The Mavericks were certainly feeling good following their feat of ending the Bucks’ 18-game winning-streak on Monday night in Milwaukee without the services of Luka Doncic. While he was out again on Wednesday night, Dallas didn’t fare quite as well when they hosted another strong Eastern Conference opponent in the Boston Celtics. Behind a combined 82 points from Kemba Walker, Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown, the Celtics downed the Mavericks 109-103.
Cardiac Kemba strikes again
When the Mavs fell to the Celtics in Boston last month, it was mostly due to an insane fourth quarter scoring explosion from Mavs offseason target Kemba Walker. While the Dallas offense stalling in the fourth tonight deserves plenty of the blame (stay tuned for that), it was once again too much Kemba that stung the Mavericks down the stretch.
Walker exploded out of the gates with 16 points in the first quarter but was held to just 3 points in the second and third quarters combined. It seemed like Dallas had figured out some adjustments to slow him down, but the fourth quarter was again his time to shine. From the 5:17 mark to the 3:19 mark in the fourth, Walker scored 10 out of 12 Boston points to give them a decisive 100-88 lead. While Dallas was able to claw slightly back into the game with a few late scores, it was really this stretch that dug their grave.
Get. The. Ball. To. Kemba. Walker. pic.twitter.com/uBvomQ2U91
— Boston Celtics (@celtics) December 19, 2019
No offensive answers in the fourth quarter
While the Mavericks were able to do what it took on offense in the fourth quarter on Monday in Milwaukee, Wednesday night was a decidedly different case. Dallas shot just 39% overall from the field and things were even tougher than those numbers suggest considering how many open looks the Mavericks seemed to miss all night long.
“The open shots we did have, we were struggling to get them in,” Rick Carlisle explained after the game. “The second half was a struggle. We’ve got to do better at both ends.” Once things started to break down defensively for Dallas in the fourth, things only got tougher to execute on offense.
Late in the game, our decision making wasn’t the best,” Kristaps Porzingis said with a positive tone after the game. Once Walker’s hot streak put the Mavericks down late in the fourth, it was obvious the Mavs were forcing some looks to make up the deficit quickly. “Sometimes when you want to get back in the game, you tend to rush things.
Luka showing signs of progress before the game
It’s hard not to worry about when exactly Dallas’ MVP candidate is going to get back on the court. Ever since he went down in a heap of pain less than two minutes into Saturday’s game against Miami, Mavericks fans have been collectively holding their breath while falling for every crumb of news that falls to the floor. Wednesday night offered some signs of improvement.
Well, would ya look at that. Luka is out here on the floor getting some shots up with Cuban. pic.twitter.com/KXbnO7nlLE
— Michael Mulford (@TheMulf) December 19, 2019
Doncic went through a what appeared to be a typical pregame shooting routine about two hours before tip-off and honestly didn’t look too bothered by his ankle injury. While he was certainly not going full speed, he never treats those pregame shooting scenarios as an opportunity to show off his speed. As the workout went on, he began to add on to what he was doing. First set jump shots, then slow pick-and-roll simulations, then finally a bit of his signature step-back three.
Luka Doncic will join Mavs on Philly/Toronto trip but is “highly unlikely” to play in either game, per Rick Carlisle. “He’s doing well,” Carlisle said. “He continues to progress. He’s doing some very light shooting, no significant on-court work yet, but he’s progressing well.”
— Tim MacMahon (@espn_macmahon) December 19, 2019
When asked about an update on Doncic’s recovery before the game on Wednesday, Rick Carlisle was positive but still guarded with his outlook on when his star player could return. While Luka traveling with the team on its East coast swing this weekend is an improvement over him staying home when the team went to Milwaukee on Monday, Carlisle defiantly said he was doubtful that we’d see Doncic in either Philadelphia or Toronto.
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