LAS VEGAS – On June 17, the Boston Celtics won their 18th NBA title by closing out the championship series in five games against the Mavericks.
On Friday, the names may have changed, but the jerseys remained the same. And Mavs forward Olivier-Maxence Prosper all but said he has the memory of an elephant.
“I remember,” Prosper told Mavs.com. “I keep receipts of everything.
“We lost to them (in June), but we knew we had to do something today, and I’m glad we got the W.”
What the Mavs did Friday was defeat the Celtics, 101-90, at Cox Pavilion in the NBA 2K25 Summer League. And the star of the show was Prosper, who was injured and couldn’t play in last month’s championship series, but was solid and effective while being a thorn in the Celtics’ side on Friday.
In his best performance this summer, Prosper finished with a game-high 22 points and four assists. More importantly, he shot the ball well – he was 8-of-14 from the field – while helping the Mavs win their first game this summer and improve to 1-3.
“I knew that I had to come out with great energy today and help my team, and be a vocal leader and just play hard,” Prosper said. “The first couple of games we let the game come to us too much and we started off flat, and I knew that if we set the tone early with great energy and we just come out defensively and be locked in and talking and helping each other out, we’re going to be great.
“Late in the summer league, some teams are tired, and we knew that we have to be the most aggressive and loudest team on the floor.”
The Mavs are hoping to be even louder and more aggressive when they finish summer league play Saturday at 10 p.m. against the Oklahoma City Thunder in a game that will be televised on NBA TV.
Against the Celtics, the Mavs never trailed and led by as many as 14 points in the first half and 55-45 at the game’s midway point after Jazian Gortman nailed a three-pointer with just 1.2 seconds left in the second quarter.
Boston eventually climbed to as close as 83-78 with 6:29 remaining following a tip-in by Anton Watson. Undaunted, the Mavs went on a brisk 13-2 run to pad their lead to 95-80 with 3:51 to go.
Three-pointers each by Emanuel Miller and Prosper, buckets by AJ Lawson and Gortman, plus a fast break tomahawk dunk from Melvin Ajinca via a pass from Prosper capped the game-deciding rally.
“They’re going to make a run,” summer league coach Jared Dudley said of the Celtics’ surge. “Overall, guys responded, no one was arguing, no heads were down. I kind of had to slow them down a little bit and get into our system. But we got to see what this team (is made of) after a couple of games of now trying to find their rhythm.”
Lawson certainly found his rhythm as he collected 21 points on 7-of-11 shooting, and also was 2-of-4 from three-point range. In addition, Gortman had 13 points, seven rebounds, five assists and two steals, and Jarod Lucas added 13 points in just 14 minutes on 4-of-7 shots.
“I was able to see the ball go through the basket a couple of times, which for a shooter like myself, sometimes all you need to see is one (shot go in),” Lucas said. “So that was great.”
In praising Lucas, Dudley said: “It was probably a coaching flaw in me that I didn’t get him in there earlier, just how the way he moves. He knows how to play basketball and get to the free throw line.
“And he’s the one guy on our team who is an elite shooter. From here on out he’s going to play. I wish I could get him more, but AJ played so well.”
Lucas acknowledged that it was imperative that the Mavs were able to walk away with a victory against the Celtics instead of relying on the possibility of waiting until the game against OKC to claim a win.
“We definitely felt some pressure,” Lucas said. “I know I felt some pressure. Nobody wants to be the team that doesn’t win a game.
“So for us we needed to get one (win) under our belt. Hopefully we can take some momentum into the game Saturday and win that one too and finish with two (wins) in a row.”
With Prosper at the center of it all, the Mavs were in control for the balance of this game. Dudley said he had a film session and pointed out what needed to be done to get some open looks for Prosper.
“First, we tried to simplify it offensively,” Dudley said. “We tried to get him some isos at the elbow where he has to drive.
“I just thought to get O-Max better, we had to get our spacing better. Because a lot of times when he drives, there’s no real openings or spacing. You saw it today. The spacing was phenomenal and (so were) the re-drives.”
It was a game that saw the Mavs swing the ball around the horn proficiently.
“We had 20 assists — the most we’ve had,” Dudley said. “And for us, I thought we defended without fouling.
“I think we won three out of the four quarters, and for the mist part guys played unselfish and played the type of basketball I’ve been looking for these last couple of days.”
After scouting the Celtics, Dudley decided to start Isaiah Whatley at center in place of the 7-5 Jamarion Sharp.
“I saw where they do more five-outs, and I think it wouldn’t help Sharp on that,” he said. “And I’ll probably start Ajinca this last game just to get him some reps as a starter.”
The Mavs also turned the ball over just 11 times after committing 45 turnovers the previous two games combined.
“We knew we were much better than the way we played the first three games,” Prosper said. “It feels great to finally get a win under our belt.
“We feel like this is our basketball (team) and this is the way we should play every game. And now (going) into tomorrow, we feel really good where we’re at and (we plan to) come out with the same performance (against OKC).”
A WEBSTER SIGHTING: Dudley said guard Justin Webster will play in Saturday’s game against Oklahoma City.
Webster, a product of Prestonwood Christian Academy in Plano, didn’t play in the Mavs’ first four summer league games.
“He wasn’t cleared in the first couple of games,” Dudley said. “I want to see what he can do.
“He’s been positive (and) he’s been a good teammate. He’s worked his butt off in here and I owe him an opportunity to play, and he’ll play tomorrow.”
X: @DwainPrice
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