NBA: Ice-cold Dallas Mavericks lose to New York Knicks

The Dallas Mavericks suffered a painful defeat against feared opponents the New York Knicks. Jayson Tatum and Giannis Antetokounmpo are outstanding for their teams and the Phoenix Suns are already qualified for the playoffs after a convincing performance in the big game in Miami.

Charlotte Hornets (32-35) – Boston Celtics (40-27) 101:115 (BOXSCORE)

• The Hornets are still in free fall and must slowly tremble for the play-in if they continue to play like this. Boston didn’t play a good game by any means, but ultimately clinched a comfortable victory. This was mainly due to another gala by Jayson Tatum, who could do whatever he wanted. In the end there were 44 points (16/24 FG, 6/9 threes, 6/6 FT, 5 rebounds, 3 steals).
• In the middle of the third quarter, the hosts were still leading in this game after the bench around ex-Celtic Isaiah Thomas had forgotten the weak start. LaMelo Ball spent much of the game on the bench and only managed 15 points in 28 minutes. Boston looked lethargic, which was particularly evident from Jaylen Brown (15, 6/16), who was invisible for the first 30 minutes.
• But then the forward woke up and started the turnaround with seven quick points. Between the third and fourth periods, the Celtics managed a 14-0 run for a good two minutes – with the friendly support of stupid fouls from Montrezl Harrell (10, 7 boards) and Kelly Oubre Jr. (9) – after that it was for the Hornets the air out. Tatum sank four more triples in the final section and had 28 points in the second half alone.
• Six players scored in double digits for Boston, including Marcus Smart (12, 9 assists), Rob Williams (11, 11 rebounds) and Al Horford (10, 10 boards). For the Hornets, PJ Washington (17) was the top scorer while Miles Bridges (17, 5/14) and Terry Rozier (14, 5/17) trailed behind. Daniel Theis only played 4:39 minutes for the Celtics and had 2 points, 1 rebound, 1 assist and 1 block.