The Celtics got their third straight win on Tuesday night, beating the Mavericks 110-100. Jaylen Brown’s 33 points led the way with Payton Pritchard’s 26 points and Luka Garza’s 16 points off of the bench.
The Celtics were without Jayson Tatum, Chris Boucher and (technically) Anfernee Simons — the trade with Chicago has yet to be finalized, so Simons is still on the roster. They started Derrick White, Baylor Scheierman, Sam Hauser, Jaylen Brown and Neemias Queta. Payton Pritchard came off of the bench for the first time this season as the Celtics are now down a guard due to the trade. Dallas started Max Christie, Cooper Flagg, Naji Marshall, Caleb Martin and Daniel Gafford. They had a lengthy injury report; Anthony Davis, Kyrie Irving, P.J. Washington, Dereck Lively II, D’Angelo Russell, Brandon Williams and Dante Exum all missed the game for Dallas.
The Celtics got off to a 7-2 start but Dallas quickly took it back with an 8-0 run of their own. It was a hot start for Jaylen Brown. He scored 12 of the first 15 Celtics points, going 5/8 from the field and 2/2 from three.
The Celtics led 32-29 after the first quarter, thanks to another Payton Pritchard buzzer beater.
No surprises here, another Payton Pritchard buzzer beater!
— NBA on NBC and Peacock (@NBAonNBC) February 4, 2026
📺 NBC (ET/CT/Select MT) and Peacock pic.twitter.com/XwBaoNc19b
Brown led the team with 15 points while Payton gave the team 8 points on 4/5 shooting off the bench.
The Celtics created a little separation in the 2nd quarter. A 18-5 start and an 11-0 put Boston up 16, 50-34. However, back-to-back Dallas baskets including a wide open layup had Joe Mazzulla calling a timeout.
Dallas closed the quarter with 10-2 run to cut Boston’s 16-point lead in half by halftime. The Celtics led 52-44, Brown had 17 points while Pritchard had 15 points off of the bench. For the Mavericks, Caleb Martin had 11 points in the first half (because of course he did).
This is Caleb Martin's fourth double-digit scoring performance in 43 games played this season.
— Jay King (@ByJayKing) February 4, 2026
We will never have peace from this man.
It was also a dominate 2nd quarter for the Celtics defense.
The Celtics held the Mavericks to 8/21 shooting with 15 points in the second quarter.
— Gio Rivera (@GioJRivera) February 4, 2026
The Mavericks kept pushing in the third quarter, but the Cs did a good job at keeping Dallas at an arm’s length with Luka Garza’s back-to-back threes. Then, the Celtics put together an 8-0 run to extend the lead to 19.
The Celtics led the Mavs 86-67 at the end of three quarters. Luka Garza was great; he had 16 points while going 4/4 from three, including 3 in the third quarter. JB led the team in scoring with 25 points.
Boston ballooned the lead to 23 points but Dallas fought back with a 15-5 run to cut the Celtics lead to 13. However, Sam Hauser hit a big three to settle everyone down and got the lead back to 16.
Dallas tried to make a real push to get back in the game, but 8 straight Jaylen Brown points kept them at a distance.
Great close by Jaylen. #1 stuff
— Dan Greenberg (@StoolGreenie) February 4, 2026
The Celtics won the game, advancing to 32-18 on the season. They shot 49% from the field and 33% from three while the Mavericks shot 42% from the field and 28% from three. The Celtics next game is tomorrow night at 8 EST in Houston.
