Boston Celtics – Dallas Mavericks · NBA

Win probability changed during the game. · 23 February 2021

BOS107–110DAL

Is it worth watching?

Highly recommended

It was more exciting than 80% of NBA games since 2017

· The win probability swung between the two teams 34 times
· It stayed close for almost the whole game

It measures how much the win probability moved during the game —without looking at who won or at the score— and compares it with the 10,950 NBA games with a curve since 2017. “Highly recommended” is the most intense 20%, “recommended” runs from 50% to 80%, and “skippable” is the rest. Source: ESPN.

↑ DAL winsBOS wins ↓

Home team's win probability across the game (source: ESPN). The band rises when DAL leads and falls when BOS does.

This is how the game was decided.

Luka Dončić decided it, the Dallas Mavericks player with the most points (31, with 10 rebounds and 8 assists; +5 with him on the floor); the winner's best plus-minus was Boban Marjanovic's (+13). The criterion: the winner's points in the box score; plus-minus says who was on the floor when the game opened up.

The game-winner in Dallas Mavericks 110-107 Boston Celtics (February 23, 2021) was hit by Luka Dončić: a three-pointer with 0.7 s left in the fourth quarter, putting the Dallas Mavericks up 110-107. They never trailed again.

The biggest run of Dallas Mavericks 110-107 Boston Celtics (February 23, 2021) was a 12-0 run by the Boston Celtics in the fourth quarter (from 2:58 to 37.6 s), from 93-104 to 105-104. The Dallas Mavericks' best was a 7-0 run in the third quarter (from 3:08 to 1:31), from 68-71 to 75-71.

▸See where these figures come from

Play: Luka Doncic makes 28-foot step back jumpshot.

I count as the game-winner the basket that puts the winning team ahead for good. Source: the official NBA play-by-play (since 2002-03) and each team's official box scores.

A run here is consecutive points by one team without the opponent scoring. Source: the official NBA play-by-play (since 2002-03) and each team's official box scores.

Source: the game's official box score and play-by-play.

Luka Dončić decided this game: his points put his team ahead with 0.7 seconds left in the fourth quarter, and the opponent never led again.

It is one of the 6 games he has decided this way in the NBA since the 2002-03 season.

His profile shows the games Dončić decided

▸See where these figures come from

A game is decided by the last basket that puts a team ahead in the final ten seconds of the fourth quarter or of an overtime, if that team wins.

23 February 2021 · The source is the ESPN play-by-play, play espn:401267645:617; the date is the one on the NBA box score.

Rotations · who was on the floor

Closing lineup · BOS

Brown · Tatum · Walker · Theis · Fall

Closing lineup · DAL

Finney-Smith · Doncic · Richardson · Marjanovic · Cauley-Stein

Q1Q2Q3Q4

BOS

Jaylen Brown

38′ · +3

Jayson Tatum

36′ · -6

Kemba Walker

33′ · +9

Daniel Theis

26′ · -2

Tristan Thompson

22′ · +6

Semi Ojeleye

24′ · -18

Payton Pritchard

19′ · -11

Aaron Nesmith

22′ · +5

Robert Williams III

14′ · -6

Grant Williams

7′ · +5

Tacko Fall

0′ · 0

DAL

Dorian Finney-Smith

39′ · +4

Luka Doncic

38′ · +5

Josh Richardson

30′ · -9

James Johnson

28′ · +4

Dwight Powell

11′ · -7

Tim Hardaway Jr.

25′ · +7

Jalen Brunson

30′ · +6

Boban Marjanovic

13′ · +13

Trey Burke

3′ · -4

Willie Cauley-Stein

24′ · -4

Each bar is a stint on the floor (source: NBA). The number is minutes played and the team's +/− with him on the court. BOS and DAL.

These lineups played the most minutes together.

Boston Celtics

Brown, Tatum, Theis, Thompson, and Walker played 12.8 minutes together.
Their team won that stretch by 5 points.
Ojeleye, Williams, Nesmith, Pritchard, and Walker played 4.6 minutes together.
Their team won that stretch by 1 point.
Brown, Ojeleye, Williams, Nesmith, and Walker played 4.1 minutes together.
Their team won that stretch by 2 points.

Dallas Mavericks

Richardson, Finney-Smith, Doncic, Johnson, and Powell played 8.6 minutes together.
Their team lost that stretch by 7 points.
Marjanovic, Finney-Smith, Brunson, Doncic, and Hardaway played 7.4 minutes together.
Their team won that stretch by 5 points.
Cauley-Stein, Richardson, Brunson, Johnson, and Hardaway played 6.5 minutes together.
Their team won that stretch by 3 points.

▸See every lineup of the game

Boston Celtics

Brown, Tatum, Theis, Nesmith, and Walker played 3.9 minutes together.
Their team won that stretch by 9 points.
Brown, Tatum, Ojeleye, Theis, and Pritchard played 3.2 minutes together.
Their team lost that stretch by 2 points.
Brown, Tatum, Williams, Pritchard, and Thompson played 3.0 minutes together.
Their team won that stretch by 4 points.
Brown, Ojeleye, Williams, Nesmith, and Pritchard played 2.6 minutes together.
Their team lost that stretch by 2 points.
Brown, Tatum, Williams, Thompson, and Walker played 2.5 minutes together.
Their team tied that stretch.
Tatum, Ojeleye, Theis, Nesmith, and Pritchard played 2.4 minutes together.
Their team lost that stretch by 6 points.
Brown, Tatum, Ojeleye, Thompson, and Walker played 1.4 minutes together.
Their team tied that stretch.
Brown, Ojeleye, Theis, Nesmith, and Pritchard played 1.1 minutes together.
Their team won that stretch by 2 points.
Tatum, Ojeleye, Theis, Nesmith, and Walker played 1.1 minutes together.
Their team lost that stretch by 1 point.

Dallas Mavericks

Cauley-Stein, Finney-Smith, Brunson, Doncic, and Johnson played 4.8 minutes together.
Their team won that stretch by 3 points.
Cauley-Stein, Richardson, Finney-Smith, Doncic, and Hardaway played 3.8 minutes together.
Their team lost that stretch by 2 points.
Cauley-Stein, Richardson, Finney-Smith, Doncic, and Johnson played 3.5 minutes together.
Their team lost that stretch by 1 point.
Marjanovic, Finney-Smith, Brunson, Doncic, and Johnson played 2.5 minutes together.
Their team won that stretch by 4 points.
Cauley-Stein, Richardson, Brunson, Hardaway, and Burke played 2.5 minutes together.
Their team lost that stretch by 4 points.
Cauley-Stein, Finney-Smith, Brunson, Doncic, and Hardaway played 2.2 minutes together.
Their team lost that stretch by 2 points.
Richardson, Marjanovic, Finney-Smith, Brunson, and Doncic played 1.8 minutes together.
Their team tied that stretch.

▸See where these figures come from

The lineups come from the NBA's official rotation: who was on the floor and when. Each lineup's plus-minus is worked out from every player's stints and is only shown when they all add up with each other and with the final score.

Dorian Finney-Smith covered 4.71 km, more than anyone in the game.

Luka Dončić touched the ball 104 times, a game high.
Luka Dončić made 69 passes, a game high.
Tristan Thompson defended 8 shots at the rim, a game high, and opponents made 4.
Tristan Thompson had 20 rebound chances, a game high.

▸See what was measured for each player

Boston Celtics

Player	km	km/h	Touches	Passes
Jaylen Brown	4.34	6.4	56	31
Kemba Walker	4.05	6.7	71	51
Jayson Tatum	4.04	6.2	76	41
Daniel Theis	3.14	6.6	30	25
Semi Ojeleye	2.98	6.9	30	26
Aaron Nesmith	2.75	6.8	17	16
Tristan Thompson	2.46	6.3	31	23
Payton Pritchard	2.43	7.2	44	33
Robert Williams III	1.58	6.4	16	11
Grant Williams	0.82	6.8	9	7

Dallas Mavericks

Player	km	km/h	Touches	Passes
Dorian Finney-Smith	4.71	6.7	36	30
Luka Dončić	4.15	6.0	104	69
Jalen Brunson	3.72	6.8	51	35
Josh Richardson	3.43	6.4	45	30
James Johnson	3.35	6.6	27

The figures come from the NBA's optical tracking (NBA.com) for this game; speed is each player's average while on the floor.

Who stood out on defense during the season

These figures cover the whole 2020-21 regular season, not this game.

Boston Celtics

Kemba Walker drew 0.51 charges per game over his 43 games.
He ranks 1 of 364 in the league.
Jaylen Brown recovered 1.1 loose balls per game over his 58 games.
He ranks 20 of 364 in the league.
Daniel Theis contested 9.2 shots per game over his 65 games.
He ranks 25 of 364 in the league.

Dallas Mavericks

Tim Hardaway Jr. drew 0.24 charges per game over his 70 games.
He ranks 16 of 364 in the league.
Luka Dončić recovered 1.1 loose balls per game over his 66 games.
He ranks 20 of 364 in the league.
Jalen Brunson drew 0.16 charges per game over his 68 games.
He ranks 34 of 364 in the league.

Hustle figures come from the hustle stats the NBA publishes (NBA.com) and rim defense comes from its tracking; both cover the regular season. For each player in this game we show the figure that ranks him highest in the league, and for each team, the three best ranked. Ranks count players with at least 30 games and, at the rim, at least 4 defended shots per game.

The Dallas Mavericks have won 42 of their 95 games against the Boston Celtics.

42-53record of the Dallas Mavericks · NBA 1980-81 – 2025-26, regular season and playoffs

0-2in 2025-26

See the full head-to-head in the Analyst

See where it comes from

Official NBA box scores, regular season and playoffs, 1980-81 – 2025-26. It counts every game between the two teams that the house holds, this one included.

SportiveWorld knows much more about this game

Game context

Attendance

3338

17.4% of capacity

American Airlines Center · Dallas

Scoring

217

combined points

7.2 below the season average (224.2)

⚖️ The last two minutes

Official NBA L2M report: every call in the endgame, reviewed by the league.

9 calls reviewed0 no admitted errors