The shorthanded Dallas Mavericks (19-31) looked lost in Tuesday’s 110-100 loss to the Boston Celtics (32-18) at American Airlines Center, extending their losing streak to five games. The Mavericks were without P.J. Washington (head), Brandon Williams (leg) and D’Angelo Russell (illness) and lost big man Daniel Gafford to yet another ankle injury in their latest loss. The night is dark and full of terrors, y’all.
Dallas, TX
3 thoughts as the Mavericks get out-manned by the Boston Celtics, 110-100
Jaylen Brown scorched Dallas for 15 points and five rebounds in the first quarter, a sure sign of trouble to come. But Dallas countered with the vaunted one-two punch of Cooper Flagg and Caleb Martin, who combined for 15 points of their own in the first to keep the Mavericks’ heads above water, trailing 32-29 after one. Martin found Flagg running along the baseline in transition for a man-sized alley-oop slam less than five minutes into the proceedings to give the Mavs an early 12-9 lead.
Klay Thompson came off a screen near the top of the key for a 3-pointer to tie the game, 32-32, on Dallas’ first make of the second quarter, but the Celtics responded with a little 9-2 run over the next two minutes to force Mavs’ head coach Jason Kidd into his first timeout of the game, trailing 41-34. The Celtics scored the game’s next eight points after the timeout to extend the run and put the Mavs behind the eight-ball midway through the second.
Finally, Flagg drove down the lane and converted a hard-earned leaner in the lane to stop the bleeding, with five minutes left before halftime, but the Mavs were already down 50-36 at that point. Dallas went nearly four minutes without scoring at one point in the second and shot just 7-of-22 from the field and just 1-of-9 from beyond the arc in the period. Boston led 52-44 at the break after letting the Mavs back in it with a 10-2 run late in the second.
Flagg nailed a contested jumper on the Mavs’ first possession of the third to continue that run, but Brown and the Celtics kept the Mavericks at arm’s length throughout most of the quarter. Flagg recorded a highlight chase-down block on a transition attempt from Baylor Scheierman two minutes later, and Max Christie hit his first 3-pointer of the game with 8:20 left in the third to bring Dallas to within 58-51. Luka Garza knocked down back-to-back 3-balls, though, with 3:30 left in the third to extend the Boston lead to 15, up 78-63.
Brown, who entered the fourth with 25 points and 10 rebounds already to his credit, rested to start the fourth quarter, but the Celtics didn’t miss him much. The lead floated near 20 points for much of the final frame. Flagg, however, continued to pour it in for Dallas. He nailed a 3-pointer with eight minutes remaining to give him 33 points and push his season scoring average to just over 20 points per game. He became the only teenager in NBA history to score 30 or more points in three straight games in the loss, and also the first rookie to score 34 or more in three straight since Trae Young did it in 2018. Flagg finished with 36 points, nine boards and six assists, another otherworldly performance in another hopeless Mavericks’ loss.
Brown came into the game with nine minutes remaining, as the Mavs threatened to get back in it, and scored on a forceful drive through the lane to give him a team-high 27 points on the night. He scored another tear-drop in transition over Flagg with five minutes to play to give Boston a 104-89 advantage. He finished with 33 points and 11 rebounds in the win.
All you have to do is watch a few games to realize why, as ESPN’s Shams Charania reported earlier on Monday, Dallas’ phone lines remain “wide open” as the NBA Trade Deadline nears. Why would anyone want any of these guys? Flagg is the only winning player on the Mavericks’ roster at this point, and this team is truly hard to watch in long stretches.
Naji Marshall can’t save you, Mavs fans, even as nice as he’s looked this year. None of the guards are bringing any juice right now. Martin is a starter at this point. What are we even doing here?
The Celtics focused all of their energy on slowing Flagg down, forcing the rest of the Mavs to come to the table with literally anything at all. Most of the time, it just wasn’t there. This season is in the sewer. We are waist-deep in the muck.
Gafford goes down, gets back up
Late in the second quarter, Daniel Gafford, one of the most mediocre trade assets the Mavericks have dangled this winter, went down with an apparent ankle injury while moving into position for a rebound. If there was any hope of getting anything for Gafford before Tuesday’s game, the chances of doing so took a big hit as Gafford writhed in pain in the lane and was helped to the locker room with two minutes to go before the half.
Gafford’s right ankle has given him trouble for most of the season, since he sprained it in training camp and missed the first five games of the year. He hasn’t been right since, and his already modest production has been neutered as a result. He appeared to hurt the same ankle on Tuesday.
It was announced midway through the third quarter that Gafford would be available to return against the Celtics. He came back into the game with 5:18 left in the third quarter for some reason and immediately winced with apparent pain in his right shoulder after grabbing his first rebound of the second half.
Gafford skied for a putback dunk on Thompson’s missed jumper with 2:15 left in the third to get to eight points and eight rebounds in just 17 minutes to that point, perhaps giving potential trade suitors something to think about with his all-out effort in the face of what has been a tough season. He ran through Garza on his way to the bucket with 31 seconds left in the third for a basket that was wiped away on review as the Celtics took an 86-67 lead into the fourth quarter.
The Celtics got 26 points from Peyton Pritchard and 16 more from Garza off the bench while the Mavs searched for any production whatsoever from their beleaguered second unit. Boston’s bench outscored Dallas’ 44-22 and helped the Celtics coast to the win. After the Celtics’ 5-of-20 start from 3-point range, Boston made seven of their next 14 from distance to close out the win. Garza made all four of his 3-point attempts, tying a career-high mark in the win.
No Maverick reserve scored more than seven points in Tuesday’s loss.
The search for the next general manager or president of basketball operations of the Dallas Mavericks has begun. They terminated Nico Harrison in November, which was about nine months too late, and gave any available candidates clear notice that they were open for business.
The plan was always to wait until after the season to start the search. While names popped up as the season reached an end, they didn’t begin turning over the staff until the Monday after the season ended. However, Dallas Mavericks fans are not going to like how the team is going about the search.
Patrick Dumont Leading Search for General Manager
NBA insider Jake Fischer reported that the Mavericks are not hiring a search firm in their hunt for a new lead executive. Instead, team governor Patrick Dumont is “acting as his own point person.”
This is an… interesting decision, to say the least. Dumont is not a basketball person whatsoever, and most organizations usually hire a search firm. The Chicago Bulls hired one as they look for their replacement for Arturas Karnisovas. Just because a firm is hired doesn’t mean a team will listen, though.
The Mavericks hired a firm in their last search for a GM. They let Donnie Nelson go in 2021 after a long tenure with the Mavs. Instead of listening to the firm, though, Mark Cuban ignored it to hire Nico Harrison, who had no previous NBA front office experience. Harrison had been an executive with Nike, which gave him connections with players like Kyrie Irving, Anthony Davis, and plenty of others.
For a while, that seemed to be working out okay. While he still had some questionable transactions, such as trading for Christian Wood and letting Jalen Brunson walk in free agency, they were still able to make a run to the NBA Finals in 2024. Then, he blew it all up, trading away Luka Doncic for an older and injured Anthony Davis, and the team hasn’t been the same since.
It’s imperative that the Mavericks get this hire correct. The interim Co-GM setup with Matt Riccardi and Michael Finley has performed admirably, but the 2026 NBA Draft is important for the Mavs to get right. It’s their best chance to pair Cooper Flagg with another young star, as they don’t own their first-round pick again until 2031 after this.
Hiring the right GM could help bring in more draft capital by bringing in bad contracts or flipping veterans into picks.
Dumont was able to convince Rick Welts, a Hall of Famer, to come out of retirement to be the CEO and lead the charge for a new arena. Maybe Dumont pulls another rabbit out of his hat for the GM.
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For a moment, it looked like FC Dallas was on its way to another statement win at home tonight.
Petar Musa scored two first half goals, to extend his Golden Boot leading tally to nine goals. But after Dallas grabbed control, the Galaxy found a way back before halftime with goals from Lucas Sanabria and Joseph Paintsil.
The second half brought more chances and more frustration for Dallas, which finished the night with 13 shots to LA’s nine. In the end, the point stretched Dallas’ unbeaten run to five games, though just like last week, it felt like another match where Dallas left points on the table.
Key Moments
7’ – GOAL! After a poor pass back by a LA defender, Petar Musa was free to go one-on-one with the LA goalkeeper. After a touch to get ahead of a defender, Musa slotted home his eighth goal of the season from outside the penalty box.
21’ – Offside! Joaquin Valiente sent a floating ball over the Galaxy defense, where Musa was able to get behind the defense and make an easy play for what appeared to be his second goal of the night. The play was called offside despite a fairly lengthy review period.
38’ – GOAL! This one counts! Musa gets his second of the night off a great ball from Chris Cappis. Logan Farrington picked off the ball in the midfield. He then played Cappis wide to the left of the penalty area. Cappis immediately played a ball back across the goal for Musa to slide in and finish for his ninth of the season.
43’ – Goal LA. Lucas Sanabria got the ball near the top of the penalty area. He took a couple of touches to get outside the penalty box before firing a shot that beat Michael Collodi at the near post.
45+4’ – Goal LA. Gabriel Pec got the ball near the top of the penalty area. He pulled the ball back a bit, which caught a pair of Dallas defenders. This allowed Joseph Painstil to get free behind the Dallas defense as Pec played him through inside the penalty area. Pec immediately smashed home a shot above Collodi to tie the game.
75’ – Another offside goal. This time on a corner kick for Dallas, after a scrum in the penalty box, Kaick hammered home what looked to be the go-ahead goal. But after a few seconds the flag was raised due to a deflection on Osaze Urhoghide, who was in an offside position.
Instant Reaction
Yeah, this is another disappointing result for this team. In a real way, it felt like the first half against Houston from last month. Dallas grabbed the lead, looked in control, but some defensive miscues opened the game up for the visitors to climb back.
With a double-game week coming up, this will certainly be another game where Dallas will wonder ‘what if’ more than anything else…especially when you factor in the two goals called off for offside.
About the Subs
Eric Quill went to his bench for the first time in the 66th minute, as he brought on Santiago Moreno for Logan Farrington. Quill went to his bench again 81st minute with Ran Binyamin and Nolan Norris coming on for Sebastien Ibeagha and Deedson. The final sub came during stoppage time with Herman Johansson and Joaquin Valiente coming off for Sam Sarver and rookie Nick Simmonds, who made his MLS debut.
Man of the Match
No question about it tonight, it has to be Musa.
Where does this fit into the season
As of this writing, the draw puts Dallas into a three-way tie for 5th place with Real Salt Lake and Seattle. Both are in action right now and look firmly in control of their games. I’d expect Dallas to be in 7th place by the end of the night.
What’s next for FC Dallas
Dallas wraps up a three-game homestand next Wednesday night as they host Minnesota United.
Dallas, TX
Akheem Mesidor selected by Cowboys by Blogging The Boys in SB Nation’s community mock draft
Akheem Mesidor, Edge, Miami
Pass rush has been an issue since the Micah Parsons trade. The Rashan Gary trade helped, but Dallas still needs an injection of talent. Akheem Mesidor fits here because his body size allows for some versatility inside and out, something DC Christian Parker utilizes. Mesidor is also a high-motor player with a deep bag of pass rush moves.
His last season at Miami was full of disruption in the offensive backfield and he shows an all-around game, not just a bend-around-the-edge pass rusher. Yes, he’s a little older than you’d like in a rookie (25), but his motor, pass rush toolbox, and ability to play the run matches up with a need and makes him a quality pick at number 20.
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