NBA: Luka Doncic, Spencer Dinwiddie lift Mavericks over Celtics
Luka Doncic #77 of the Dallas Mavericks and Jaylen Brown #7 of the Boston Celtics hug after the Mavericks defeat the Celtics 95-92 at TD Garden on March 13, 2022 in Boston, Massachusetts. Maddie Meyer/Getty Images/AFP
Spencer Dinwiddie hit a game-winning 3-pointer with 11.6 seconds remaining to lift the visiting Dallas Mavericks to a 95-92 win over the Boston Celtics on Sunday.
Luka Doncic had a game-high 26 points for the Mavericks, who have won seven of their last eight games and broke Boston’s five-game winning streak.
DIN-WINNING 😤 https://t.co/oFbKrrab4Z pic.twitter.com/v6sfVTjj9x
— Dallas Mavericks (@dallasmavs) March 13, 2022
Doncic, who was subbed out briefly due to left hamstring tightness, had 17 in the second half after scoring or assisting on 14 of the Mavericks’ 18 first-quarter points. He hit a game-tying pull-up 3-pointer with 1:21 to play.
Dorian Finney-Smith had 19, Dinwiddie added 18 and Jalen Brunson rounded out the double-digit scorers for Dallas with 14 points.
Calm, cool, collected 😎 pic.twitter.com/lQ9SbN2HLM
— Dallas Mavericks (@dallasmavs) March 13, 2022
Jayson Tatum’s 21 points, 11 rebounds and four assists led the Celtics. Al Horford had 17, six rebounds and five steals. Marcus Smart had 15, Jaylen Brown put in 14 and Robert Williams III had 10.
Boston emerged with a 12-5 lead after a see-saw start in a low-scoring frame, but Dallas closed with consecutive baskets — including a Doncic driving layup — and used a 6-2 run to make it a 20-18 game.
For the hosts, Horford hit all three of his first-quarter field goals while Tatum hit a pair of 3-pointers in the first 12 minutes.
The Celtics extended their advantage in the second, leading by as many as 12 before taking a nine-point lead into halftime. A pair of thunderous Brown dunks highlighted a 15-4 run that began just past the midway mark.
Smart’s layup secured Boston’s largest lead with 5.3 seconds left in the half, but Dinwiddie gave the visitors some momentum with a long three before the buzzer.
The third quarter belonged to Dallas as it held a 38-26 scoring advantage and erased a 13-point deficit during a 20-6 run.
A pair of Payton Pritchard 3-pointers helped Boston put together a 10-2 early in the final frame, but a Doncic three and Finney-Smith dunk tied the game at 83. Brown’s layup with 4:14 left gave the Cs an 88-83 lead that was ultimately lost.
