3 takeaways from Mavericks shocking road upset over Celtics

Dallas pulled off a shocker on the road on Thursday night.

Feb 6, 2025; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Dallas Mavericks guard Kyrie Irving (11) shoots the ball against Boston Celtics forward Jayson Tatum (0) in the second quarter at TD Garden. Mandatory Credit: David Butler II-Imagn Images / David Butler II-Imagn Images

The Dallas Mavericks pulled off a shocking upset on Thursday night, going into TD Garden and dominating the Boston Celtics. The final score may have been 127-120, but the game never felt that close. In fact, that's the closest the game got since it was 29-23 in the first quarter. Klay Thompson came out firing, scoring 23 points in the first half, and that was enough for everyone else to pick up some slack and contribute.

This game shook off a lot of demons, but they'll still have a lot to answer for on Saturday when they return home without Luka Doncic for the first time. That crowd will be hot, but at least Dallas was able to win in Boston, something they couldn't do in last year's NBA Finals.

Here are three takeaways from Thursday's win.

READ MORE: Klay Thompson's hot start carries Mavericks in upset over Celtics, 127-120

1. Kyrie Irving's first win in Boston since...

Feb 6, 2025; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Dallas Mavericks guard Kyrie Irving (11) shoots the ball against Boston Celtics forward Jayson Tatum (0) in the second quarter at TD Garden. Mandatory Credit: David Butler II-Imagn Images / David Butler II-Imagn Images

Kyrie Irving's history in Boston is well-documented. How he played for the Celtics, how he left them, and how he acted in more than a few returns there. And that's led to not a lot of success in Boston since he left them in free agency. This was Irving's first regular season win in Boston since December of 2020. And that may not even count since it wasn't a full house because of COVID-19. So Thursday night was Irving's first regular season win at Boston with a full crowd since April of 2017. In that game, he had 19 points and 5 assists. In Thursday's win, he had 19 points and 4 assists. Pretty crazy.

2. Spencer Dinwiddie's Revival

Feb 6, 2025; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Dallas Mavericks guard Spencer Dinwiddie (26) drives the ball against Boston Celtics guard Jaylen Brown (7) in the first quarter at TD Garden. Mandatory Credit: David Butler II-Imagn Images / David Butler II-Imagn Images

Spencer Dinwiddie got a lot more important to the team when Nico Harrison decided to trade away Luka Doncic and not add any more ball handlers. And considering Jaden Hardy didn't play at all on Thursday, it looks like Dante Exum and Dinwiddie will be the primary backups when everyone is healthy. If Dinwiddie plays more like this, they'll be fine, as he put up 22 points on 7/10 shooting. Obviously, it'll be hard to expect that level of play in every game. But a consistent 10 PPG shouldn't be impossible.

3. Keeping Boston's 3PT Shooting Down

Feb 6, 2025; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Dallas Mavericks guard Klay Thompson (31) reacts after a play against the Boston Celtics in the second half at TD Garden. Mandatory Credit: David Butler II-Imagn Images / David Butler II-Imagn Images

A big reason why Boston is so successful offensively is because they take (and make) so many threes. They lead the NBA in both 3PA (48.5) and 3PM (17.8) per game. Dallas was able to hold them to just 37 attempts from deep. And while they still made 16 of those, five came in the fourth quarter by the bench with the game pretty much out of hand. Boston's starters were 10/21, and while that's still a great percentage, keeping their attempts down was massive for Dallas to win this game.

READ MORE: Cowboys star Micah Parsons 'devastated' by Mavericks trading Luka Doncic to Lakers

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