Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown torch Mavericks in Celtics win: 8 takeaways
Brown spent much of the game lighting up Luka Doncic.
The Celtics used a big second quarter to build a lead against the Mavericks, and Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown bounced back from a cold snap to help them claim their second road win in as many nights 119-110.
Here are the takeaways.
1. You don’t generally worry about Tatum and Brown struggling for a couple of games in a row because a return to the mean is coming, and on Monday, the duo returned. After cold nights against both the Nuggets (in a loss) and the Rockets (in a win), they more than made up the difference with Derrick White struggling (2-for-12 from the floor) and Kristaps Porzingis out, torching the Mavericks’ lackluster wing defense for a combined 73 points.
Tatum led the way with 39 points, doing much of his damage from the free-throw line where he finished 15-for-19. He shot just 2-for-8 from 3-point range, but he leaked out in transition frequently, and the Mavericks had no one who could really catch up to him or challenge when he got up in the air.
Single-game plus/minus for an individual player is pretty close to meaningless (Brown, who we will get to in a minute, was -6 which very clearly didn’t represent how he played), but Tatum was +27, which is a number so large it can’t help but be noticed. The Mavericks have two All-Stars and some nice role players around them, but against a player with Tatum’s build and skill level, they were in trouble.
2. Brown, meanwhile, spent much of the game torching Luka Doncic, and he appeared to take immense pleasure in doing so. Doncic couldn’t stay in front of Brown, he couldn’t elevate high enough to contest anything Brown tried from the mid-range, and he got dropped on a nasty crossover.
As a team, the Celtics shot 66.7 percent in the short and long mid-range (98th percentile), and Brown’s 11-for-15 performance inside the arc was a big reason why.
Social media has debated the merits of Tatum vs. Doncic often, pitting Doncic’s ability to manipulate a defense and make an entire offensive system run smoothly against Tatum’s two-way stardom and efficient offensive production. A performance like Brown’s on Monday doubles as a tally mark in Tatum’s column, because Doncic’s inability to do anything against Brown hurt the Mavericks down the stretch.
3. Brown’s crossover against Doncic was such a bad look for the Mavericks star, it caused some drama on their bench. After the play, the Mavericks’ scoreboard made the highly questionable decision to show it again, and Tim Hardaway Jr. and Markieff Morris were both less than pleased.
“Are we home or away?” Hardaway asked the Mavericks’ scoreboard operators, per Gary Washburn of the Boston Globe.
Frankly, it’s a fair question. And on the Mavericks’ Slovenia Night, no less!
4. In his first meeting with his old team, Grant Williams played just 17:46 and finished 1-for-5 from the floor, 0-for-4 from behind the arc. He appeared to bother Tatum on a possession shortly before the end of the first half, and when Williams got the ball and tried to heave a half-court shot, Tatum put a little extra heat behind his swing as he swatted it out of bounds. After the play, Tatum stalked toward the locker room eyeing Williams with some venom.
Tatum later told reporters that he “tried to kick that s—” and that he couldn’t repeat what he said on his way off the floor. He and Williams did embrace with a big smile after the game, however.
Admittedly, we haven’t watched the Mavericks as extensively as the Celtics this year, but the best thing Williams did in his final season with the Celtics was dial up the intensity for certain defensive matchups. It seemed a little strange that Dallas didn’t give him more opportunities to harass the Celtics’ best players.
5. Credit to the Celtics for their strategy of staggering Al Horford and Kristaps Porzingis on back-to-backs, which has not only kept minutes low for both players but has also ensured that almost no matter what, a starting-caliber big man will be available on any given night. With Porzingis on the floor and Horford off, the Celtics are outscoring opponents by 12.1 points per 100 possessions (stats via Cleaning the Glass). With Horford on and Porzingis off, that number dips to 8.1. Overall, the Celtics outscore opponents by 9.9 points. There’s a bit of a drop with Porzingis out, but Horford still helps the Celtics become an overwhelmingly positive team.
Horford finished with 11 points, six rebounds and three assists against the Mavericks, shooting 4-for-7 from the floor and 3-for-6 from behind the arc.
6. Two games removed from turning the ball over just twice against the Nuggets, the Celtics turned the ball over just six times against the Mavericks. Neither Brown nor Tatum recorded a single one.
7. Jrue Holiday won’t be the center of attention given the Jays’ heroics, but presumably he’s used to that at this point, and he quietly finished with a nice game – 17 points, seven rebounds and six assists while knocking down five 3-pointers (6-for-13) overall. Aside from Holiday (5-for-12) and Horford (3-for-6), the Celtics were 7-for-28 from deep (25 percent), so Holiday’s floor spacing proved to be an important factor.
8. After a hectic month of January, the Celtics finally have two days off before their next contest: The finale of their three-game road trip in Miami against the Heat on Thursday. They finish out the month with home games against the Clippers, Pelicans and (yes, yet again) the Pacers.
Thursday’s contest tips off at 7:30 p.m. on TNT.
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