Mavericks mashed by Celtics, despite Luka’s 42

BOSTON – At least the Mavericks didn’t have to worry about any late-game heartbreak on Wednesday night.

This one was a goner much earlier.

Looking like they may have snuck in too much dressing or mashed potatoes a day too early, the Mavericks trotted out a big turkey of their own on the eve of Thanksgiving, suffering a 125-112 loss to the Boston Celtics at TD Garden.

The final score might not sound so bad, but the Mavericks trailed by 27 points in the third quarter.

With chants of “MVP, MVP” ringing through the Garden, Jayson Tatum blocked a Luka Dončić drive with just over two minutes to go, the crowd went nuts and Tatum jawed at Luka. It was that kind of night for the Mavericks.

It was an ESPN nationally televised game, but the Mavericks won’t be holding onto it for a souvenir, despite another monster game from Dončić.

He got his fourth 40-point-plus game of the season, most in the NBA. Joel Embiid and Steph Curry have three each.

Dončić finished with 42 points, eight rebounds and nine assists.

But he could not counter Boston’s double-tough punch from Tatum (37 points, 13 rebounds) and Jaylen Brown, who had 31 points.

Luka tried to make things interesting late. He helped the Mavericks get back as close as nine points before Boston got a rattled-in three-pointer by Al Horford for a 117-105 lead with 3:23 to go.

The Mavericks simply had too big of a hole to escape after a night when they weren’t sharp at all for most of the first three quarters.

Only two teams have beaten the Celtics this season. Cleveland and Chicago have done so twice. They now are 13-0 against everybody else in the league.

The Mavericks let this one get away from them late in the first quarter and early in the second. When you surrender 70 points in the first half, it’s usually bad news.

That was four points more than the Mavericks had given up in any first half this season (66 against New Orleans).

When the two teams began trading three-pointers in the third quarter, the Mavericks weren’t making up any ground. And Tatum continued to burn them.

Luka was doing the same to the Celtics, but the difference was that Tatum was getting more help. A lot more help. Jaylen Brown, Marcus Smart, Al Horford and Derrick White, the other four Boston starters, all were in double figures by the midpoint of the third quarter. The Mavericks had only Spencer Dinwiddie contributing on the offensive end.

And virtually nobody getting the job done defensively.

The Mavericks had the Celtics’ crowd a bit nervous early in the fourth quarter when they cut the margin to 13 on a couple of occasions. They had a chance to get closer, but Christian Wood missed a jumper in the paint and Tatum coaxed in a drive to make it 109-94.

Luka had continued to play in the fourth quarter without resting. He was closing in on 18 consecutive minutes of game time. Knowing that two days off were waiting, it wasn’t a hard decision to keep Doncic in the game for as long as the Mavericks had a whisper of a chance.

The Mavericks knew this trip was going to be a difficult one. The way it started off, things can’t get much worse. They will have two days off in Toronto before playing the Raptors on Saturday. The trip concludes Sunday at Milwaukee.

Twitter: @ESefko