Jayson Tatum posted a triple-double with 29 points, 14 rebounds and 10 assists to propel the NBA-leading Boston Celtics to a 124-95 win over the host Dallas Mavericks on Thursday night.
Tatum scored 18 and Jaylen Brown added 15 of his 19 in the second half as Boston snapped a two-game losing streak.
Four other Celtics finished in double-figures including Marcus Smart and Malcolm Brogdon who added 15 apiece.
Luka Doncic scored 23 points, Spencer Dinwiddie had 18 and Christian Wood had a 12-point, 12-rebound double-double for Dallas, which saw its seven-game win streak snapped.
All but three of Doncic’s points came in the opening half.
Dallas erased Boston’s 5-0 start with a 9-2 run and took a 9-7 lead on Dinwiddie’s running dunk with 6:50 left in the first quarter.
The Celtics sprinted ahead thereafter, as a Grant Williams triple began his personal five-point stretch and an extended 15-3 team run.
It was 29-20 at the end of the first quarter — a margin that could have been greater if not for Dallas’ 9-of-12 effort at the free-throw line. Doncic, who finished an 11-point quarter with a floater and two free throws in the last minute, was 5 of 7 at the line.
Brogdon’s three-point play capped Boston’s 5-0 run to start the second. The hosts got back within eight on a Kemba Walker drive, but Grant Williams followed with an and-one.
Derrick White capped the Celtics’ four straight 3-point makes, taking a 55-37 lead with 4:14 before halftime.
Each team’s stars heated late in the first half, making it 64-46 at the break. Tatum scored seven of Boston’s last eight points and Doncic posted seven straight for Dallas over the final 3:38.
Wood scored two jumpers for Dallas after halftime, but the teams traded 7-0 runs midway through the third. Tatum’s finger roll capped the Boston streak, giving it a 71-50 lead at 7:44.
Dinwiddie’s three started the Dallas run and set up Wood for an alley-oop dunk at the end.
Brogdon hit the Celtics’ third during a span of five treys with 3:08 left. Smart followed and then sank three straight free throws to create the 89-65 lead after three.
In the fourth, Dallas responded to Tatum’s step-back triple with a quick 6-0 run that included back-to-back Dwight Powell buckets.
Jaden Hardy (15 points) and Tim Hardaway Jr. (eight points) bookended another 8-0 Maverick run with two 3-pointers, but Tatum’s three-point play and a feed to Brown for an alley-oop dunk highlighted a 13-0 run with 4:12 left.
–Field Level Media