The Mavs Player Whose Presence Weighed Heavily on the minds of Celtics Fans - and his name ain't Luka

The Tatum vs Luka duel was intriguing, but the raw vitriol from Celtics fans was saved for another player.

Jayson Tatum (left) did his part to live up to the Tatum-Luka hype. Didn’t matter, though. Celtics fans had their “boo…” game going, with much of their focus toward another Mavs player besides Luka. (Photo by Brian Fluharty/Getty Images)

BOSTON — The low-hanging fruit for basketball fans, the die-hard brand as well as the casuals, was to see Friday’s Boston-Dallas matchup more along the lines of being all about Jayson Tatum and Luka Dončić using the matchup as a mile-marker towards winning the league’s MVP award.

Luka had a triple-double of 37 points, 12 rebounds and 11 assists while Tatum (32 points, 8 rebounds, 3 assists) had a very Tatum-like game and the Celtics extended their winning streak to 10 straight with a 138-110 victory.

But this game - at least for Celtics fans - was about something far more important than whether Luka outplayed JT, or vice versa.