Kyrie Irving and Dennis Smith Jr. get into scuffle in Dallas
From losing Gordon Hayward on opening night to the injury that forced Kyrie to once again dawn the mask, the Boston Celtics have overcome adversity time and time again. On Wednesday night, the story was no different as Boston fought from behind with an undermanned roster to defeat the Dallas Mavericks 97-90.
Kyrie Irving had 23 points and five assists in the game and taught Mavs rookie Dennis Smith Jr. a lesson or two with his close up magic ball handling. Meanwhile, Jayson Tatum chipped in 17 points and 10 boards as Al Horford stuffed the stat sheet with 17 points, eight rebounds and eights dimes.
Although their 16 game win streak ended weeks ago, Boston has kept up their stellar play to win six of their last seven contest including four straight. The Mavericks are far from the cream of the crop when it comes to the NBA, but with a win in The Garden, the Celtics improved to 8-0 against Western Conference teams this season.
Boston outplayed Dallas down the stretch, but struggled for most of the game as they sat injured stars Jaylen Brown and Marcus Morris. Brown was inactive with an inflamed right eye and Morris warmed the bench as he nursed his sore left knee.
The Celtics second unit were forced to shoulder the load on offense for large portions of the game, and they stepped up to the plate in a big way. With Boston down in the fourth quarter, their bench players sparked a timely 10-0 run that put Boston back on top 80-73, forcing Mavericks head coach Rick Carlisle to call for an emergency timeout to rally his players.
Dallas refused to go away without a fight and drew even with the Celtics 85-85, but the Boston shut down their hopes of a comeback with eight straight points to catapult their lead back up to eight with just over 2 minutes left in regulation.
While Dallas’ inconsistency allowed Boston to take this game despite their immense struggles, their matchup with the San Antonio Spurs on Friday night likely won’t give them the same leeway. The Spurs are dealing with a multitude of injuries, but with the impeccable coaching of Gregg Popovich and the next man up attitude of their roster, it’s sure to be a neck and neck game when the Celtics travel to San Antonio to start up their three game road trip.
