Preview: Mavericks (5-5) at Celtics (4-4)

Earl K. Sneed previews the Dallas Mavericks' road matchup in Boston versus the Celtics as the defending champs take the court looking for their first three-game winning streak of the season.

BOSTON -- Although it may have only been a single victory against the struggling Detroit Pistons, it represented far more to the Dallas Mavericks.

After downing the lowly Pistons to their fifth straight loss with a 100-86 victory Tuesday night, the Mavericks (5-5) not only collected their second consecutive win but they also notched their first W on the road, ending a three-game skid away from Dallas. One night later, the defending champs head into the T.D. Garden looking to replicate the events in Detroit, trying to sweep their back-to-back road trip with a victory over the Boston Celtics.

Despite facing an always dangerous Celtics team in a hostile venue, the Mavericks enter Wednesday night’s nationally-televised showdown very confident. And although the Celtics (4-4) enter the game on four days rest, the reigning titleholders say that if they can duplicate the effort in Detroit then the season’s first three-game winning streak could be within their grasp.

“It’s a road win that we haven’t had yet, so that’s really important to us,” Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle said after his team’s runaway win Tuesday night. “Momentum has been illusive for us, so we respect how tough it is competitively in this league right now. But our goal is to build on this.”

“Obviously last year we were a great road team — never afraid to walk into any building, always capable of winning on the road,” leading scorer Dirk Nowitzki said. “That’s what good teams do. … Hopefully we can get back to being a great road team.”

Coming off the season’s best shooting performance, after hitting 55.1 percent from the floor compared to Detroit’s 43.5 percent, the Mavs head into Boston clicking on all cylinders even without injured point guard Jason Kidd. The same can be said for Nowitzki, who bounced back from a combined 3-of-22 shooting in the team’s two previous games with a 9-for-10 night en route to his team-high 18 points and seven rebounds.

Meanwhile, guard Delonte West more than made up for the loss of Kidd while operating at the point, tallying six points, a season-high 10 assists and five steals.

“It’s not often you have a guy on the floor that goes 9-for-10, but there’s a guy on the floor that’s actually the best player on the court. Delonte was the best player on the court because of his competiveness. That’s what we need right now. We need consistency as a team competitively and he set a great tone for us the last two games,” Carlisle said of West’s performance.

“Definitely a good game for us offensively,” Nowitzki added. “I thought we started off well. Defensively, I think Delonte set a great tone for us, getting steals, being in the passing lanes, being active and that really rubbed over on everybody.”

One night later, the Mavs will need a similar effort from the former Celtic, after it was Kidd’s game-sealing 3-pointer that downed the Boston squad in Dallas’ 101-97 road win on February 4, 2011. And with both teams bidding to go above .500 with a win, West knows that the well-rested Celtics will be out to feast on the Mavs on the second night of a back-to-back.

“That’s one thing you have to take advantage of this season, teams that are coming off of back-to-backs,” West explained. “You see across the league that those back-to-back-to-back games are wearing on teams. That’s what we did (against Detroit), we just took advantage. For us, we’re going in there … against a team that’s going to try and jump on us, so it’s already forward thinking.”

And with the Mavs already prepared for a dogfight, the team will look for its third straight win in Boston after taking five of the last seven meetings there.

Note: The Mavs-Celtics matchup will air Wednesday night locally on Fox Sports Southwest and nationally on ESPN at 7 p.m. CT.

After battling the Celtics, the Mavs return home to face off with the Milwaukee Bucks next Friday night in a game that will air locally on Fox Sports Southwest at 7:30 p.m. CT. Tickets are still available and can be purchased by calling (214) 747-6287.

Single-game tickets are on sale and available at the American Airlines Center North Box Office, online at mavs.com, via phone by calling 214-747-MAVS or 1-800-4NBA-TIX and all Ticketmaster outlets (Fiesta Grocery Stores, Wal-Mart, Simon Mall in Garland and the Shops at Willow Bend in Plano).

Dr. Pepper Family Nights are here! Plans include four Mavs tickets and four McDonald’s extra value meals, starting at $49. Visit mavs.com or call 214-747-MAVS for a schedule of games and to purchase tickets.