Dallas Basketball

Luka Doncic vs. Jayson Tatum MVP Battle: Dallas Mavs at Boston Celtics GAMEDAY

The Dallas Mavericks take on the Boston Celtics on a day where Kevin Garnett will have his jersey retired.

Dalton Trigg

After winning big against their I-45 rival Houston Rockets on Friday, the Dallas Mavericks face a much taller task on Sunday as they take on a red-hot Boston Celtics team that has won 14 out of its last 16 games. 

Despite hitting a bump in the road against the New York Knicks a few games ago, the Mavs have been hot as well, winning 12 of their last 15 games and posting a 25-8 record since New Year's Eve.

Luka Doncic, Dallas Mavericks
Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports

Luka Doncic helps the Mavs beat the Rockets, 113-100.

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© Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports

Doncic celebrates a made 3-pointer.

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© Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports

Dwight Powell scored a career-high-tying 26 points in Houston on Friday night.

Aside from their records, the Mavs and Celtics are very similar teams in that they've been better defensively than offensively this season. The Celtics boast the best defensive rating in the league (105.6) while the Mavs own the sixth-best (107.9). On offense, Boston and Dallas rank just 14th and 16th, respectively.

Although we might not be in for a high-scoring affair, there's still potential for some offensive fireworks to take place between MVP candidates Luka Doncic and Jayson Tatum. Doncic is averaging 28.1 points, 9.3 rebounds and 8.6 assists per game, while Tatum is averaging 26.8 points, 8.2 rebounds and 4.2 assists per game.

Will the sum of the rest of Dallas' non-Luka parts be enough to overcome Boston having another star player in Jaylen Brown?

FUN NOTE: The Celtics will be retiring Kevin Garnett's No. 5 into the TD Garden rafters tonight. Garnett helped Boston win a championship in 2008 as part of a 'Big-3' that included Paul Pierce and Ray Allen. In January, we saw firsthand how the emotions of a jersey retirement can affect a game, as the Mavs blew out the Warriors on Dirk Nowitzki's special night. So Dallas must come into this one with the right mindset to avoid getting ran off the floor.

FLASHBACK: On Nov. 6, the Mavs beat the Celtics 107-104 after Luka Doncic nailed a heavily-contested buzzer-beating 3-pointer to win the game in front of a raucous American Airlines Center crowd.

INJURY REPORT, DALLAS: Jalen Brunson (right thigh contusion) is available; Dorian Finney-Smith (right arm contusion) is available. Marquese Chriss (right knee soreness) is OUT; Tim Hardaway Jr. (left foot surgery) is OUT; Theo Pinson (right fifth finger fracture) is OUT.

INJURY REPORT, BOSTON: Aaron Nesmith (right ankle sprain) is OUT.

RECORDS: DALLAS MAVERICKS (41-26) VS. BOSTON CELTICS (41-27)

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© Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports

Luka Doncic after downing the Celtics at the buzzer.

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© Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports

Jayson Tatum gets doubled by the Mavs defense.

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© Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports

Luka Doncic drives on Robert Williams.

WHEN: Sunday, March 13, 2022 at 2:30 p.m. CT

LOCATION: TD Garden (Boston, MA)

TV/RADIO: BSSW, 97.1 The Eagle (KEGL)

ODDS: The Celtics are 7-point favorites against the Mavs.

NEXT: The Mavs will get a couple of days off before they continue their five-game road-trip against the Brooklyn Nets on Wednesday night at 6:30 p.m. CT. The Nets have won two games in a row despite being just 4-6 in their last 10 games.

LAST WORD: Doncic on the Mavs' goals for the remaining 15 games of the season:

"Just to get at least to the fourth place. That's our goal, to have home[-court] advantage. But other than that, just play basketball."

Published
Dalton Trigg
DALTON TRIGG

Dalton Trigg is the Editor-In-Chief for Dallas Basketball, as well as the Executive Editor overseeing Inside The Rockets, Inside The Spurs, All Knicks, and The Magic Insider. He is the founder and host for the Mavs Step Back Podcast, which is a proud part of the Blue Wire podcast network. Trigg graduated from the University of Southern Mississippi’s College of Business and Economic Development with a bachelor’s degree in entrepreneurship in 2016. After spending a few years with multiple Dallas Mavericks-related blogs, including SB Nation’s Mavs Moneyball, Trigg joined DallasBasketball.com as a staff writer in 2018 and never looked back. At the start of 2022, he was promoted to the EIC title he holds now. Through the years, Trigg has conducted a handful of high-profile one-on-one interviews to add to his resume — in both writing and podcasting. Some of his biggest interviews have been with Mavs owner Mark Cuban, Mavs GM Nico Harrison, now-retired legend Dirk Nowitzki and many other current/former players and team staffers. Many of those interviews and other articles by Trigg have been aggregated by other well-known sports media websites, such as Yahoo Sports, CBS Sports, Bleacher Report and others. You can find Trigg on all major social media channels, but his most prevalent platform is on Twitter. Whether it’s posting links to his DBcom work, live-tweeting Mavs games or merely giving his opinions on things going on with Dallas and the rest of the NBA, the daily content never stops rolling. For any inquiries, please email Dalton@MavsStepBack.com.

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