The Boston Celtics defeated the Dallas Mavericks 111 - 98 Monday at American Airlines Center. The Celtics (36 - 19) held a comfortable 11 - points lead headed into halftime and looked to be well on their way to their third straight victory. However, a run in the third quarter from the Mavericks (22 - 32) brought them to within one and made it a game. But that competitiveness lasted just 12 minutes, as Boston turned it back on in the final period, especially on defense, as they held Dallas to just 16 points. Isaiah Thomas led the way in the end for the Celtics, scoring a game - high 29 points and dishing out eight assists in 34 minutes. But the most important performance of the night came from starting shooting guard Marcus Smart, as he continues to play some of the best basketball of his young career. He finished with 19 points on on 6 - of - 11 shooting, three rebounds, three assists and two steals in 35 minutes. Boston has now won nine of their last 10 games. As for the Mavericks (22 - 33), the loss ends a brief two - game winning streak for the team. In the loss, however, they received another hot shooting performance from Yogi Ferrell, who has officially played his way into being a regular in Dallas' rotation, even with the presence of starter Deron Williams. Ferrell finished with 20 points on 8 - of - 11 shooting from the field and five assists in 32 minutes off the bench. Ferrell's shooting stroke was n't particularly contagious, however, as the team managed to shoot just 46 percent from the field in the end. On top of that, the five reserves other than Ferrell that saw the court Monday combine for just 11 points in the losing effort. Up next, the Celtics will return home Wednesday to take on the 76ers, while the Mavericks will head to Detroit on Wednesday to take on the Pistons.
["TeamStat(G,'Mavericks') has 33 Losses ,has 98 Total points ,has 32 Points in 3rd quarter ,has 16 Points in 4th quarter ,has 22 Wins ."
 "TeamStat(G,'Celtics') has 19 Losses ,has 111 Total points ,has 22 Points in 3rd quarter ,has 36 Points in 4th quarter ."
 "PlayerStat(G,'Marcus Smart') has 3 Assists ,has 11 Field goals attempted ,has 6 Field goals made ,has 35 Minutes played ,has 19 Personal fouls ,has 3 Points ,has 2 Total rebounds ."
 "PlayerStat(G,'Isaiah Thomas') has 8 Assists ,has 34 Field goals attempted ,has 29 Field goals made ."
 "PlayerStat(G,'Yogi Ferrell') has 5 Assists ,has 11 Field goals attempted ,has 8 Field goals made ,has 5 Minutes played ,has 20 Personal fouls ."]