Dallas Mavericks Unlucky in Boston, Lose Eighth Game

Completing their two-game road trip on the East coast, the Dallas Mavericks lost their second straight game after losing in Boston on Wednesday night.

For Dallas, it was the second game on the East coast after losing to the Knicks two days before in New York. Even though Dirk Nowitzki made the trip, he sat out once again in Boston as he continues to rehab from his sore Achilles.

The Celtics are coming off a one point loss to the New Orleans Pelicans in a game where they should have won. Boston came into the matchup with Dallas with two core pieces, Al Horford and Jae Crowder, sidelined due to injury.

The Game

Boston came out from the opening tip with one agenda in mind: run. Teams normally come into a matchup with Dallas with the same agenda, but not every team pulls it off like Boston did. The had  Dallas on their heels the whole first quarter as Boston finished the quarter up 29-17.

The Mavs used the second quarter to hamper down on defense, but didn’t do much on offense either. After holding Boston to just 10 points in the quarter, Dallas only put up 14 points to go into halftime down 31-39. Boston had 24 of their 39 points in the paint and out rebounded the Mavericks 33-20.

After coming back from his calf injury, Deron Williams played the first half only to re-aggravate his injury and did not return.

In the second half, Boston took advantage of sloppy defense from the Mavericks to take the lead back up to 12. After Harrison Barnes and Wesley Matthews found a groove, the Mavs cut the lead back down to three points heading into the fourth quarter.

The fourth quarter was the Harrison Barnes show for Dallas as he was unstoppable down the stretch scoring 12 points in the fourth quarter. With Marcus Smart in his face, Barnes kept knocking down shots as he finished with 28 points. Even though Dallas took the lead late in the fourth, it was Isaiah Thomas who led Boston back to win the game.

*J.J. Barea went down in the fourth quarter holding his calf/Achilles area of his leg. After showing a great amount of pain, he was helped off the court where he put no weight on it.

More from The Smoking Cuban

• Dallas Mavericks: Tyrell Terry injures groin in summer league loss to Jazz
• Mavericks: How to maximize Luka Doncic and Kristaps Porzingis pairing
• Dallas Mavericks: Did they do enough this offseason to jump into title contention?
• Mavericks: What to watch for as Dallas faces Utah Jazz in summer league
• Dallas Mavericks rumors: Bulls want first round pick for Lauri Markkanen

Deciding Statistic

Coming into the game, the Boston Celtics were 26th in the league in rebounds. With Al Horford and Jae Crowder both out, Boston was forced to give heavy minutes to Amir Johnson and Kelly Olynyk.

Boston won the rebounding matchup 53-32.

Avery Bradley led the team with 13 rebounds in what would be a career high for the guard.

Player of the Game

The player of the game could go to Avery Bradley, who finished with 18 points and 13 rebounds, but instead goes to their all-star in Isaiah Thomas.

Thomas came through when it counted as he hit big shot after big shot in the fourth quarter to take back the lead. From his outside shooting to his playmaking in the fast break, Thomas took the game into his hands to win the ball game.

Thomas finished the game with 30 points, 6 assists, and 4 rebounds.

Next: Three Reasons Not To Give Up On The Mavs

Dallas now falls to 2-8 on the season where they go home to play the Memphis Grizzlies on Friday night. Hoping to get Dirk Nowitzki back, the Mavericks will look to ride the hot hand of Harrison Barnes to win their third game of the season.