The Dallas Mavericks lost at home 110-100 to the Celtics tonight behind a monster performance from MVP candidate Jaylen Brown. Brown finished with 33 points, 11 rebounds, and three assists on 50% shooting from the floor. Cooper Flagg continued his rookie of the year campaign with 36 points, nine rebounds, six assists, on an insane 50/50/100 shooting night. Caleb Martin also had 13 points and six rebounds and Daniel Gafford had an ugly 10 point, 12 rebound double-double. For the Celtics, Payton Pritchard had 26 points on 12-for-20 shooting while Luka Garza had 16 points on four made threes.
Boston took control early behind Jaylen Brown and Payton Pritchard’s shot-making. Still, Dallas kept the game close in the opening quarter by winning the interior, with Daniel Gafford finishing lobs and putbacks and Cooper Flagg attacking off the dribble to counter a series of missed Mavericks threes. Even with multiple empty possessions from Christie, Marshall, and Thompson, the Mavericks stayed within 32-29 after one, thanks to offensive rebounding and rim pressure. The Celtics then created separation in the second quarter, using a Pritchard-led run built on pull-up jumpers and a deep three to push the lead into double digits while Dallas went through a long stretch of misses from the perimeter and mid-range. Gafford and Flagg kept generating second chances, but Boston’s consistent half-court scoring allowed them to carry a 59–49 lead into halftime, leaving Dallas trailing despite a competitive effort inside.
Any hopes of a sustained Dallas push out of halftime were short-lived, as Boston immediately reasserted control behind Jaylen Brown’s downhill scoring and Payton Pritchard’s pull-up shooting. Every time Dallas threatened to string together stops, the Celtics answered with clean half-court execution, using Brown’s drives and Pritchard’s shot creation to keep the lead comfortably in double digits. Cooper Flagg did everything he could to keep Dallas afloat, scoring repeatedly off the dribble, crashing the glass, and even pulling up from deep. Still, his individual scoring bursts were consistently offset by Boston baskets on the other end. The fourth quarter became a grind, with Gafford and Flagg generating second chances. At the same time, the Celtics calmly bled the clock, ultimately closing out a 110–100 win without ever letting the Mavericks meaningfully flip momentum.
11: Free throws attempted by Cooper Flagg
Cooper Flagg has been absolutely dominate the past few games, averaging 24 points on 50% shooting and 30% from three to go along with 7.5 rebounds and 4 assists in his last 10 games, and followed it up again tonight with a 36 point, nine rebound, six assist night on 50% shooting and 50% from three point range. He also only committed one turnover tonight against the Boston Celtics, who have one of the best defenses in basketball. Despite his awesome play, a constant complaint that arises, at least in the MMB Slack, is the lack of whistles he gets. Constantly getting bumped and hit while attacking the rim and getting absolutely no calls. In his last 10 games, he has only shot double-digit free throws once, including five times where he shot less than five total free throws. Tonight, Cooper’s whistle turned a corner, as he shot 11 free throws and made 10 of them. He even got fouled on a three-pointer to help solidify his season average of over 20 points per game. We saw tonight that when Cooper gets to the line, it elevates the floor of his production every night, in a very good way.
?: How many players get traded before the Mavericks next game
The Mavericks played their last game before Thursday afternoon’s trade deadline, where the Mavs are looking to be major players as they try to reshape their future around Cooper Flagg. All season, the Mavericks have been the center of trade rumors, with Anthony Davis, Daniel Gafford, and Klay Thompson the key names expected to be dealt before the deadline. Davis will remain a Maverick; given his injuries, his market value is all but nonexistent. Klay and Gafford may still get dealt, but Klay only played 2o minutes tonight and finished a team-worst -15 after going 1/5, and Gafford spent part of his potential last game in Dallas in the locker room dealing with various injuries, reminding all of us, and the league, why we want to trade these guys at all. With awful recent performances, including an ugly last taste in our mouth tonight, it will be interesting to watch if the Mavs get anything done in the next 40 hours.