DALLAS (AP) – Jayson Tatum was coming off a subpar showing, and his Boston Celtics were finishing a back-to-back for the first time since the most lopsided loss of the season for the team with the NBA’s best record.
How about a double dose of redemption? Tatum had 38 points and 11 rebounds, Jaylen Brown scored 35 and the Celtics beat the Dallas Mavericks 119-110 yesterday.
The Celtics were never in much trouble because their All-Star pair was more efficient on the second night of a back-to-back than the Dallas duo of Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving after four days off.
Tatum and Brown combined to go 24 of 43 from the field while Doncic and Irving were 21 of 50.
Doncic didn’t hit his first three-pointer until the fourth quarter and finished two of eight from beyond the arc. Doncic had a triple-double but needed 30 shots for 33 points with 18 rebounds and 13 assists. Irving scored 23 coming off an unexpected break when a game at Golden State was postponed following the death of Warriors assistant Dejan Milojević from a heart attack.
