Boston Celtics (31-18) at Dallas Mavericks (19-30) Tuesday, February 3, 2026 8:00 PM EST Regular Season Game #50 Road Game #26 TV: Peacock/NBC, NBCSB, Mavs TV Radio: 98.5 Sports Hub, 97.1 FM, Sirius XM
American Airlines Center
The Celtics begin a 2 game back to back road trip with a stop in Dallas to take on the Mavericks. This is the first of 2 games between these two teams this season. They will meet for a second time in Boston on March 6. The series was tied 1-1 last season with each team winning on the road. The Celtics are 47-41 overall all time against the Mavericks and they are 20-24 in games played in Dallas.
The Mavericks didn’t make many changes in the off season after making a big spash with the Luka Doncic for Anthony Davis trade a year ago. They signed D’Angelo Russell in the off season. They also won the draft lottery an chose Cooper Flagg with the first pick in the draft. In November, they fired GM Nico Harrison and hired Derek Harper in his place.
The Celtics are 3rd in the East, 5.5 games behind 1st place Detroit. They are tied with 2nd place New York, 2 games ahead of 4th place Toronto and 5th place Cleveland, 3.5 games ahead of 6th place Philadelphia and 5 games ahead of 7th place Miami. The Celtics are 9-6 against Western Conference opponents. They are 15-10 on the road and 7-3 in their last 10 games. They have won their last 2 games.
The Mavericks are 11th in the West, 19.5 games behind first place OKC, 10 games behind 6th place Los Angeles Lakers, and 7th place Phoenix, 7.5 games behind 8th place Golden State, 4.5 games behind 9th place Los Angeles Clippers, 3.5 games behind 10th place Portland, and tied with 12th place Memphis. They are 8-9 against Eastern Conference opponents, They are 14-14 at home and 5-5 in their last 10 games. They have lost their last 4 games.
The Celtics begin a 2 game road trip with a game at Dallas and then play back to back games as they face Houston on Wednesday. After this trip they will host Miami, New York, and Chicago for a 3 game home stand, which will take them into the All Star Break. After the break, they will head out on a 4 game Western road trip through Golden State, Los Angeles Lakers, Phoenix, and Denver.
The Mavericks begin a 2 game home stand with this game against the Celtics. They will host San Antonio on Thursday. They will then head out on a 6 game road trip that will be interrupted by the All Star break. They will play at San Antonio, Phoenix, and the LA Clippers before the All Star break and then compete the trip at Minnesota, Indiana, and Brooklyn after the break.
For the Celtics, only Jayson Tatum (Achilles) is on the injury report at this time. The Mavericks have been hard hit with injuries and have 5 players out with one questionable. Anthony Davis (finger), Dante Exum (knee), Kyrie Irving (knee), Dereck Lively II (foot) and PJ Washington (head) are all listed as out. Brandon Williams (leg) is questionable and will be a game time decision.
The Celtics have traded guard Anfernee Simons to the Chicago Bulls in exchange for center Nikola Vucevic. So, neither will likely be available for this game. Also Chris Boucher was a late scratch due to personal reasons.
Probable Starting Matchups
PG: Derrick White vs Max Christie
SG: Payton Pritchard vs Naji Marshall
SF: Jaylen Brown vs Cooper Flagg
PF: Sam Hauser vs Caleb Martin
C: Neemias Queta vs Daniel Gafford
Celtics Reserves
Hugo Gonzalez
Xavier Tillman
Josh Minott
Jordan Walsh
Luka Garza
2-Way Players
Ron Harper, Jr
Max Shulga
Amari Williams
Injuries/Out
Jayson Tatum (Achilles) out
Chris Boucher (personal) out
Nikola Vucevic (trade) out
Head Coach
Joe Mazzulla
Mavericks Reserves
Jaden Hardy
Dwight Powell
D’Angelo Russell
Klay Thompson
2-Way Players
Moussa Cisse
Miles Kelly
Ryan Nembhard
Injuries/Out
Anthony Davis (finger) out
Dante Exum (knee) out
Kyrie Irving (knee) out
Dereck Lively II (foot) out
PJ Washington (head) out
Brandon Williams (leg) questionable
Head Coach
Jason Kidd
Key Matchups
Jaylen Brown vs Cooper Flagg
Flagg is averaging 19.8 points, 6.6 rebounds, 4.1 assists and 1.2 steals per game. He is shooting 48.4% from the field and 28.9% from beyond the arc. In his last 2 games he had 34 points and 12 rebounds on Saturday after finishing with 49 points and 10 rebounds on Thursday.
Payton Pritchard vs Naji Marshall
Marshall is averaging 14.6 points, 5.0 rebounds, 2.9 assists and 1.0 steal per game while shooting 53.8% from the field and 30.4% from beyond the arc. He has a height advantage at 6’7″ and will look to exploit that in this matchup.
Honorable Mention
Neemias Queta vs Daniel Gafford
Gafford is averaging 8 points 6.4 rebounds, and 1.2 blocks per game. He is shooting 62.6% from the field with no 3 pointers. He is coming off a game against Houston where he had 16 points and 11 rebounds. He has had some big games against the Celtics in the past. The Celtics need to keep him out of the paint and off the boards.
Keys to the Game
Defense – Defense is always the number one key to winning games. There is no truer statement than “Defense wins Championships.” The Mavs have an offensive rating of 110.3 (27th) while the Celtics have an offensive rating of 120.7 (2nd). The Mavs are 10th with a defensive rating of 112.6 while the Celtics are 11th with a defensive rating of 113.1. When the Celtics struggle on offense, as they have in some recent games, they have to be able to stop the other team from scoring. The Celtics especially need to defend the paint as the Mavericks average 53.7 points in the paint per game (4th).
Rebound – Second to defense, rebounding is the key to winning. One of the few times I have agreed with Pat Riley was when he said “No rebounds, no rings.” The Celtics are averaging 45.0 rebounds per game (11th) while the Mavs are averaging 45.1 rebounds per game (10th). The Celtics need to put out extra effort on the boards to keep the Mavs from getting extra possessions and second chance points and to give the same to themselves.
Don’t Underestimate – Once again, the Celtics are facing a team that is under .500 and missing several key players. It would be easy for the Celtics to underestimate the Mavericks and expect an easy win against them. If the Celtics don’t play with effort and focus, any team can beat them. The Celtics have to come out strong from the start and play hard right up until the final buzzer. The Mavs are very capable of beating them if they don’t play their best.
Be Aggressive – The Celtics must be the more aggressive team. They have to be aggressive in going to the basket, in diving for loose balls, and on defense. They have to aggressively crash the boards. They have to be the team that wants to win the game more. In most of their losses, they have allowed their opponents to play harder and be more aggressive. They absolutely can’t let the Mavericks play harder than them if they want to win this game.
X-Factors
On the Road – The Celtics are playing in the first of back to back games on the road. They need to keep their focus on playing the right way and not let the distractions of the road take away that focus. The Mavericks, especially the role players, are likely to play better on their home court and in front of their fans. The Celtics need to dig down deep and match the energy of the Mavs and play Celtics basketball on the road.
Officiating – The officiating can always be an x-factor. Every crew calls the game a little differently and teams need to adjust to how the game is being called. Will they call the game tight or will they let them play? The Celtics can’t let the officiating take away their focus and they have to adjust to the way the refs are calling it. The Celtics need to play hard and build a lead and not allow the refs to take the game away on some bad calls at the end.
