Did Christian Wood persuade Jason Kidd to start him ?
Tatum and Luka Doncic both shone in the NBA Most Valuable Player race on Wednesday night's ESPN-broadcast Mavericks-Celtics game, but Doncic's brilliant 42 points were muted by Boston's convincing 125-112 victory over his Mavericks.
And if this season's results are any indication of where these two franchises are now—which in some strange ways mirrored one another last year—Dallas and Boston now seem to be going in different directions.
To reduce the deficit versus the Celtics, Wood scored 26 points and collaborated for a substantial period with Luka Doncic.
Despite the shocking firing of coach Ime Udoka, the Celtics improved to an NBA-best 14-4 record and are undoubtedly building on their trip to the NBA Finals last season.
Mavericks? Although it's still early, Dallas (9-8) is one game worse than it was at this time last year after suffering two losses in its last three games.
The Mavericks may have discovered a spark to help ignite an improvement similar to last season, when they came back from a 16-18 start to finish 52-30, of what had been a rout in which the Celtics had taken a lead of as much as 27 points.
Dallas reduced Boston's advantage during the whole of the fourth quarter when Doncic and Christian Wood were on the field, going as close as 9 with 3:43 remaining. Naturally, Mavericks supporters have clamored all season for more time with those two playing together.
Jason Kidd, a coach, said, “You look at what they did.” “They get along really well. They performed admirably against one of the league's top teams. So let's hope we can learn from this and keep those two in Toronto.
possibly with Wood at the helm? Wood played in his 15th game as a Maverick on Wednesday, but he hasn't yet made a start. Although Kidd has stated that he prefers Wood and Tim Hardaway Jr. to come off the bench, he was questioned about this after the game on Wednesday.
I'm not strict about anything, he declared. “This is a practice run. So, if you're fortunate enough to advance to the playoffs, we must obtain all of the test's answers. You must consider every possible combination. Check out who is performing well.
“And just remember that change is sometimes necessary. It's just how sports are. There are no resentments or any personal issues. They are doing their job, and we are attempting to win games. We're attempting to present the best possible combinations.
When asked if it was time to begin, Wood grinned. He replied courteously and diplomatically.
He added, “I guess I'm just going to keep that my personal opinion to myself. “However, I can only say that I'm having fun while I'm here. I enjoy competing for Dallas. These guys help me out. When I play poorly, they encourage me. So far, everything is going well.
Doncic stated that playing in TD Garden is always an honor and that his performance here demonstrates his capacity for decisive action.
His performance on Wednesday marked his fourth 40-point game of the year, which is a league-high. In his previous three games played here, he averaged 32 points, 8.2 rebounds, and 7.0 assists.
Doncic, and the Mavericks in general, had charmed the Celtics. Dallas had won four straight games, three of them on buzzer-beating 3-pointers, including two by Doncic in the American Airlines Center and a game-winning shot by Spencer Dinwiddie here on March 13.
These losses may have served as inspiration for the Celtics, who led 34-23 after one quarter and 70-49 at halftime.
Even when Dallas reduced the gap to 16 points after three quarters due to its weak defense, Boston's 54% shooting and 101 points scored were hardly encouraging signals of improvement.
Dallas supporters finally get an extended peek of the duo they've been dying to see this season: Doncic and center Christian Wood. Despite the Celtics doing just enough to keep the Mavericks at arm's length, they finally got the opportunity.
Wood scored 26 total points, 13 of which came in the last frame.
However, on a night when Tatum and Brown of Boston scored 37 and 31 points, respectively, the Mavericks' duo's performance had little impact on the actual game.
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