You’d think the Mavericks would have a radically different look to them without Luka Doncic on the court.
That’s not necessarily the case, Boston coach Brad Stevens said at the Celtics’ shootaround Wednesday morning.
The sixth-year coach said the Mavericks have managed to figure out a way to maintain a lot of their overall offensive success in the nearly two games without Doncic on the court.
“You always look at a team when they lose a guy like that (and look at) what they do more of that’s already in their stuff and what they do a little bit less of,” Stevens said. “Obviously, he brings a lot to the table. They’re on a historic pace with him in the lineup to be the best offense in the history of the NBA.
“And without him in the lineup, they’re still No. 1 in the NBA. It doesn’t change much with regard to how hard they are to guard.”
The Mavericks won’t be the only team that’s not full strength. The Celtics will be without Marcus Smart, the Flower Mound Marcus product who will be out with a left eye infection.
Don’t underestimate Smart’s importance. He’s often the Celtic who would guard Kristaps Porzingis, as he did much of the time in Boston in the first meeting this season, when KP went 1-of-11 from the field. This will be the fourth game Smart has missed with the infection.
“I would say, comparing it to the middle of last week, on Monday it was probably doing at-best, equal, Maybe a little bit worse,” Stevens said. “But I think, from what I’ve heard, he feels better as of last night and today. He’s been back to see more people. Hopefully, he’s able to get on the court soon, but no real timeline.
“I don’t know about infections. But it doesn’t sound pleasant. It sounds like he’s on the mend, but who knows how long it’ll take.”
Seeing eye-to-eye: The Mavericks have two of the biggest players in the NBA with 7-4 Boban Marjanovic and 7-3 Kristaps Porzingis.
The Celtics have one bigger: 7-5 rookie Tacko Fall.
Fall, who went to Central Florida, was not drafted last summer, but signed with the Celtics and, because of several injuries to their big men, he got called up from the Maine Red Claws of the G-League last week.
Fall said he’s looking forward to chatting with Marjanovic before tonight’s game, since he rarely gets to look anybody directly in the eyes.
“I’ve seen a few people, like my freshman year in college, I played against Mamadou N’Diaye,” Fall said Wednesday, referring to the 7-6 Cal-Irvine center he saw as a freshman at CFU. “I’ve seen guys who are kind of close to my size. But Boban is massive. I can’t imagine how people look at me, because I look at Boban (eye-to-eye). But he’s a great guy. You can just tell from his personality that he’s a really good person.”
Stevens said Fall would have to be in the right situation to see action. But if Marjanovic gets on the court, that could be the right situation.
By the way, Fall also played in college as a freshman against his Celtic teammates Semi Ojeleye, who was a senior at SMU at the time.
“He always jokes with me, saying that when we were in college, he would say, every time I touch the ball: foul him,” Fall said. “The irony is crazy. I had a tremendous respect for him. But I never thought I’d be a teammate of his.”
Briefly: The Mavericks-Celtics will tip off at 8:30 p.m. The game will be televised on ESPN . . . Stevens has a profound respect for one former Celtic who is with the Mavericks. “These guys put you in an incredible bind because they roll to the rim as fast and hard as anybody, starting with Dwight Powell,” Stevens said. “And the shooting and spacing is just amazing. You have to be able to be able to guard to 24 feet at four positions. That’s a challenge for anybody.” Powell was a second-round draftee for the Celtics in 2014 before being traded to Dallas as part of the Rajon Rondo trade.
Twitter: @ESefko
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