Klay Thompson scored 25 points and Spencer Dinwiddie added 22 off the bench as the undermanned Dallas Mavericks earned a 127-120 road victory over the Boston Celtics on Thursday in a matchup of teams that met in last year's NBA Finals.

It was another poor performance coming home from a successful road trip. The Celtics have the league’s best road record but continue to struggle at TD Garden, and on Thursday the shorthanded Dallas Mavericks dominated Boston, 127-120, to avenge last month’s loss in Dallas.

Doncic, who had dragged an otherwise unremarkable Mavericks team through the Western Conference, became the face of their failure. Dallas coach Jason Kidd was forced to come out and defend his maligned star, even though without Doncic, the Mavericks were a faded Kyrie Irving and a bunch of role players.

The blockbuster Luka Doncic-Anthony Davis trade happened while the Dallas Mavericks were on a road trip. After overhauling the franchise overnight, the Mavs failed to compete against the Cleveland Cavaliers and Philadelphia 76ers,