After a Sam Hauser three-pointer pushed the Celtics’ lead to 25, Mark Cuban rubbed his eyes, folded his arms, and slouched back in disbelief. Despite their inconsistency over the past seven weeks, the Celtics looked every bit like the team that dominated the Mavericks in the NBA Finals seven months ago, cruising to a 122-107 victory.
Five Celtics finished in double figures, with Jayson Tatum (24), Derrick White (23), and Jaylen Brown (22) all surpassing the 20-point mark.
Kyrie Irving (22 points) and Quentin Grimes (20 points) led a shorthanded Mavericks team missing Luka Dončić, Naji Marshall, Danté Exum, Dwight Powell, and Dereck Lively II.
Here are seven takeaways from the win as the Celtics improve to an NBA-best 17-6 on the road. Their 17 wins are the most by any team in the NBA.
Another bounce back
For all their inconsistency, the Celtics have been remarkably consistent at bouncing back. With Saturday night’s win, they improved to 13-1 in games following a loss this season. Eleven of those 13 wins have been by double digits, with an average margin of victory of 22.9 points – a stat that even head coach Joe Mazzulla was surprised to hear postgame.
“Really?” the coach questioned. “Wow. On the inside, we just stick together, and we have an understanding of what the standard is, and we don’t really get too worked up. When we lose, we have an understanding of why we did, and we’re pissed off. And when we win, we still say, hey, there’s 10-15 possessions that we have to get better at. So I think the connectivity and balance of the group are really important.”
That’s one hell of a trait to have for a team looking to get back to the NBA Finals.
Derrick White and Jrue Holiday got going
It’s no surprise that Derrick White’s worst stretch as a Celtic coincides with the team’s struggles to find consistency.
Entering Saturday night, White was shooting just 37.4% from the field in January — the lowest among all Celtics rotation players — and 30.1% from three, only 0.1% better than Jaylen Brown for the worst mark from beyond the arc.
The Celtics had been waiting – and needing – White to find his rhythm. That happened Saturday night.
After missing his first six shots, with an 0-for-4 start from three, White responded by making seven of his next 10 attempts, four of those coming from deep (66.6%). He scored a season-high 16 points in the third quarter on 6-of-9 (66.7%) shooting from the field and 3-of-5 (60%) from three, even drawing an offensive foul. White finished with 23 points, five rebounds, and four assists.
“Today, we saw a couple of threes he hit that were like, ‘Oh yeah, that’s D-White when he’s in a rhythm,’” Kristaps Porzingis said. “It’s always good to see that. We’re a different beast when D-White gets going. He started hitting floaters, threes, and deep corner threes; he hit so many daggers for us. That brings us to another level.”
White wasn’t the only Celtic guard that got going, either. Jrue Holiday, who has been finding his rhythm offensively since returning from injury on New Year’s Eve, bounced back nicely after a 1-for-6 showing in Thursday night’s loss to the Lakers, finishing with 17 points on 6-of-12 (50%) shooting from the field and 5-of-10 (50%) from three and four assists. The Celtics advanced to 39-3 all-time when Holiday scores 14+ points.
When the backcourt duo is clicking like that, the Celtics are tough to beat, as their individual performances often serve as a reliable indicator of the team’s success.
“It’s huge for us,” Mazzulla said on the combined 40 points from White and Holiday. “It’s great to see those guys being aggressive.”
The offense was humming
The Celtics didn’t commit a turnover until nearly 25 minutes into the game, and they went the entire first half without one. It marked the first time they’d played a turnover-free half since May 12, 2021, in a loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers. They joined the Portland Trail Blazers as the only two teams to accomplish this feat this season.
Boston took care of the ball and, for the most part, ran a fluid offense throughout the game. While their shooting percentages don’t jump off the page — finishing 44-of-103 (42.7%) from the field and 20-of-52 (38.5%) from three — those numbers are slightly skewed by some bad shot luck in both the first and fourth quarters.
“We didn’t make the shots, but we made the reads,” said Mazzulla. “I thought they brought the connectivity to the game.”
The Celtics scored 71 points in the second and third quarters behind 15 made threes at a 45.4% clip. In that same stretch, Dallas shot 3-of-9 (33.3%) from three.
Six Celtics made at least two threes, and Boston improved to 15-1 when hitting 20 or more threes. They also finished with 33 assists, improving to 12-0 when reaching that mark this season. In the Joe Mazzulla era, they are 51-4 when hitting the 30-assist threshold.
Seven players finished with at least three assists for the first time since April 10, 2022. It was just the fifth game in franchise history with at least 30 assists and five or fewer turnovers.
Also of note, it was another good night for the starting five, who each scored at least 17 points, totaling 104. It was the first time since January 30, 2024, that the starting five of Holiday, White, Brown, Tatum, and Porzingis each scored at least 15 points.
The defense deserves credit, too
Aside from the season-high 24 personal fouls committed and a handful of Dallas runs, the Celtics played strong defense on Saturday night, likely benefiting from the connectivity Mazzulla mentioned, fueled by the crisp offense.
The Celtics held Dallas under 30 points in three of the four quarters and kept them off the perimeter, allowing just eight makes from downtown. As a result, the Celtics dominated the margins. They attempted 15 more shots (103-88) – though Dallas did shoot nine more free throws (28-19) — won the rebounding battle (+2), and committed eight fewer turnovers (13-5).
When the Celtics dominate the margins like that, it’s a sign that their effort and attention to detail were on point — both were evident on Saturday night.
13K for Jayson Tatum
After being named to his sixth All-Star game earlier this week — the most by any Celtic before turning 27 — Jayson Tatum reached another career milestone, adding to his growing legacy.
Tatum became just the seventh player in NBA history to score 13,000 points before turning 27, joining an elite list that includes LeBron James, Kevin Durant, Carmelo Anthony, Kobe Bryant, Tracy McGrady, and Wilt Chamberlain.
It’s a remarkable achievement for a player on track to become one of the league’s all-time greats. He’s just the 11th Celtic to reach the milestone, and for the record, Tatum doesn’t turn 28 until March 3.
Gutted it down the stretch
A 14-7 run by Dallas to start the fourth quarter cut Boston’s 20-point lead to just 13 in the first 3:05. With Dallas hitting five of their first seven shots, the momentum was clearly shifting at the American Airlines Center, prompting a timeout from Joe Mazzulla.
The Celtics, who haven’t been great in fourth quarters, didn’t let it slip any further. After the hot start, Boston locked down, holding Dallas to just 17 points on 5-of-14 (35.7%) shooting from the field and 2-of-6 (33.3%) from three, outscoring them by two over the final 8:55.
It was a strong response to a punch, especially in the final game of a tough four-game road trip and their sixth game in nine nights.
Heading home
Was it perfect? No.
The win over the Clippers was far from inspiring and even set the Celtics up for failure the next night against the Lakers, thanks to an unnecessary overtime period. That loss to the Lakers, which was Boston’s worst of the season in terms of points, was tough to swallow, regardless of the circumstances.
However, a dominant 40-point win over the Warriors and a convincing victory over the Mavericks in an NBA Finals rematch can’t be overlooked. Coming back from another tough road trip against strong Western Conference teams with a 3-1 record is definitely something to be proud of.
“I just like the mental resilience that we continue to build through good and bad,” Mazzulla said. “We’re just taking in everything we need to learn, and the guys are sticking together. That’s important.”
January was a tough month, with two four-game road trips against strong Western Conference teams, leaving the Celtics with 10 road games and only six at home. Still, with wins over the No. 2, 4, 6, 7, and 9 seeds in the West, the team finds itself at 32-14, on pace for 57 wins—a solid position to be in.
Related
