 games ahead of 12th place San Antonio. They are 12-15 on the road and 4-6 in their last 10 games. They are 7-8 against Eastern Conference teams and have lost their last 3 games.
The Celtics are back home after a 3 game road trip. They began the trip with a 2 point win over the short-handed Pelicans and then came from down 26 points to beat the 76ers by 8. Finally, they beat the first place Cavaliers by 7. Next, they will play at New York and at Miami and finally, at home against San Antonio, who just traded for DeAaron Fox, before the All Star Break.
Dallas is playing in the final game of a 5 game road trip. They beat New Orleans to begin the trip and then lost to Detroit, Cleveland, and Philadelphia in the next 3 games of the trip. After this game, they will have a 4 game home stand against Houston, Sacramento, Golden State, and Miami. After the All Star Break, they will play at home against New Orleans and then at Golden State and a big game against the LA Lakers.
After having a clear injury report on Tuesday, the Celtics have one entry for this game. Jrue Holiday is questionable due to a right shoulder impingement. He’s been struggling lately, hitting 38.2 percent from the field over his last nine games. If Jrue is unable to play, then I would expect either Sam Hauser or Luke Kornet to start and for Derrick White to slide into the Point Guard spot.
For the Mavericks, Dereck Lively is out with a fracture in his right foot. Caleb Martin was out with a hip injury when he was traded to the Mavericks and will remain out for this game. Dwight Powell is out with a hip injury. PJ Washington is out for personal reasons. Anthony Davis was originally questionable due to an abdominal strain. He participated in on court workouts on Tuesday and Wednesday and the shoot around Thursday, but is expected to miss this game.
Probable Celtics Starters
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Celtics ReservesLuke KornetPayton PritchardNeemias QuetaSam HauserBaylor ScheiermanXavier Tillman, SrJordan WalshAl Horford
2 Way PlayersJD DavisonDrew PetersonAnton Watson
Injuries/OutJrue Holiday (shoulder) questionable
Head CoachJoe Mazzulla
Probable Mavericks Starters
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Mavericks ReservesMax ChristieSpencer DinwiddieJaden HardyNaji MarshallOlivier-Maxence Prosper
2 Way Players Kessler EdwardsKylor KelleyBrandon Williams
Injuries/Out Dereck Lively II (foot) out Dwight Powell (hip) out Caleb Martin (hip) out PJ Washington (personal) out Anthony Davis (abdomen) out
Head Coach Jason Kidd
Key Matchups
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Jrue Holiday
Kyrie Irving
Photo by Jeff Haynes/NBAE via Getty Images
Jrue Holiday vs Kyrie IrvingIrving is averaging 24.5 points, 4.8 rebounds, 4.8 assists and 1.2 steals per game. He is shooting 48.1% from the field and 41.1% from beyond the arc. He always has extra motivation to play against his former team. If Jrue isn’t able to play, we may see Derrick White matched up with Kyrie at point guard. The Celtics need to defend him both in the paint and on the perimeter because he is a threat to score from both.
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Jaylen Brown
Photo by Omar Rawlings/Getty Images
Klay Thompson
Photo by Emilee Chinn/Getty Images
Jaylen Brown vs Klay ThompsonThompson is averaging 13.4 points, 3.5 rebounds, and 2.0 assists per game. He is shooting 41.1 from the field and 38.9% from beyond the arc. Against Boston this season, he had 6 points, 3 rebounds and 1 block. He shot 50% from the field and 66.7% from beyond the arc. Although Thompson isn’t the player he once was, he is still capable of having a big game if left open.
Honorable Mention Kristaps Porzingis vs Daniel GaffordGafford is averaging 12.7 points, 6.7 rebounds, 1.4 assists, and 1.8 blocks per game. He is shooting 69.9% from the field and 0% from beyond the arc. Porzingis needs draw him away from the basket as he is a rim protector and a good rebounder. They also need to keep him out of the paint as he is automatic once he gets to the basket.
Keys to the GameDefense – Defense is always the number one key to winning games. There is no truer statement than “Defense wins Championships.” The Mavs are averaging 115.3 points per game (11th) while the Celtics average 117.2 points per game (5th). The Mavs are 14th with a defensive rating of 113.2 while the Celtics are 5th with a defensive rating of 109.6. When the Celtics struggle on offense, as they have in recent games, they have to be able to stop the other team from scoring. The Celtics need to make defense a priority in this and every game.
Rebound – Second to defense, rebounding is the key to winning. One of the few times I have agreed with Pat Riley was when he said “No rebounds, no rings.” Much of rebounding is effort and the Celtics have to put out extra effort to win the battle of the boards. When they work hard on the boards, it usually follows through to the rest of the game as well. The Celtics are averaging 44.8 rebounds per game (11th) while the Mavs are averaging 44.9 rebounds per game (10th). The Celtics need to put out extra effort on the boards to keep the Mavs from getting extra possessions and second chance points and to give the same to themselves.
Move the Ball Carefully – The Celtics need to move the ball in order to find the best shot on each possession. When the ball sticks and players try to do too much, the Celtics struggle. They are at their best when they pass the ball and keep it moving. They are 16-0 when they have 30 ore more assists and they are 26-1 when they have more assists than their opponents. But they have to make careful passes and not get sloppy and turn the ball over. The Celtics have to move the ball and can’t get caught up in playing hero ball.
Be Aggressive – The Celtics must be the more aggressive team. They have to be aggressive in going to the basket, in diving for loose balls, and on defense. They have to aggressively crash the boards. They have to be the team that wants to win the game more. In most of their losses, they have allowed their opponents to play harder and be more aggressive. They absolutely can’t let the Mavericks play harder than them if they want to have a chance to win.
X-Factors At Home After a Trip – The first game at home after a trip is always a tough one. In spite of being at home with the crowd behind them, the Celtics have lost their last 2 games played at home after road trips. The Mavericks will be on the road and may be short handed or they may be energized by the addition of Anthony Davis. Either way, the Celtics need to get motivation from the home crowd and defend their home court.
Officiating – The officiating can always be an x-factor. Every crew calls the game a little differently and teams need to adjust to how the game is being called. Will they call the game tight or will they let them play? The Celtics can’t let the officiating take away their focus and they have to adjust to the way the refs are calling it. The Celtics need to play hard and build a lead and not allow the refs to take the game away on some bad calls at the end.
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