Game two of Wednesday’s ESPN doubleheader takes place inside the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas, as the 17-7 Dallas Mavericks host the 18-7 Boston Celtics at 9:30 p.m ET on ESPN. The Celtics return from their vacation of a six-day break and face the Mavericks for the last time this season.
The Mavericks got off to a hot start in their Luka-less stretch in not having to rely on the 21-year old Serbian’s concurrent heroics, beating the East’s best team in the Milwaukee Bucks and ending their 18-game winning streak without him. Problem is, They’ll have no other choice but to replicate their atypical performance from two nights ago not only against a quality Celtics team that holds the third-best record in their conference tonight at home, but do the same thing over and over again in the “couple of weeks” that Doncic is going to miss time with that sprained ankle of his.
Conversely, it’s not like the Celtics aren’t absolved of any issues stemming from a nightly injury report. Marcus Smart is out with an eye infection, which has kept him out since last week.
The last time the two teams faced, Boston impressively escaped with a 116-106 win against a full-strength Mavs squad on their home parquet on November 11 on the path of their then 10-game winning streak. The funny thing about the last time these two teams played each other? Gordon Hayward was out, injured with a hand ailment. For the second time this year, Rick Carlisle won’t have a scouting report on Hayward since it’s being reported that the former Butler standout will be out against the Mavericks again, and is in need of an MRI on his left foot that’s been bothering him.
Some facts about the two teams facing off at 9:30 tonight: the Celtics have an average record of 7-6 on the road and are 6-4 in their last 10 contests. Meanwhile, Dallas is 8-6 at home, with a 7-3 record in their last 10 games. The Celtics are 3rd in the East while the Mavericks are 3rd in the West. The Celtics are 6-3 vs Western Conference teams while the Mavs are 7-4 vs Eastern Conference teams.
Two fairly equal franchises square off tonight, and though Doncic won’t suit up for the foreseeable future, don’t expect this Mavericks team to roll over, considering they’re a fighting team with another all-star in Kristaps Porzingis (17.2 ppg. off 40.1 percent shooting, 9.0 rpg., 1.5 apg.) leading the charge.
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