DALLAS (AP) — Jayson Tatum and the Celtics responded to a stunning loss with the Boston star’s second career triple-double in a blowout from Luka Doncic and the Mavericks.
Tatum had 29 points, 14 rebounds and 10 assists, and the Celtics ended Dallas’ seven-game winning streak with a 124-95 victory Thursday night.
Jaylen Brown scored 19 points for the NBA-leading Celtics, who rebounded from a 150-117 loss at Oklahoma City as the Thunder missed 30-point scorer Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.
“They showed me they could do it once,” interim coach Joe Mazzulla said. “They have to do it again and again.”
Luka Doncic scored 23 points after averaging 44.5 points in the previous five games. The Mavs superstar did not play in the fourth quarter, which started with Boston leading by 24.
Doncic beat the 3-point buzzer for the win in Boston’s two previous visits to Dallas. There was never a chance for a third, or for the Mavs to extend the longest winning streak since their only league season in 2010-11.
Doncic missed all six shots from long range as the Mavericks finished 7 of 32. Doncic was 7 of 23 overall and Dallas finished 38 percent two nights after Oklahoma City shot 59 percent against the Celtics.
“When we’re at our best, we play really good basketball on both ends of the court with a lot of hard work for a long time,” Mazzulla said. “And then we go through a few games where we lose that. What I love tonight is that we bounced back.
Tatum wasn’t much better than Doncic, going 8 of 22 from the field, but his teammates were. Boston shot 16 of 43 from 3, with eight players hitting at least one.
The sixth-year pro’s other triple-double came on April 19, 2021, when he had 14 points, 13 rebounds and 10 assists in a 102-96 loss to Chicago.
Marcus Smart and Malcolm Brogdon each scored 15 points, with Smart going 4 of 9 from deep while Brogdon was 3 of 5.
The Celtics never trailed past the middle of the first quarter, and Dallas didn’t come within 13 after halftime. The Mavs were swept in the two-game season series after trailing big at halftime in a 125-112 loss at Boston.
“It was kind of like what happened in Boston,” Mavs coach Jason Kidd said. “We just couldn’t score. We had some really good looks there early on. The ball just didn’t drop for us.
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With Tatum’s triple-double, the Celtics’ toggle switch and the Mavericks beaten comfortably originally appeared on NBCSports.com
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