Two Out Of Three Ain’t Bad, Celtics Get Past Dallas 96-90

Ray Allen and Paul Pierce each scored a team high 26 points, and starting point guard Rajon Rondo recorded a double-double, as the Boston Celtics went to the Lone Star State and defeated the Dallas Mavericks Thursday night 96-90. Boston won despite being without forward Kevin Garnett who has missed the last three games with a strained abdominal muscle. The “Big Ticket” was injured last week, as the Celtics defeated Garnett’s former team the Minnesota Timberwolves last week.

Allen had missed Boston’s win over the Portland Trail Blazers earlier this week, as he was suffering from the flu. Pierce suffered through his worst game of the season, as he scored just 7 points. But they both came back with a vengeance as they faced the Mavericks. The Celtics jumped on top in the first quarter as they held a 27-20 lead at the end of the period, Dallas came back to tie Boston as the two teams went to their respective locker rooms at the half deadlocked at 44-44. Boston took a razor thin lead at the end of the third quarter as they had a 71-70 advantage going into the final quarter. The teams kept going back and forth, and the game was tied at 90-90 after Dirk Nowitzki hit two at the line with 58 seconds remaining in regulation. But that was all Dallas could muster, as the Celtics took the lead on a Rajon Rondo field goal, and then James Posey who was fouled twice in the contest’s last 10 seconds made all four of his shots at the charity stripe.

Allen shot 11-20 from the floor, 1-3 from outside the arc, 3-3 at the line, for his 26 points, he also had 4 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal, 1 block. Pierce shot 8-19 from the floor, also 1-3 from three point range, and 9-10 at the line for his 26 points, 6 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal, 1 block, Rajon Rondo scored 14 points, a career high 12 boards, 4 assists. Posey came off the bench scoring 13 points, 3 steals, 3 rebounds, 1 assist, Leon Powe also came off the bench with a nice game for Boston, 10 points, 4 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal.

Dirk Nowitzki led all scorers as he shot 10-21 from the floor, 1-3 from outside the arc, 10-10 from the line, for 31 points, 11 boards, 6 assists, 3 blocks. Josh Howard scored 19 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 block, Jason Terry scored 13 points, 6 assists, 1 steal, 1 block. Brandon Bass came off the bench scoring 10 points, 4 rebounds, 2 blocks, 1 steal. Boston is now leading the Association with a 36-8 mark, Dallas is now 31-14.