{"id":194114,"date":"2026-03-07T01:42:20","date_gmt":"2026-03-07T01:42:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/194114\/"},"modified":"2026-03-07T01:42:20","modified_gmt":"2026-03-07T01:42:20","slug":"dallas-mavericks-21-41-at-boston-celtics-41-21-game-63-3-6-26-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/194114\/","title":{"rendered":"Dallas Mavericks (21-41) at Boston Celtics (41-21) Game #63 3\/6\/26"},"content":{"rendered":"

Dallas Mavericks (21-41)\u00a0 at\u00a0 Boston Celtics (41-21)
Friday, March 6, 2026
7:00 PM EST
Regular Season Game #63 Home Game #31
TV: ESPN, NBCSB, Mavs TV
Radio: 98.5 Sports Hub, 91.7 FM, Sirius XM
TD Garden<\/p>\n

In a rematch of the 2024 NBA Finals, the Dallas Mavericks visit the Boston Celtics. This is the second and final meeting between these two teams this season. Boston won the first game over the short-handed Mavericks in Dallas 110-100 on February 3.. The series was tied last season with each team winning on the road. The Celtics are 48-41 overall all time against Dallas and 27-17 in games played in Boston. The Mavs are playing on the 2nd night of back to back games and they are 5-5 so far in the 2nd games.<\/p>\n

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The Mavericks didn\u2019t make many changes in the off season after making a big spash with the Luka Doncic for Anthony Davis trade a year ago. They signed D\u2019Angelo Russell in the off season. They also won the draft lottery and chose Cooper Flagg with the first pick in the draft. They made a big trade at the deadline, sending Anthony Davis, D\u2019Angelo Russell and Dante Exum to the Wizards for Khris Middleton, Marvin Bagley II, and AJ Johnson. They also waived Tyus Jones in order to convert Ryan Nembhard from a 2-way contract to a standard contract.<\/p>\n

The Celtics are 2nd in the East, 5 games behind 1st place Detroit. They are 1.5 games ahead of 3rd place New York , 2.5 games ahead of 4th place Cleveland, 5.5 games ahead of 5th place Toronto, 7 games ahead of 6th place Philadelphia and 8 games ahead of 7th place Orlando. The Celtics are 14-7 against Western Conference opponents. They are 20-10 at home and 7-3 in their last 10 games. They are coming off their worst loss of the season in their last game.<\/p>\n

The Mavericks are 12th in the West, 26.5 games behind 1st place OKC, 16.5 games behind the 6th place Lakers, 10 games behind 8th place Portland, and 2 games behind 11th place Memphis. They are 3 games ahead of 13th place New Orleans and 3.5 games ahead of 14th place Utah. They are 10-11 against Eastern Conference opponents. They are 7-20 on the road and 2-8 in their last 10 games. They have lost their last 5 games.<\/p>\n

After this game against Dallas at home, the Celtics head out on a tough 3 game road trip through Cleveland, San Antonio, and Oklahoma City. Then they host Washington, Phoenix and Golden State. Next, it is one game at Memphis before a 3 game home stand against Minnesota, Oklahoma City and Atlanta. Then it\u2019s back on the road for a 4 game trip through Charlotte, Atlanta, Miami and Milwaukee.<\/p>\n

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This is the 3rd game of a 6 game road trip for Dallas that started with losses in Charlotte and Orlando and will go through Toronto, Atlanta and Memphis before going back home for one game against Cleveland. Then it\u2019s back on the road for games at Cleveland and New Orleans before facing Atlanta, the Clippers, and Golden State at home.<\/p>\n

For the first time this season, Jayson Tatum is listed as available and is expected to play just 10 months after surgery to repair his torn Achilles. I originally had Tatum coming off the bench but after reading many opinions on the subject, I\u2019m guessing that he will start and play on a minutes restriction. Phantom255x on Celtics Strong boards mentioned that Tatum has started all 585 games he\u2019s played in. That may be what tips the scale. I\u2019m also guessing that he starts in place of Sam Hauser with the rest of the starting lineup staying the same. I usually guess wrong, so who knows. Jordan Walsh was a late add to the injury report with an illness. Both Tatum and Walsh will be a game time decision.<\/p>\n

For Dallas, Kyrie Irving remains out as he rehabs from the ACL reconstruction surgery he underwent on March 26 of last year. Dereck Lively II is out after having season ending surgery on his right foot in December. Marvin Bagley III has missed the last 4 games due to a neck sprain and is questionable for this game. Brandon Williams missed Thursday\u2019s game due to a left quadriceps contusion and is also listed as questionable.<\/p>\n

Probable Starting Matchups
PG: Derrick White vs Max Christie <\/p>\n

\"Derrick<\/p>\n

Derrick White | NBAE via Getty Images<\/p>\n

\"Max<\/p>\n

Max Christie | Getty Images<\/p>\n

SG: Baylor Scheierman vs Cooper Flagg <\/p>\n

\"Baylor<\/p>\n

Baylor Scheierman | NBAE via Getty Images<\/p>\n

\"Cooper<\/p>\n

Cooper Flagg | Getty Images<\/p>\n

SF: Jaylen Brown vs Khris Middleton<\/p>\n

\"Jaylen<\/p>\n

Jaylen Brown | NBAE via Getty Images<\/p>\n

\"Khris<\/p>\n

Khris Middleton | Getty Images<\/p>\n

PF: Jayson Tatum vs PJ Washington <\/p>\n

\"Jayson<\/p>\n

Jayson Tatum | Getty Images<\/p>\n

\"PJ<\/p>\n

PJ Washington | NBAE via Getty Images<\/p>\n

C: Neemias Queta vs Daniel Gafford<\/p>\n

\"Neemias<\/p>\n

Neemias Queta | NBAE via Getty Images<\/p>\n

\"Daniel<\/p>\n

Daniel Gafford | NBAE via Getty Images<\/p>\n

Celtics Reserves
Payton Pritchard
Hugo Gonzalez
Luka Garza
Amare Williams
Nikola Vucevic
Jordan Walsh
Sam Hauser
2-Way Players
Ron Harper, Jr
Max Shulga
John Tonje
Injuries\/Out
Jayson Tatum (Achilles) available
Jordan Walsh (illness) questionable
Head Coach
Joe Mazzulla<\/p>\n

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Mavericks Reserves
AJ Johnson
Naji Marshall
Calet Martin
Ryan Nembhard
Dwight Powell<\/p>\n

2-Way Players
Moussa Cisse
John Poulakidas
Tyler Smith<\/p>\n

Injuries\/Out
Kyrie Irving (knee) out
Dereck Lively II (foot) out
Marvin Bagley II\u00a0 (neck) questionable
Brandon Williams (quad) questionable
Head Coach
Jason Kidd<\/p>\n

Key Matchups
Baylor Scheierman vs Cooper Flagg
Flagg returned to the Mavs on Thursday after missing 8 weeks due to a foot sprain. He is averaging 20.4 points, 6.6 rebounds, 4.1 assists and 1.2 steals per game. He is shooting 48.2% from the field and 30.2% from beyond the arc. In the first game against the Celtics he finished with 36 points, 9 rebounds, 6 assists and 2 steals while shooting 50% from the field and 50% from beyond the arc. The Celtics need to do a better job of defending him in this game. We may see Jaylen Brown starting here if Tatum starts.<\/p>\n

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Jayson Tatum vs\u00a0 PJ Washington
Washington is averaging 14.2 points, 7.0 rebounds, 1.9 assists. 1.0 steals and 1.2 blocks per game.\u00a0 He is shooting 44.7% from the field and 30.5% from beyond the arc.\u00a0 He missed the first game against the Celtics.\u00a0 He is coming off a game on Thursday where he finished with 18 points, 5 rebounds, 1 assist, 2 steals and 1 block while playing 33 minutes. I originally thought that Tatum would come off the bench but after seeing many opinions on the fact, I\u2019ve included him in the starting lineup.<\/p>\n

Honorable Mention
Jaylen Brown vs Khris Middleton
Middleton was traded from Washington at the trade deadline.\u00a0 He is averaging 10.7 points, 4.0 rebounds, and 3.2 assists.\u00a0 He\u00a0 is shooting 43.4% from the field and 32.5% from beyond the arc.\u00a0 Middleton wasn\u2019t with the Mavs for the first game against the Celtics.\u00a0 \u00a0However, Middleton has always been a Celtics killer no matter what team he is on or how he plays against other teams.<\/p>\n

Keys to the Game
Defense \u2013 Defense is always the number one key to winning games. There is no truer statement than \u201cDefense wins Championships.\u201d\u00a0 The Mavs have an offensive rating of 109.9 (26th) while the Celtics have an offensive rating of 119.9 (2nd).\u00a0 \u00a0The Mavs are 16th with a defensive rating of 113.9 while the Celtics are tied for 6th with a defensive rating of 111.9.\u00a0 When the Celtics struggle on offense, as they have in some recent games,\u00a0 they have to be able to stop the other team from scoring.\u00a0 \u00a0The Celtics especially need to defend the paint as the Mavericks average 53.7 points in the paint per game (4th).\u00a0 The Celtics need to play much better than they did against the Hornets if they want to win this game.<\/p>\n

Rebound \u2013 Second to defense, rebounding is the key to winning. One of the few times I have agreed with Pat Riley was when he said \u201cNo rebounds, no rings.\u201d\u00a0 \u00a0The Celtics are averaging 46.2 rebounds per game (6th) while the Mavs are averaging 44.6 rebounds per game (11th).\u00a0 The Celtics need to put out extra effort on the boards to keep the Mavs from getting extra possessions and second chance points and to give the same to themselves.<\/p>\n

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Don\u2019t Underestimate \u2013 Once again, the Celtics are facing a team that is under .500 and missing key players.\u00a0 It would be easy for the Celtics to underestimate the Mavericks and expect an easy win against them. If the Celtics don\u2019t play with effort and focus, any team can beat them.\u00a0 The Celtics have to come out strong from the start and play hard right up until the final buzzer. The Mavs are very capable of beating them if they don\u2019t play their best.<\/p>\n

Be Aggressive \u2013 The Celtics must be the more aggressive team. They have to be more aggressive in going to the basket, in diving for loose balls, and on defense. They have to aggressively crash the boards. They have to be the team that wants to win the game more. In most of their losses, including Wednesday\u2019s loss to the Hornets,\u00a0 they have allowed their opponents to play harder and be more aggressive.\u00a0 They absolutely can\u2019t let the Mavericks play harder than them if they want to win this game.<\/p>\n

X-Factors
At Home \u2013\u00a0 The Mavericks will be on the road and playing on the second night of back to back games. They will have the distractions of travel and playing in front of a mostly hostile crowd,although I expect a lot of cheers for hometown Cooper Flagg.\u00a0 The Celtics need to get motivation from the home crowd and defend their home court with energy and effort.<\/p>\n

The Tatum Factor \u2013 With Jayson Tatum expected to make his season debut in this game, the Celtics have to be excited and hopefully that will give them a boost.\u00a0 Whether he comes off the bench or starts, he is likely to be rusty and there will be some growing pains as he gets used to playing and the team gets used to having him back.<\/p>\n

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Officiating \u2013 The officiating can always be an x-factor.\u00a0 Every crew calls the game a little differently and teams need to adjust to how the game is being called.\u00a0 Will they call the game tight or will they let them play?\u00a0 The Celtics can\u2019t let the officiating take away their focus and they have to adjust to the way the refs are calling it.\u00a0 The Celtics need to play hard and build a lead and not allow the refs to take the game away on some bad calls at the end.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Dallas Mavericks (21-41)\u00a0 at\u00a0 Boston Celtics (41-21)Friday, March 6, 20267:00 PM ESTRegular Season Game #63 Home Game #31TV:…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":194115,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[64008,4643,11718,76965,6384,1689,28101,4642,102,104,2582,103,4647,25580,4644,51874,11719,36287,76964,21087,5590,76968,20729,51871,54988,51875,63630,4641,23004,4646,76970,74034,4645,76969,11721,11723,11726,11728,76967,31208,76963,51873,10985,52031,6378,11722,51876,11720,38622,11730,29291,62292,82,15637,11724,63634,76966],"class_list":{"0":"post-194114","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-dallas","8":"tag-aj-johnson","9":"tag-anthony-davis","10":"tag-atlanta","11":"tag-baylor-scheierman","12":"tag-boston-celtics","13":"tag-cleveland","14":"tag-clippers","15":"tag-cooper-flagg","16":"tag-dallas","17":"tag-dallas-headlines","18":"tag-dallas-mavericks","19":"tag-dallas-news","20":"tag-daniel-gafford","21":"tag-dante-exum","22":"tag-dereck-lively-ii","23":"tag-derrick-white","24":"tag-detroit","25":"tag-dwight-powell","26":"tag-game-road-trip","27":"tag-getty-images","28":"tag-golden-state","29":"tag-hugo-gonzalez","30":"tag-jaylen-brown","31":"tag-jayson-tatum","32":"tag-john-tonje","33":"tag-jordan-walsh","34":"tag-khris-middleton","35":"tag-kyrie-irving","36":"tag-lakers","37":"tag-luka-doncic","38":"tag-luka-garza","39":"tag-marvin-bagley","40":"tag-max-christie","41":"tag-max-shulga","42":"tag-memphis","43":"tag-miami","44":"tag-milwaukee","45":"tag-minnesota","46":"tag-moussa-cisse","47":"tag-naji-marshall","48":"tag-nbae","49":"tag-neemias-queta","50":"tag-new-orleans","51":"tag-nikola-vucevic","52":"tag-oklahoma-city","53":"tag-orlando","54":"tag-payton-pritchard","55":"tag-philadelphia","56":"tag-pj-washington","57":"tag-portland","58":"tag-ryan-nembhard","59":"tag-sam-hauser","60":"tag-san-antonio","61":"tag-the-mavericks","62":"tag-toronto","63":"tag-tyus-jones","64":"tag-wizards"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/194114","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=194114"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/194114\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/194115"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=194114"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=194114"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=194114"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}