Mavs' 7-Game Win Streak Ends with Blowout Loss to Celtics
All good things must come to an end at some point, and unfortunately for the Dallas Mavericks, that time arrived on Thursday night as they had their seven-game win streak snapped by the Boston Celtics.
The Eastern Conference-leading Celtics, who came into American Airlines Center looking to avoid a three-game skid, took advantage of the Mavs being without their three of their best defenders in Josh Green, Dorian Finney-Smith and Maxi Kleber. Despite a late push by the Mavs' reserves, the Celtics ultimately won the game, 124-95.
Luka Doncic, who was hobbled for most of the night, had an off game by his standards by finishing with a team-high 23 points on 7-23 shooting from the field, including 0-6 from deep. Doncic also grabbed nine boards and dished out three assists on the night. He didn't play in the fourth quarter due to the game being out of reach.
Spencer Dinwiddie and Christian Wood joined Doncic as the only other starters to score in double-figures with 18 and 12 points respectively. The duo shot just 11-27 from the field and 2-8 from deep.
The Mavs' defense couldn't contain Celtics' MVP candidate Jayson Tatum, who finished with a game-high 29 points, 14 rebounds and 10 assists, but Dallas' poor shooting was the biggest reason for the blowout loss.
Dallas shot just 37.8 percent from the field and 21.9 percent from deep as a team. Those numbers will result in a blowout loss on most nights in the NBA.
One bright spot for the Mavs was the play of 20-year-old rookie Jaden Hardy, who gave the team a spark in the fourth quarter and put up 15 points, two rebounds and two assists in just 15 minutes of action. He shot 5-8 from the field, including a perfect 3-3 from deep. Given how depleted the Mavs' roster has been due to injuries, it would make sense for Hardy to get more run going forward.
Next up, the Mavs will take on the New Orleans Pelicans on Saturday night to finish up their brief two-game homestand. Zion Williamson will miss that matchup due to a hamstring injury.
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