Boston Celtics star Jaylen Brown called Thursday’s game against the Dallas Mavericks the “perfect time” to get back on track after back-to-back losses to begin a four-game road trip.
After allowing 123 points and then a season-high 150 in their last two games, the Celtics look to recover against reigning Western Conference Player of the Month Luka Doncic as a four-game road trip continues at Dallas.
It will be no easy feat with Dallas on a seven-game winning streak, trailing only Brooklyn’s 12-game run for the longest active streak in the NBA, heading into Wednesday’s play.
The Mavs have been off since a 111-106 victory Monday at Houston when they overcame an 18-point deficit in the third quarter as Doncic finished with 39 points, 12 rebounds and eight assists.
The winning streak is the Mavericks’ longest since their 2011 championship season, when current head coach Jason Kidd was the team’s point guard.
Dallas has defeated Houston three times during the streak, which dates back to Dec. 21.
Doncic is the first NBA player to record at least 225 points, 50 rebounds and 50 assists over a five-game stretch.
Additionally, Mavs center Christian Wood has averaged 20.9 points and 8.6 rebounds over his last 10 games. He has blocked at least two shots in all but one of those contests.
Even without Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (illness), Oklahoma City became just the third team to score 150 points against the Celtics in franchise history, as Boston fell 150-117 on Tuesday.
That mindset is especially true when holding the NBA’s best record, which the Celtics still did on Wednesday despite losing consecutive games for the third time since the start of December.
On Tuesday, Brown scored a game-high 29 points and Jayson Tatum had 27, but the Celtics were no match as the Thunder had seven double-figure scorers, hit 20 3-pointers and shot 59.2 percent from the floor.
The Celtics will attempt to sweep the season series from Dallas, which was the No. 4 team in the West as of Wednesday.
Boston’s 125-112 home win over Dallas on Nov. 23 snapped a four-game skid in the head-to-head series. Including that streak, the Celtics are 8-5 over the last 13 meetings.
