DALLAS. Jaylen Brown scored 33 points and grabbed 11 rebounds to lead the Boston Celtics to a 110-100 victory over the Dallas Mavericks, in a game marked by another outstanding performance from Cooper Flagg that proved insufficient to prevent the home team's defeat.
Boston took control of the game after an even start. The Celtics never trailed on the scoreboard again after Brown hit a three-pointer to tie the game midway through the first quarter and repeated from beyond the arc on the next possession. From that point on, the visiting team steadily built its lead, also supported by the accuracy of Payton Pritchard, who added 15 points in the first half on 7-of-10 shooting from the field.
The third quarter proved decisive. During that stretch, Luka Garza strung together nine consecutive points from three-point range during a 14-4 run that closed the period and pushed Boston to 86-67. Garza made all four of his three-point attempts and finished the game with 16 points in 20 minutes, helping the visiting team's lead expand to 23 points in the second half.
Dallas found its primary offensive reference in Flagg. The No. 1 pick in the last draft scored 36 points, along with nine rebounds and six assists, in his first matchup against the team he grew up following. With that performance, the 19-year-old became the first teenager to record three consecutive games with 30 or more points, just five nights after setting the scoring record for a player under 20 years old.
On the home side, Daniel Gafford contributed 10 points and 12 rebounds despite aggravating a right ankle injury that had already sidelined him for 16 games this season, forcing him to leave in the second quarter before returning after halftime. Caleb Martin added 13 points, 11 of them before the break.
Boston played the game without Anfernee Simons, after completing a trade with Chicago hours earlier that brought Nikola Vučević to the franchise, a deal announced the same day as the game.
The loss marked Dallas's fifth consecutive defeat, the worst streak of the season for the Mavericks, while Boston maintained its winning trajectory supported by Brown's leadership and the depth of its rotation.
The Celtics imposed their pace from the first quarter, built a lead after halftime, and withstood Cooper Flagg's individual push to secure a solid victory in Dallas.