Celtics Pull Away From Mavericks 111-98

The Boston Celtics defeated the Dallas Mavericks 111-98 Monday at American
Airlines Center. The Celtics (36-19) held a comfortable 11-points lead headed
into halftime and looked to be well on their way to their third straight
victory. However, a run in the third quarter from the Mavericks (22-32) brought
them to within one and made it a game. But that competitiveness lasted just 12
minutes, as Boston turned it back on in the final period, especially on defense,
as they held Dallas to just 16 points. Isaiah Thomas led the way in the end for
the Celtics, scoring a game-high 29 points and dishing out eight assists in 34
minutes. But the most important performance of the night came from starting
shooting guard Marcus Smart, as he continues to play some of the best basketball
of his young career. He finished with 19 points on on 6-of-11 shooting, three
rebounds, three assists and two steals in 35 minutes. Boston has now won nine of
their last 10 games. As for the Mavericks (22-33), the loss ends a brief
two-game winning streak for the team. In the loss, however, they received
another hot shooting performance from Yogi Ferrell, who has officially played
his way into being a regular in Dallas’ rotation, even with the presence of
starter Deron Williams. Ferrell finished with 20 points on 8-of-11 shooting from
the field and five assists in 32 minutes off the bench. Ferrell’s shooting
stroke wasn’t particularly contagious, however, as the team managed to shoot
just 45.5 percent from the field in the end. On top of that, the five reserves
other than Ferrell that saw the court Monday combine for just 11 points in the
losing effort. Up next, the Celtics will return home Wednesday to take on the
76ers, while the Mavericks will head to Detroit on Wednesday to take on the
Pistons.