at 
Dallas Mavericks (7-6)  at  Boston Celtics (10-2)
Sunday, November 15, 2026
6:00 PM EST
Regular Season Game #13 Home Game #7
TV: NBCSB, KFAA29, NBA League Pass
Radio: 98.5 Sports Hub, 105.3 The Fan, Sirius XM
TD Garden


Probable Starting Matchups
Point Guard
vs
Derrick White vs Kyrie Irving

Shooting Guard
vs
Jordan Walsh vs Cooper Flagg

Small Forward
vs
Paul George vs Caleb Martin

Power Forward
vs
Jayson Tatum vs  PJ Washington

Center
vs
Neemias Queta  vs Daniel Gafford

Celtics Reserves
Chris Cenac, Jr
Mike Conley, Jr
Luka Garza
Hugo Gonzalez
Ron Harper, Jr
Sam Hauser
Payton Pritchard
Mitchell Robinson
Baylor Scheierman

Two Way Players
Devin Carter
Dillon Mitchell
Amari Williams

Injuries/Out
None Listed

Head Coach
Joe Mazzulla

Mavericks Reserves
Santi Aldama
Moussa Cisse
Morez Johnson, Jr
Naji Marshall
Zaccharie Risacher
Marcus Sasser

2-Way Players
Walter Clayton, Jr
Jett Howard
Tobi Lawal

Injuries/Out
Tarik Biberovic (heel) out
Sergio Delarrea (knee)  out
Dereck Lively II (foot)  out
Max Christie (ankle) questionable

Head Coach
Dusty May 

Game Notes
The Celtics return home from a 4-0 road trip to take on the Dallas Mavericks.  This is the first of 2 meetings between these 2 teams this season.  They will play in Dallas on November 30.  The Celtics won the series 2-0 last season.  They are 49-41 overall all time against the Mavericks and they are 28-17 all time in games played in Boston. 

Dallas is playing in the second of back to back games, having lost at Cleveland on Saturday.  The Celtics are playing in the first of back to back games. They will host Orlando on Monday.  This is already their 4th back to back set of 16 this season.  They are 3-0 in the first of back to back games so far.  The Celtics have 2 more back to back sets left in the month of November. 

The Celtics are 1st in the East, half a game ahead of 2nd place Philadelphia and 1.5 games ahead of 3rd place Detroit.  They are 5-0 at home and 9-1 in their last 10 games.  This is their first game against a Western Conference team.  They have won their last 5 games.  The Mavericks are 10th in the West.  They are 2-4 on the road and 6-4 in their last 10 games.  They are 4-1 against Eastern Conference teams and have lost their last 2 games. 

The Mavericks made several moves in the off season, starting with hiring Masai Ujiri to replace Nico Harrison, who sealed his fate when he traded Luka Doncic for Anthony Davis.  They also replaced Jason Kidd with Dusty May as coach.  They added Zaccharie Risacher, Santi Aldama, Marcus Sasser, and Tarik Biberovic.   They drafted Morez Johnson with the 9th pick in the draft and Sertio DeLarrea with the 25th pick.  They Klay Thompson, Khris Middleton, Ryan Nembhard, Marvin Bagley III, and Dwight Powell. 

After this game, the Celtics will host Orlando before a West coast trip that takes them through Denver, Sacramento, Golden State, and Washington. They then play one game at home against Atlanta before playing at San Antonio and Dallas. Then it's home against Charlotte before a game at Brooklyn.  Next they have a 7 game home stand against Washington twice, Utah, Detroit, Portland, Miami and Cleveland.

After this game, Dallas will return home to host Golden State and the LA Clippers before a road trip through Utah, Denver, and Phoenix.  Then they will host Boston, Orlando and Milwaukee before playing at Brooklyn and Philadelphia.  Then it's one game at home against Chicago before games at Golden State and Sacramento. 

Predicting the Celtics starting lineup for any game is tough. The Celtics have been changing the 5th starter on a regular basis and there is no telling who they will start from game to game.  I've listed the most used starting lineup for them but it may change. I personally would like to see Baylor Scheierman start in place of Jordan Walsh.  For the Mavericks, I've listed their regular starting lineup of Irving, Flagg, Martin, Washington and Gafford, although they may rest a player or two on the second night of back to back games. 
 
At this time, the Celtics have no one on the injury report, but it's possible they may rest a player due to playing in back to back games.   The Mavericks have 4 players on the injury list at this time.  Tarik Biberrovic is out with right heel bursitis.  Sergio DeLarrea is out with a right knee sprain.  Dereck Lively II is out due to foot surgery.  Max Christie is questionable due to an ankle sprain.  They may also rest a player on the second night of back to back games.

Key Matchups
vs
Jordan Walsh vs Cooper Flagg
Flagg is playing very well to start his sophomore season.  He is averaging 24.6 points, 6.9 rebounds, 6.5 assists and 2.2 steals per game.  He is shooting 49.5% from the field and 30.0% from beyond the arc.  The Celtics need to defend him well and avoid giving him open shots.  The Celtics also have to be aware of his defense as he is very good at deflecting the ball and getting steals. 

vs
Derrick White vs Kyrie Irving
After missing all of last season, Kyrie Irving is back and playing very well.  He is averaging 21.6 points, 3.2 rebounds,4.3 assists and 1.1 steals per game.  He is shooting 47.9% from the field and 39.0% from beyond the arc.  He has long carried a grudge against the Celtics, even going so far as to stomp on the logo after a game at the Garden and so always gives his best effort to try to beat them. 

Honorable Mention
Jayson Tatum vs PJ Washington, Jr
Washington is averaging 14.3 points, 7.3 rebounds, and 1.1 assists per game.  He is shooting 41.8% from the field and 35.1% from beyond the arc.  The Celtics need to keep him out of the paint and off the boards.  They also need to avoid leaving him open on the perimeter. 

Keys to the Game
Defense - Defense is always the number one key to winning games. There is no truer statement than "Defense wins Championships."  The Mavs have an offensive rating of 112.5 (16th) while the Celtics have an offensive rating of 117.4 (6th).   The Mavs are 12th with a defensive rating of 111.7 while the Celtics are 2nd with a defensive rating of 105.6.  When the Celtics struggle on offense, as they sometimes do,  they have to be able to stop the other team from scoring.   The Celtics especially need to defend the paint as the Mavericks average 48.3 points in the paint per game.  The Celtics have to continue to make defense their identity. 

Rebound - Second to defense, rebounding is the key to winning. One of the few times I have agreed with Pat Riley was when he said "No rebounds, no rings."   The Celtics are averaging 44.8 rebounds per game (8th) while the Mavs are averaging 44.0 rebounds per game (15th).  The Mavs are 6th with 16.5 second chance points per game.  The Celtics need to put out extra effort on the boards to keep the Mavs from getting extra possessions and second chance points and to give the same to themselves.

Be Aggressive - The Celtics must be the more aggressive team. They have to be more aggressive in going to the basket, in diving for loose balls, and on defense. They have to aggressively crash the boards. They have to be the team that wants to win the game more.  They absolutely can't let the Mavericks play harder than them if they want to win this game. Hard work beats talent when talent doesn?t work hard and when talent works hard, they are very hard to beat. 

Move the Ball Carefully - The Celtics are at their best when the ball moves and they make the extra pass. When the ball sticks and players try to do too much, the Celtics struggle.  But they have to make careful passes and not get sloppy because the Mavericks average 18.4 points off turnovers and 17.2 fast break points per game.  The Celtics need to be careful with their passes and ball handling because if they aren't the Mavericks will make them pay.   

X-Factors
At Home and Rest -  The Mavericks will be on the road and playing on the second night of back to back games. They will have the distractions of travel and playing in front of a mostly hostile crowd,although I expect a lot of cheers for hometown Cooper Flagg.  Fatigue could be a factor for the Mavs while the Celtics have had 3 days off and should be well rested.  The Celtics need to get motivation from the home crowd and defend their home court with energy and effort. 

Officiating - Officiating is always an x-factor in every game. Every crew officiates differently. Some call it tight, others let them play. The Celtics need to adjust to how the refs are calling the game and not allow bad calls or no calls to take away their focus from playing the game. Officiating - Officiating is always an x-factor in every game. Every crew officiates differently. Some call it tight, others let them play. The Celtics need to adjust to how the refs are calling the game and not allow bad calls or no calls to take away their focus from playing the game.  They did a good job of overcoming a 28-5 free throw disadvantage against the 76ers.  The Celtics also have to be aware of the new points of emphasis for this season and try to avoid flopping, off‑arm push‑offs, reckless closeouts, delays before free throws, and illegal screens. They have been calling all of these and so the Celtics need to make a conscious attempt to avoid them.