Celtics Dallas Mavericks guard Klay Thompson drives to the basket as Celtics forward Jayson Tatum is trapped by Mavericks center Daniel Gafford during the second half. AP Photo/Charles Krupa

By Tom Westerholm

February 6, 2025

Klay Thompson and the Mavericks jumped on the Celtics early, and the Celtics never countered – falling 127-120 in their return to TD Garden.

Here are the takeaways. 

Klay Thompson looked like his vintage self

One of the scariest things about playing the Golden State Warriors of some 5-7 years ago was knowing that while a top-10 all-time player in Steph Curry might burn you to death from 3-point range, an equally potent threat was lurking off the ball in Klay Thompson. Curry might throw up a bunch of wild-looking shots with an increasing level of confidence, but Thompson was capable of absurdities like scoring 37 points in a quarter.

Thompson didn’t score 37 in a quarter against the Celtics, but he did drop 23 points in the first half, and he was the catalyst for the Mavericks as they raced out to an early hot start from the field and a lead that ballooned to double digits after his mid-range jumper to open the second quarter pushed it to 11. 

Thompson going off early made everything more difficult. Boston tried dropping back into a zone, which didn’t do much. They tried doubling the ball out of his hands, but they ran into the same issue opposing teams run up against whenever they double Jayson Tatum. They also – it should be noted – tried playing the kind of lackadaisical defense that has cost them various games throughout the year, and shockingly enough, that didn’t work either. 

The Celtics’ defensive effort on Thursday made it far more likely that a Mavericks player might go off and beat them, and Thompson was more than happy to answer the call. He scored just two in the second half to finish with 25 overall, but his lone bucket helped the Mavericks push their lead from 11 to 13 right at the start of the third quarter, erasing a small victory the Celtics claimed by cutting into the deficit to end the second quarter. Thompson’s scoring set the tone for most of Thursday’s game.

“When he gets it going in the first quarter, second quarter, whenever, the game just seems like it starts widening out a little bit, game slows down, you’re able to read it because you’re not going one-on-one, or you’re not stuck in half-court offense,” Kyrie Irving said. “You’re just kind of playing through Klay.”

The second unit made the final score respectable

With just under 10 minutes remaining, the Celtics subbed their starters out for the last time, seemingly pulling the plug on a deeply frustrating game. With 9:37 remaining and a bench mob on the floor, the Celtics trailed 114-90. 

Over the next eight minutes, the Celtics’ second unit made the game slightly more uncomfortable for the Mavericks than any of their stars managed. With 4:48 remaining, Jordan Walsh’s steal and breakaway layup cut the deficit to 13. After Naji Marshall gave the Mavs some breathing room with a three, Sam Hauser answered with a three of his own. A minute later, Neemias Queta flew down the lane and slammed home a pick-and-roll dunk that cut the lead to nine, and the Mavericks were forced to call a timeout. 

After the timeout, the Celtics came back out with their second unit, and the Mavs more or less restored order – Kyrie Irving banked in a jumper, and while Hauser’s subsequent 3-pointer cut the lead to 10 and the Celtics forced a turnover, Payton Pritchard badly missed a deep triple that would have cut the lead to single digits with 1:48 left. The Mavericks did just enough to hold off the Celtics the rest of the way. 

There are two takeaways from the Celtics’ late run. First, credit to the Stay Ready group – when they were tasked with trying to make the Mavericks work for it, they did so (and the Mavs helped a bit by taking their foot off the gas).

“Everybody has a role. Everyone has to perform, and they did a great job of doing that,” Joe Mazzulla said. “To me, that goes a long way into finding when guys can be able to help us regardless of the situation. So it’s a credit to them. I thought they handled it really well. That was good.”

Second, don’t let the 127-120 final score fool you – Thursday’s game was a blowout, and the fact that the Celtics finished the game on a 30-13 run (and still lost by seven) only served to make the box score plus/minus a little more darkly funny.

In fact, let’s take a look at the plus/minus

Jayson Tatum was -22. Luke Kornet was -20. Jaylen Brown was -15. Al Horford was -13. 

By way of comparison, Drew Peterson, Walsh and Queta were all +17. Pritchard and Hauser, who carried some of the stink of the starters with them, were -3 and +3 respectively. 

“Letting them get off to a big lead was tough to come back,” Brown said. “Obviously Klay Thompson played and shot the ball extremely well, but we got to be better. We got to be more physical, more aggressive. I started guarding Klay towards the third quarter, but it just seemed like everybody else kept getting it going. It just was a tough defensive night. We’re not making no excuses, but we’ve got to be better.”

The Mavericks’ side was amusing in its own way as well – Kyrie Irving finally won a game against the Celtics, but he finished even in the box score after spending most of the fourth quarter on the floor with the group that gave away most of the lead. Danté Exum was +29 and Thompson was +13, but Spencer Dinwiddie was -18 in a game the Mavericks won by seven. 

The Celtics missed a ton of layups in the first half

Mazzulla often calls out how damaging missed layups are defensively, and the Celtics proved his point on Thursday – their 8-for-18 performance on layups in the first half allowed the Mavericks to get out in transition repeatedly.

The culprits included their stars.

“A missed layup is just as dangerous as a live ball turnover because of the ability to get out in transition,” Mazzulla said. “So just a combination of Thompson getting hot, us not doing a great job on him, and then a combination of our 8-for-18 on layups, and the live-ball turnovers. So that played a part in it.”

The Celtics keep dropping their return-home games

The Celtics have now lost three straight games in their return home from an extended road trip. After a four-game trip west in early January, they were blown out 114-97 by the Kings on Jan. 10. Later that month, they fell to Houston 114-112 after going 3-1 on another road trip. Thursday’s game comes on the heels of a 3-0 road trip that included a 26-point comeback against the 76ers and an impressive win over the Cavaliers. Returning home can be something of a trap, since winning on the road requires so much concentration, and the Celtics can’t stop going after the peanut butter. 

“We’ve been struggling this year coming off long road trips, coming back home,” Pritchard said. “The first game at home. That’s something we’ve got to fix. I don’t know if it’s just the effort side of things or something.”

During their December and January slide, the Celtics often took one step forward and one step back, which was frustrating to watch. 

Over the last few weeks, they have been taking two or three steps forward in between steps back, which is undeniably progress. Still, the dance is less than ideal.

Kyrie Irving won one against the Celtics

Beating the Celtics in Game 4 of the NBA Finals helped Kyrie Irving snap a 13-game losing streak to his former team that stretched back to the series during which he stomped on the Celtics’ logo.

On Thursday, Irving claimed his first win in Boston since that fateful game.

“I’d be lying to you guys if I said I’m not aware of the record I have in this building since 2020 or 2021,” Irving conceded. “It’s more of a motivation factor for me than anything now because they’re the best of the best. They are the champions in our league until another champion is crowned. You know you want to play your absolute best against them, and they’re going to do everything in their power to stop me.

“I’ve said it in the past: We both feel they know my game well enough. They send a lot of double-teams at me, a lot of different reads that they force me in. But it only makes me better, and I’m just grateful, man. It’s what competitive basketball is about.”

Irving said that early in his career, it was difficult to get over losing his innocence in the business of basketball.

“My journey is not perfect, but I’ve been able to make sense of it – take accountability for my decisions and move forward with some great people around me and understand that I’m human too,” he said. “I’m going to make mistakes, but it’s not my place to judge or place my anger on anyone else. Take my accountability, go home, take care of my family. Look people in the eye when I’m talking to them and understand that they’re human too.”

Brown was not checking his phone on the bench

Before the game, Brad Stevens said the Celtics would likely look to add a wing next. They did so in the middle of the game, picking up Torrey Craig off the buyout market.

A reporter asked Brown about it after the game.

“This is news to me,” Brown said. “We signed Torrey Craig? This is my first time hearing about it. Obviously the front office is always trying to make some moves to make sure that we are putting ourselves in a good position. So I trust that.”

Both Brown and Pritchard said they would miss Jaden Springer after the defensive-minded guard was dealt to the Rockets to free up some cap space. Brown wished Springer the best, calling him his “little bro.”

“Jaden’s an unbelievable person,” Pritchard added. “We loved him as a teammate. But hopefully he gets his opportunity and he can showcase what he’s capable of doing in this league. He’s an unbelievable player, unbelievable defender. I think there’s definitely a place for him in this league.”

Stevens, meanwhile, said Springer knew he was on the trading block.

“He’s a really capable player, and he can probably play really well in a rotation in the NBA,” Stevens said. “But also he’s not going to play in this particular circumstance and we have a very limited opportunity to sign him after that, right? So those are all factors that you have to consider. And it stinks that we have to do that with regard to him, but he’ll be okay because he’s a bulldog. He’s a good player.”

Back on the road

The Celtics will now head out on the road for an 8:30 game at Madison Square Garden on Saturday on ABC. They will then head to Miami on Monday before playing their final game before the All-Star break on Wednesday back home against the Spurs. 

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