Luka praises Tatum-Brown as 'best duo' in NBA

BOSTON -- Mavericks superstar Luka Doncic had precocious praise for the Celtics' prima tandem of Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown up of Wednesday's crippled successful Boston.

"They're astir apt the No. 1 squad successful the league, and they astir apt person the champion duo successful the league, too," Doncic said. "And we're successful the Garden -- it's ever a peculiar game. You person to travel 100 percent. If you're not, you're astir apt going to lose. It's a large game."

Doncic, successful his 5th NBA season, enters Wednesday's crippled (7:30 p.m. ET, ESPN) arsenic the NBA's starring scorer astatine 33.5 points per crippled portion besides averaging 9.1 rebounds, 8.1 assists and 1.9 steals.

Tatum and Brown, meanwhile, are the league's highest-scoring duo, averaging a combined 55.5 points per crippled -- conscionable up of the 76ers' tandem of Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey (55.2) -- and earning Doncic's respect successful the process.

"Just watching their game," Doncic said. "I deliberation a batch of radical tin spot that. I deliberation the mode they play. I cognize radical effort to abstracted them but they acceptable together, they went to the Finals past year, truthful I deliberation those 2 are truly large players."

Even aft seeing their nine-game winning streak extremity Monday successful Chicago against the Bulls, Boston inactive enters Wednesday night's crippled with the NBA's champion grounds astatine 13-4, including a 6-1 grounds astatine TD Garden.

Boston has seen its occurrence travel from its high-powered offense, which sits 2nd down lone the astonishing Kings successful violative efficiency.

Doncic said different crushed for his precocious praise of Boston is that the Celtics person managed to station the NBA's champion grounds with halfway Robert Williams III missing the full play truthful acold pursuing September genu surgery.

"They person 1 of the champion records and they're missing I deliberation a cardinal guy, Williams III," Doncic said. "I americium impressed by his game, person ever liked his game. So with him being out, and them having this record, that's wherefore I said that."

With 20% of the play successful the books, Dallas sits eighth successful the Western Conference with a 9-7 grounds -- but conscionable 1.5 games retired of first, showing however compact the West standings are this season.

That the Mavericks are 9-7 aft losing Jalen Brunson successful escaped bureau tin beryllium enactment astatine the feet of Doncic, who has continued to make into 1 of the league's outstanding talents and has taken his crippled to yet different level.

"It's a lot," Doncic said of the workload helium has taken connected this season. "You've got to beryllium prepared physically. I deliberation this summertime helped me. Some games I'm truly tired, due to the fact that it's a batch of basketball, for 2 years I ne'er stopped playing basketball, but I'm conscionable blessed to play basketball."