The Boston Celtics defeated the Dallas Mavericks on Wednesday night, 125-112 in front of the home TD Garden crowd. The Celtics opened up a 27-point lead early in the second half, only to watch the Mavs cut it to nine in the 4th quarter. However, Jayson Tatum helped put the game away with a stellar effort.
Tatum finished with 37 points, 13 rebounds, five assists and two steals in the win. Afterwards, Ringer founder Bill Simmons had a message for Luka Doncic that Mavs fans won't be happy with.
“Congrats to Luka for the 42-9-8 but Tatum was the best player in that game,” Simmons tweeted.
Doncic led all scorers with 42 points to go with nine assists and eight rebounds. Luka was incredibly efficient too, hitting 17 of 28 shots from the field. He did however miss four free throws (5-for-9) and turned the ball over five times. Whereas, Tatum had only two turnovers and hit 13-for-15 from the charity stripe. Doncic essentially got the Mavs back into the game, but Tatum helped put the game away with momentum-changing plays.




You can argue that Luka Doncic and Jayson Tatum are the two front runners for NBA MVP early on this season. Of course, Warriors fans will push back with Stephen Curry, who is also having an incredible season.
But unlike the Mavs and Warriors, the Celtics are not struggling to stay above .500. Boston has the best record in the NBA at 14-4. They have the league's most efficient offense, led by Tatum who is having a career year.