The Dallas Mavericks are closing their five-game road trip against the Boston Celtics on Thursday night, and both teams look a little different since the last time these teams met just 12 days ago in Dallas. Luka Doncic, Maxi Kleber, Quentin Grimes, and Markieff Morris are gone; Anthony Davis, Max Christie, and Caleb Martin are in. Jaden Springer is also gone from the Celtics, but he didn’t play much for them.
It’s hard to call it an NBA Finals rematch when Doncic isn’t even on the Mavericks anymore, and Anthony Davis is. And it’s hard to say that Mavericks fans will be as invested in this game as they were two weeks ago. That’s what trading a city icon does to a fanbase.
Dallas is on a three-game losing streak, most recently dropping a heartbreaker to the Philadelphia 76ers on Tuesday night, as Joel Embiid returned after missing a month to put up a 29-point triple-double, and Tyrese Maxey had 33 points. That helped them overcome 34 points from Kyrie Irving and five other Mavs scoring in double-figures. Anthony Davis could be making his Mavericks debut on Thursday night, which would help them out tremendously.
Boston is on a four-game winning streak, most recently beating the Cleveland Cavaliers on the road Tuesday night in what could be an Eastern Conference Finals preview. Derrick White shooting 6/12 from deep carried them to that win, and he’s shooting 46.8% from three-point range in his last five games. The Celtics are bombing away from three, something Dallas has not been well-equipped to handle recently.
Dallas has lost five straight games in Boston, including all three matchups of the NBA Finals last season. And Kyrie Irving has historically not played well in Boston since leaving there a few years ago.
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