DALLAS — When Boston Celtics Coach Brad Stevens found out Wednesday afternoon that he wasn’t going to have Gordon Hayward against the Dallas Mavericks, he had to adjust his game plan. Luckily for him, he had three great options.

“Regardless of who Boston has out, they’ve still got two or three All-Star caliber players out there with (Kemba) Walker, (Jaylen) Brown and (Jayson) Tatum,” said Mavericks Coach Rick Carlisle.

It was that combination, and how Stevens deployed it, that helped Boston piece together a 109-103 win Wednesday night. The trio scored 82 of those 109 points. No other Celtic was in double figures.

“I thought (Walker), Jayson and Jaylen all got really timely baskets,” Stevens said after the game. “And it makes them decide – when they put (Dorian) Finney-Smith on Kemba, that’s a decision that takes a big wing off of Jaylen or Jayson. So Jaylen can get some of that stuff at the rim. Jayson was able to get some stuff in the paint and at the rim.”

Walker woke the Celtics up with a 16-point outburst in the first quarter. A lot of his time on the floor was spent leading bench units, putting him in a rather familiar role of being the sole offensive threat on the floor.

“With Kemba’s ability to play off simple actions, we can play off simple actions and guys can just space and play off of him,” Stevens said. “You might have guys playing a little bit out of position or in spots they weren’t going to play normally, so they may not be as good at running all of our stuff as some of the guys who play more often.”

The Celtics have borrowed from old Charlotte Hornets playbooks to make Walker feel comfortable on the floor.

“You just gotta play the game. That’s what I was doing,” Walker said. “They were blitzing me, I just wanted to make the right play. I wasn’t going to force it at all until later when they kinda couldn’t blitz me because Jaylen and JT, they were getting off, so it just kinda made it tough on them to blitz. If they did, then those guys would have an advantage. It just opened things up for me.”

Brown and Tatum combined for 50 points – for the third time in the last seven games – with each playing off one another to carry the scoring load when Walker wasn’t on the floor.

“We wanted to identify the mismatches and make plays, and JT did a great job of that, made some tough shots, got to the basket, and I tried to do the same,” Brown said. “Take advantage of our physical advantages and create some opportunities, and I think we did that in the second half.”

The Celtics had been using Tatum and Hayward together, while Walker and Brown shared the floor when Stevens staggers lineups in the middle of games. Once again, though, injuries forced an adjustment.

“I feel like we go through this a lot, unfortunately, but we got a lot of depth, a lot of guys that are talented, can do a lot of things, and we always just try to figure it out,” Tatum said. “Try to make no excuses, no matter who we have or don’t have.”

The rest of the team did just enough to support Boston’s three potential All-Stars, but it’s going to be up to them to carry a huge part of the workload until they get back to full strength.

“It’s going to take a lot – everybody,” Brown said. “As we play different teams, we’re going to have to figure out different lineups. We figured it out today and we got the win.”

MAINE RED Claws center Tacko Fall was in uniform with the Celtics in Dallas, though he did not enter the game. Because of injuries to Celtics bench players, Fall is likely to remain with Boston for a while. The Celtics play at home against Detroit on Friday night.

“He’s here for two reasons – one we believe in him, No. 2 we have a need right now with (Vincent Poirier) out, with Rob Williams out,” Stevens said. “But there will be games he will be suited for and games that will be more challenging … But I think he’s getting better, continuing to grow in the speed of the game. That’s the biggest thing, not only getting up and down the court, but reacting to actions.”

Fall has averaged 13.6 points, nine rebounds and 2.3 blocks over eight G League games, and understands that the parameters make a drastic change on the next level. It helps that Darren Erman, the Red Claws’ head coach and well-known defensive guru, is teaching him the tougher parts of big man survival – like defending well enough out on the wing.

“I think my pick-and-roll defense. (Erman) is a great defensive coach and I feel like he has really helped me on that side of the court,” said Fall, who is on a two-way contract. “For me playing in the G League, I was just trying to stay in good shape. Unfortunately the two weeks I missed (to a leg injury) was a bummer, but anything besides that, just making sure I play hard and stay in shape, and especially defensively.”

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