Jaylen Brown posted 33 points and 11 rebounds as the Boston Celtics extended their winning streak to three with a 110-100 victory over the host Dallas Mavericks on Tuesday.
Boston’s bench was productive with Peyton Pritchard contributing 26 points and seven assists, and Luka Garza scoring 16 points, including 4-of-4 on 3-point attempts.
The Celtics went in short-handed with Anfernee Simons — who scored 27 points against the Milwaukee Bucks on Sunday — unavailable after reportedly being traded to the Chicago Bulls with a second-round pick for Nikola Vucevic.
Cooper Flagg scored 36 points with nine rebounds and six assists — his third straight game with 30 or more points — for Dallas, which lost its fifth consecutive game.
The Mavericks’ next highest scorer was Caleb Martin with 13 points.
Brown had 15 points and five boards in the opening frame, while Pritchard added eight points as Boston led 32-29 after one.
Klay Thompson’s 3-pointer early in the second period knotted the score at 32, before the Celtics took control with an 18-2 burst, capped by a Garza trey, to move in front 50-34.
The Mavericks scored just 15 in the second — their lowest in any quarter this season.
Flagg revived Dallas late by hitting a floater to end the Mavericks’ cold streak, then made an athletic block on Brown’s drive right before halftime, with the Celtics leading 52-44.
Dallas experienced a scare when center Daniel Gafford left the game with 3:05 remaining in the second quarter after injuring his right leg in a collision with Brown, but he came back with 5:18 left in the third.
Boston continued to keep the Mavericks at arm’s length after the break, before pulling away with 14 of the last 18 points of the third quarter, including three Garza 3-pointers.
The Celtics’ lead was up to 88-67 early in the fourth before Flagg minimized some of the damage with the Mavs’ first nine points of the quarter and 15 for the frame.
