NBA: Listed as questionable, Jayson Tatum leads Celtics over Mavericks
Jayson Tatum #0 of the Boston Celtics goes around Luka Doncic #77 of the Dallas Mavericks during the third quarter at TD Garden on November 23, 2022 in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo By Winslow Townson/Getty Images)
Jayson Tatum’s injured ankle looked fine Wednesday night, when he scored a team-high 37 points and pulled down 13 rebounds to help the Boston Celtics kick off a six-game homestand with a 125-112 victory over the Dallas Mavericks.
Tatum was listed as questionable on the team’s injury report Wednesday with a sprained left ankle, but Boston coach Joe Mazzulla upgraded him to available before the game. Tatum injured his ankle when he landed on DeMar DeRozan’s foot during Monday’s loss to the Chicago Bulls.
Jayson Tatum led the @celtics to the pre-Thanksgiving Day victory with a 37-point double-double!
☘ @jaytatum0: 37 PTS, 13 REB, 5 AST, 2 BLK pic.twitter.com/HVVluzvDCb
— NBA (@NBA) November 24, 2022
Jaylen Brown (31), Al Horford (14), Malcolm Brogdon (13), Marcus Smart (13) and Derrick White (12), also scored in double figures for the Celtics, who shot 53.6 percent from the field (45 of 84) and made 17 of their 34 3-point attempts. Smart finished the game with nine assists.
Dallas received a game-high 42 points from Luka Doncic, who added nine assists and eight rebounds. Christian Wood added 26 points for the Mavericks. Spencer Dinwiddie tossed in 15 and Dorian Finney-Smith finished with 10.
Luka Doncic dropped 42 PTS in his battle with Jayson Tatum tonight:
🔥 @luka7doncic: 42 PTS (17/28 FGM), 8 REB, 9 AST pic.twitter.com/MRUgcvAHiU
— NBA (@NBA) November 24, 2022
Boston’s largest lead was 27 points, but Dallas was within nine, 114-105, following a Wood dunk with 3:43 to play. It was 117-107 when Boston began a 7-0 run.
The Celtics led 34-23 after one quarter. Brown scored 13 points in the opening 12 minutes, when Boston had an 18-8 edge in points in the paint.
Boston had a 29-15 lead – its largest lead in the opening quarter – when Brogdon made a 3-pointer with 3:11 remaining in the quarter.
The Celtics used a 13-1 run to stretch their lead to 68-43 with 2:02 left in the second quarter. Dallas trailed 70-49 at halftime despite shooting 50 percent from the field (20 for 40) in the first half. Boston made 11 of its 21 3-point attempts in the half.
Tatum led all scorers in the first half with 23 points. Doncic finished the half with 22.
Doncic entered the matchup averaging 27.7 points, 7.1 rebounds, and 6.7 assists per contest in seven career games against the Celtics.
