Celtics school Mavs for 10th straight NBA win
LOS ANGELES, United States -- The Boston Celtics, fueled by 32 points from Jayson Tatum and 21 three-pointers, withstood a 37-point triple-double from Luka Doncic to beat the Dallas Mavericks 138-110 on Friday (Saturday, Manila time) and push their NBA winning streak to 10 games.
Tatum took awhile to warm up, missing all four of his shots in the first quarter, but the All-Star forward scored 16 in the third quarter as the Celtics seized control.
Down by seven at halftime, the Mavs pulled within two points midway through the third.
But Jaylen Brown and Tatum connected on back-to-back three-pointers and the Celtics pulled relentlessly away.
Brown scored 25 points and Kristaps Porzingis, who carried the early offensive load, added 24 as seven Boston players scored in double figures.
They simply overwhelmed the Mavs, despite Doncic's 12th triple-double of the season. Doncic added 12 rebounds and 11 assists and Kyrie Irving scored 19 points despite connecting on just nine of 23 shot attempts.
"In simple terms, we have a really good team," Tatum said after the league-leading Celtics became the first team this season to win 10 straight.
"Every night is going to look a little bit different. As long as we continue to build good habits and win, it's all going to work itself out."
- Road Warriors -
The Golden State Warriors shook off a travel nightmare to push their road winning streak to eight games with a 120-105 victory over the Raptors in Toronto.
Stephen Curry scored 25 points and Jonathan Kuminga added 24 for the Warriors, who found themselves delayed six hours at the airport after their victory over the New York Knicks on Thursday night.
Trailing by three at halftime, the Warriors pulled away after the break. Klay Thompson, back in the starting lineup, scored all 14 of his points in the second half.
"Fantastic win," said Warriors coach Steve Kerr, who had taken his team to task after watching them sleepwalk through the opening minutes.
He said he hated playing the heavy but felt he had to try to wake them up.
"Last night was brutal -- that's the worst travel circumstances I've ever been involved in in the NBA," Kerr said.
R.J. Barrett led Toronto's scoring with 23
