According to recent confirmation, Jayson Tatum is the most emaciated person….

their footing. They’ve suffered some heartbreaking losses (the Cavaliers being one of them), but they’ve also triumphed admirably over the Suns and Thunder. They will now face the Boston Celtics, the nine-time champions and favourites to win the championship, in a real stress test.

The fifth through ninth seeds are only three games apart, so things in the West aren’t getting any easier. Dallas would be in the middle of things as they attempt to escape the play-in game and make the playoffs, and defeating the Celtics would likely be their most stunning performance of the year.

The possibility

The Lakers dealt the Celtics their most recent defeat. In a game when LA shot 19 of 36 from three (52.8%) while Boston shot just 33.3% from three and 42.3% from the field, it was only Boston’s third home loss of the season (22 and 3). In other words. Dallas needs to play well both when they are playing the Celtics and when they are playing for them.

Boston is now fourth in the NBA with a season three-point percentage of 38.2%. That figure falls all the way to 31.4% in losses. When Boston’s shots aren’t falling, they’re really not falling—they have the lowest shot % in losses of any team in the league.

Having “get” could feel like a cop-out.

There isn’t much to unearth if one looks for a spot where Boston may have been vulnerable over the previous ten games. In terms of points off turnovers, second-chance points, points in the paint, and fast break points, Boston outscored their opponents. Switching gears, how about taking advantage of a Mavs strength?

Dallas has scored 17.6 fastbreak points, which ranks third in the NBA over the last ten games. It’s almost three points less than their current 10-game average that Dallas recently held the top club, Toronto, to 20 fastbreak points.

Dallas would be wise to attempt to score as many simple fastbreak points as they can, given how formidable Boston’s defence can be once it gets into a groove. It would also be beneficial to keep Boston below their 14.5-point average. Dallas must identify a winning area of the game and focus on it frequently.