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Key Moment
The Boston Celtics experienced déjà vu Saturday night in Dallas, and it wasn’t the good kind.
After storming back from a 19-point, first-half deficit, the Celtics found themselves locked up with the Mavericks in a 104-104 tie with 11 seconds remaining.
It presented a nearly identical situation to their previous game in Dallas on Feb. 23 when Luka Doncic hit a miracle 3-pointer at the buzzer to break a 107-107 tie.
Well, he did again.
With the shot clock off, Doncic went into his bag, dribbling down the left side of the court before rising up for a side-step triple on the wing. Despite being flanked on either side by Rob Williams and Marcus Smart, while also having ex-teammate Josh Richardson’s hand directly in his face, Doncic got the ball to fall.
It was déjà vu all over again for the Celtics – just another night in Dallas when the Luka the Irish wasn’t on their side.
Key Player
Without Jaylen Brown in the lineup Saturday night due to a hamstring strain, the Celtics were in need of an offensive boost.
Jayson Tatum gave it to them.
After going through a cold shooting stretch over the previous five games, Tatum caught fire at just the right time, scoring 13 points in the third quarter to help the C's rally back from a 17-point halftime deficit.
The All-Star wing finished with team-highs of 32 points, 11 rebounds and two steals, while also dishing out a pair of assists. He also had his most efficient shooting effort of the season, connecting on 12-of-19 from the field (63.2 percent), including 6-of-8 from 3-point range, after failing to reach the 50 percent mark in any of his previous five outings.
Unfortunately, Tatum's superstar effort came up just short of the effort from Dallas' superstar, as Luka Doncic edged him in the scoring department by one point while knocking down the game-winning shot.
Box Score Nuggets
- Jayson Tatum logged team-highs of 32 points, 11 rebounds, and two steals.
- Luka Doncic edged Tatum in the scoring department with 33 points.
- Dennis Schroder logged 20 points and six assists while starting in place of Jaylen Brown.
- Schroder and Marcus Smart tied for the game-high in assists.
- Rob Williams tied his season-high with 16 points on 7-of-8 shooting.
- Boston outscored Dallas in the paint, 54-40.
- Josh Richardson scored 13 of Boston's 15 bench points.
- The Celtics claimed their first lead of the game with 2:12 remaining in the fourth quarter.
- Boston doubled up Dallas in second-chance scoring, 16-8.
- It marked the second straight time that the Celtics lost in Dallas on a Doncic buzzer-beating three.
Quote of the Night
Jayson Tatum on the Celtics' 2-1 road trip