Earl K. Sneed, Mavs.com
Boston Celtics 102 at Dallas Mavericks 93
While every game counts as one more notch in the standings, some matchups definitely do more for a team's psyche than others.
With that said the Dallas Mavericks had Saturday's contest with the Boston Celtics circled on their calender. Although the Mavericks had already claimed a 99-90 win in Boston on Jan. 18, sweeping the season series would have certainly be a confidence booster. Instead the Celtics got their revenge.
(Photo by Danny Bollinger/NBAE via Getty Images)
In a matchup of the Southwest and Atlantic Division leaders, the game came down to the final two minutes of play. This time Boston was the team that made all the right plays down the stretch, leaving the American Airlines Center floor with a 102-93 win.
"Boston is veteran ball club. They understood the importance of this game," Mavs point guard Jason Kidd said. "You tip your hat to them. They were the better team with two minutes left."
"No excuses. We've got to make plays (down the stretch)," Mavs coach Rick Carlisle added. "It's tough when you are taking it out of the opponent's basket to score, and this is one of the best defensive teams. That's going to make it harder. We've got to be better. I'm not going to make any excuses about that."
Boston gave the Dallas squad all it could handle in the opening quarter. Despite Shawn Marion matching Celtics forward Paul Pierce basket for basket, the Mavericks trailed by as much as seven before ending the first quarter down 30-24. The Mavericks' five turnovers in the period greatly assisted the Celtics from the onset.
Behind Dirk Nowitzki and sixth man Jason Terry, the Mavericks rallied in the second quarter. But turnovers continued to haunt the Mavs, as the Celtics took a 48-47 halftime advantage despite a 23-18 second quarter in Dallas' favor.
"Both teams kept battling all night long," Marion said.
Terry led all scorers at the half with 14 points on 6-of-11 shooting. Meanwhile, Pierce posted 12 points to pace Boston to the one-point edge. Both teams had trouble finding the bottom of the nets, as the Mavericks' 42 percent shooting was just better than the Celtics' 40 percent. The two teams also combined for 19 turnovers in the first 24 minutes of play.
Ray Allen came out of the intermission with the hot hand, sparking a 13-5 Boston run to begin the third quarter. But Caron Butler's earth-shattering dunk on a baseline drive midway through the period ignited a spark in the stagnant squad from Big D. Meanwhile, Brendan Haywood was patrolling the paint on the defensive end. But it was Kidd's 3-pointer with 1:13 left in the quarter that gave the Mavericks a 70-69 advantage. The lead was short lived, as Pierce powered the Celtics to a 73-72 edge entering the fourth.
Nowitzki was the story early in the final quarter, raining in a three to put the Mavericks in front 79-75 with 9:07 remaining. But after the Dallas lead grew to seven, Pierce and Allen rallied their troops with an array of shots to go back ahead. Rajon Rondo got into the mix by attacking the rim, swishing home teardrop layups."We built a nice little seven-point lead. Next thing you know, they kept battling. You have to give them credit," Nowitzki said.
"With the exception of the period in the fourth, we were playing from behind for most of the night," Carlisle said. "That made it tough. We got a seven-point lead. You've got to be able to get some stops. We didn't get stops. That was our undoing."
The Mavericks went back to Nowitzki, but after No. 41 cut the deficit to just one, Pierce's three followed by a steal and feed to Rondo had the Celtics in front 99-93 with 1:18 left.
"They all made their share of plays down the stretch. Key stops at certain times would have meant a lot for momentum in the game," the coach explained.
A couple of defensive stops and clutch free throws later, and the Celtics had their retribution from their lost to the Mavericks in January. Boston outscored Dallas 29-21 in the fourth.
"Tonight was a tough loss. We've been winning close games," Terry said.
Boston held a 40-39 edge in rebounding and a 44-36 advantage in points in the paint. Though the Celtics finished the night out-shooting the Mavericks 52 percent to 46 percent, the most telling stat was the points off turnovers. Both teams committed 18 giveaways, with Boston scoring 20 points off Dallas' errors compared to the Mavericks' 18 points off the Celtics' miscues. The Mavericks' turnovers seemed to be more costly by night's end.
"It was uncharacteristically high, and then 20 points off of 18 turnovers was another bad part of the game for us," Carlisle critiqued. "You've got to credit Boston. They played a very solid game. They turned it over some, too. But when they had to make plays, they were able to make them and make shots. We struggled."
Nowitzki's 28 points, connecting on 11-of-19 from the field, came in a losing effort. As did Terry's 18 points on 8-of-16 shooting in just his second game since facial surgery on March 5. Marion (16) and Kidd (11) made it four Mavericks that scored in double figures.
Pierce finished the night with a game-high 29 points on 10-of-17 shooting. Allen pitched in 21 points, while Rondo added a double-double with 20 points and 10 assists.
Now the Mavericks try to get back on the winning track with a testy back-to-back.
"This was a tough loss, but we'll take some things from it that we'll learn from," Marion said.
First, the team travels to New Orleans on Monday night to battle the division rival Hornets. The Mavs lead the season series 2-1 heading into the fourth and final regular season game between the two squads. The Mavs-Hornets matchup will appear nationally on NBA TV and locally on KTXA, airing at 7 p.m. CT.
The Mavericks then return to the American Airlines Center on Tuesday night to host the Los Angeles Clippers. Back on Oct. 31, the Mavs captured a 93-84 win in L.A. in the first of three meetings between the teams. That game will air locally on Fox Sports Southwest at 7:30 p.m. CT. Tickets are still available and can be purchased by calling (214) 747-MAVS.
For up to the minute news on the Dallas Mavericks, visit Mavs.com. Follow Earl K. Sneed on Twitter at http://twitter.com/EarlKSneed.
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