Mavs Donuts: Luka Doncic & Spencer Dinwiddle 'Like Dating'; Spoiler at Celtics

"Your work environment can sometimes be like dating, right?'' Dinwiddie says. "Like, you want the person who wants you.''

Luka Doncic loves playing against the Boston Celtics. Although Sunday's afternoon matinee in the TD Garden featured Kevin Garnett's jersey retirement ceremony, the Dallas Mavericks spilled the green beer in Boston. 

Monday's Mavs Donuts will get your week started with Mavs victories and championship comparisons. 

Get your fresh batch!

Donut 1: Clutch Victory in Boston

© Gregory Fisher-USA TODAY Sports

Brunson shooting over Williams lll

© Gregory Fisher-USA TODAY Sports

Doncic powers through Horford

© Gregory Fisher-USA TODAY Sports

Dinwiddie layup

Sunday afternoon saw the Mavs beat the Celtics with some late-game heroics from Spencer Dinwiddie and championship-level grit with Luka Doncic fighting through an injury scare. Dallasbasketball.com covered the contest. 

Doncic, after having a left hamstring issue in the first half that caused him to go back into the locker room, came back strong in the second to finish with 26 points, eight rebounds, eight assists, and three steals. 

Doncic hit multiple big shots in the fourth quarter, but the biggest play of the game was the last one he made on offense, which was a pass out to Dinwiddie for the game-deciding 3-pointer with just nine seconds left. 

🚨 DINWIDDIE GIVES THE MAVS A 3 PT LEAD 🚨@dallasmavs: 95@celtics: 92

4.9 remaining on ABC pic.twitter.com/L7c53vKeuP

— NBA (@NBA) March 13, 2022

Dinwiddie finished with 18 points and four assists while hitting 3-of-6 from 3-point range. ... and is offering a neat review of his new Mavs relationship.

"Your work environment can sometimes be like dating, right?'' he said. "Like, you want the person who wants you.''

Donut 2: Jason Kidd Reflects on Garnett's HOF Career

Garnett, Kidd, and Doncic

Garnett vs. Miami

Garnett embracing the crowd

Mavs head coach Jason Kidd reflected on Garnett's career before the jersey retirement ceremony at the TD Garden.

"As a teammate, you are talking about someone who comes to work every day," Kidd said. "The output that he puts into practice alone — it's incredible. He had so much energy, and he was fun to be around. You knew you had to be ready."

Kidd had the opportunity to coach Garnett during the 2013-14 NBA season with the Brooklyn Nets. Kidd described Garnett as a coach's dream due to his work ethic and competitiveness. The Nets went 44-38 during Kidd's lone season as coach.

Donut 3: Doncic Reveals Cause for Hamstring Issue

During the Dallas Mavericks' 95-92 win over the Boston Celtics, there was a concerning moment where Luka Doncic was holding his hamstring.

“It was tight when I was warming up,” Doncic said. “I landed (after a drive to the basket) and it was like a cramp and then my whole leg was a little tight.” 

Donut 4: Shades of 2011

Although there is still a lot of basketball left to be played, it just feels like there's something special happening with the Mavericks right now.

Dallas hopes to continue this hot streak for the remaining 14 games of the season to capture home-court advantage in the NBA playoffs – something the franchise hasn't accomplished since the 2011 championship season. 

Whether or not the Mavs can gain home-court, though, they're still showing us things we haven't seen in over a decade.

Donut 5: Jayson Tatum Climbs Past Doncic

Paul Rutherford-USA TODAY Sports

Tatum accepting the fans applause

Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports

Tatum driving past Doncic

Paul Rutherford-USA TODAY Sports

Tatum floater

Tatum is new to the MVP conversation this season. In fact, he went from being unranked among the top 10 spots to rising all the way to the No. 6 spot on the list—overtaking Doncic in the rankings.

Will the Mavs clutch victory in Boston revert Doncic ahead of Tatum in the MVP race?

Donut 6: Growing Josh Green

Kevin Jairaj/USA Today Sports

Green dunk

© Stephen Lew-USA TODAY Sports

Green vs. New Orleans

© Sam Navarro-USA TODAY Sports

Green guarding Butler

Josh Green still has a long way to go in order to live up to the hype that was bestowed upon him during the 2020 NBA Draft, but after enduring what many would consider a throw-away rookie season last year, it seems that he’s finally on the right path with the Dallas Mavericks.

Last season, Green played a total of 445 minutes through 39 games. This season, he's played a total of 786 minutes through 52 games (with 15 games remaining). With his increased playing time, Green has also increased his overall shooting percentage from 45.2 percent last year to 50.8 percent this year. After shooting a worrisome 16 percent from 3-point range as a rookie, Green has shown improvement in that department as well, as he's shooting a more respectable 33 percent now.

Donut 7: On This Day

LeBron James isn't the only NBA superstar from Akron, Ohio. The king of the Bay, Stephen Curry, was born on March 14, 1988. 

Donut 8: Jersey Confusion in Oklahoma City

Playing NBA 2K online isn't always the smoothest of experiences. Aside from gameplay lags, accidentally picking the same colored jerseys as your opponent is a "thing.''

Last Sunday saw the Memphis Grizzlies and the Oklahoma City Thunder make the same wardrobe mistake.

The Grizzlies and Thunder BOTH came out in white uniforms 😅 #Shaqtin pic.twitter.com/80CcTDu6VU

— Shaqtin' a Fool (@shaqtin) March 13, 2022

 Donut 9: Garnett Jersey Retirement Ceremony

In only six seasons with the Celtics, Garnett created quite the legacy in Boston. While Paul Pierce has longevity as a Celtic, Garnett's leadership and all-around elite game catapulted the Celtics into championship territory. The Celtics honored the 15-time All-Star with a special jersey retirement ceremony. 

Donut 10: Mavs Film Room: Dwight Powell 

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Powell reacting to hit

Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports

Powell post-up

Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports

Powell and Doncic connecting

The Houston Rockets had no answers for Dwight Powell in the Mavericks' 113-100 win on Friday. Powell racked up 22 points (on 8-of-9 shooting) and 10 rebounds all before halftime. He finished the game with a career-high-tying 26 points.

Among the Rockets' biggest problems was their inability to contain the two-man game of Powell and Doncic, which involved many well-timed lob passes. Houston's defense often left two defenders engaged directly on that duo to fend for themselves, and that was a bold-but-ineffective strategy to stick with.

Donut 11: Delonte West Comeback?

Former Dallas Mavericks guard Delonte West has been working his way through legal trouble in Florida, recently pleading not guilty to charges stemming from an incident with police in Palm Beach County, Florida.

But he's also trying to work his way into a basketball career.

Delonte West splashing 4-pointers at today’s tryouts! #BIG3Tryouts pic.twitter.com/CSM0OOXxvp

— BIG3 (@thebig3) March 12, 2022

Donut 12: What's Next for Mavs?

The Mavericks continue their five-game road trip by facing another Eastern Conference squad in the Brooklyn Nets on Wednesday night. Although the Nets have a star-studded roster, they are without Kyrie Irving due to vaccination guidelines in New York, and Ben Simmons is also out due to injury and conditioning concerns.