Feb. 24 (UPI) — Luka Doncic rose over two defenders and drained a deep 3-pointer with less than a second remaining to lead his Dallas Mavericks to a dramatic win over the Boston Celtics Tuesday night.
Doncic scored a game-high 31 points and had 10 rebounds and eight assists in the 110-107 win at the American Airlines Center in Dallas.
“I was just tired after running around the whole possession, but [the last shot] got in, so that’s all that matters,” Doncic told reporters after the game.
The game featured 25 lead changes and the Mavericks led by 11 points with 3:12 remaining. Dallas was able to hold off a furious Boston comeback with the help of two Doncic 3-pointers in the final 10 seconds.
“I love the way we kept our poise, hung in there and made sure we got the ball in the right guy’s hands at the end,” Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle told reporters.
Celtics guard Kemba Walker closed the gap with a 3-pointer and a free throw and Jayson Tatum hit another three to close the deficit to 104-100 with 2:32 left. Walker hit another 3-pointer and Jaylen Brown scored to give the Celtics a 105-104 lead with 37.6 seconds to go.
Doncic answered the 12-0 Boston run with a sensational step-back 3-pointer. The Mavericks star dribbled above the right side of the 3-point arc, made a crossover dribble as he faced Celtics defender Daniel Theis, did another crossover to throw Theis off-balance and hit the shot to give the Mavs a 107-105 lead with 15.3 seconds left.
Brown answered with a layup on the other end for Boston, but Doncic had yet another response. The All-Star forward dribbled past half court and drew two defenders on the left side of the arc, picked up his dribble and sidestepped to his left. Doncic then elevated and sunk the attempt to give the Mavericks the final advantage.
“Sometimes two people defend me and I have to pass it,” Doncic said. “Sometimes you are going to miss it and sometimes you are going to make it.”
Doncic scored 11 points in the first 12 minutes of the game and Josh Richardson chipped in 12 points for Dallas in the second quarter, but Boston led 56-55 at the break. The Mavericks outscored the Celtics 25-20 in the third quarter and took an 80-76 lead into the final frame.
Boston outscored Dallas 31-30 over the final 12 minutes, but could not overcome Doncic’s heroics.
Brown scored a team-high 29 points for the Celtics, Tatum had 28 and Walker chipped in 29.
Jalen Brunson scored 22 points for the Mavericks, Richardson 16 and Tim Hardaway Jr. scored 14 points off the Mavericks bench.
The Mavericks (15-15) next face the Philadelphia 76ers at 7 p.m. EST Thursday at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia and the Celtics (15-16) travel to play the Atlanta Hawks at 7:30 p.m. EST Wednesday at State Farm Arena in Atlanta.