Recap: Mavericks 90 at Celtics 85

Earl K. Sneed recaps the Dallas Mavericks' thrilling win in Boston as the defending champs claimed their first three-game winning streak of the season to go above .500.

BOSTON — For two teams expected to be NBA title contenders by the time the end of the 66-game shortened regular season draws to a close, Wednesday night’s matchup between the Dallas Mavericks and Boston Celtics figures to prove pivotal for both veteran-laden squads.

With both teams sitting at .500 entering the nationally-televised matchup, the winner would receive some early-season momentum with a victory over a quality opponent. Meanwhile, the Mavericks looked to build off a 100-86 win in Detroit the night prior for their first road victory of the young season, facing a well-rested Celtics team that had been waiting for the defending champs with four days off.

Already without injured point guard Jason Kidd, the Mavericks (6-5) would find themselves minus their coach for the better part of the second half as well. Still, the Mavs would escape the match and their two-game road trip unscathed, collecting a 90-85 victory in the hostile venue.

“It’s early in the season, and there’s no indication where both of these teams will be come June,” ex-Celtic Delonte West said after the Mavs surged to the first winning record of their title defense.

Trying to boost their team to its first three-game winning streak in the condensed season, leading scorer Dirk Nowitzki and West entered T.D. Garden with their own personal storylines as well. While Nowitzki came into the night just 19 points shy of 23,000 for his career West returned to his old stomping grounds to face his former team after an injury-plagued 2010-11 season. Wednesday night, the two and their teammates prepared to face off with an Eastern Conference power in a clash of two of the three teams to capture the championship in the last four years.

West got the Mavs off to a good start with back-to-back-to-back buckets to open up scoring in the first quarter, while the Celtics (4-5) missed their first seven field goal attempts. Nowitzki and eight-time All-Star Vince Carter then joined in on the fun as the Mavs began the game on a 10-2 run. Matching up with his former teammate Rajon Rondo at the point, West operated as the Mavs’ best facilitator as well after dishing out a season-high 10 assists in Detroit.

“[West] really set the tone for the whole team because he competes on every play,” Nowitzki said of the new addition.

“He’s the head right now with the way that he’s doing it at the defensive end,” reserve guard Jason Terry added on West’s contribution. “His energy, getting after it, and then offensively making sound decisions … he’s penetrating, he’s finding guys in rhythm and he’s just playing solid.”

And after an athletic tip-in by backup big man Ian Mahinmi, the Mavs entered the second stanza with a 23-15 lead, with Dallas’ 11-for-20 shooting bettering Boston’s 5-for-18 at the other end.

Rondo and the Celtics would battle their way back into the game, however, in the second quarter. But when the home team climbed to within one, Terry created a little space with a timely four-point play. Both teams then struggled to get shots up before the close of the half, with the Mavericks taking a 42-41 lead into the break despite Rondo’s 16 first-half points.

With forward Shawn Marion and Terry combining to score 17 points on 7-for-15 shooting, the Mavs made up for Nowitzki’s 2-of-8 start. Still, the 7-footer needed just 12 points in the second half to reach the career milestone, while both teams tried to improve on 41.9 percent shooting through two quarters.

Things would immediately turn the Celtics’ way coming out of the locker room, though, with Ray Allen giving Boston its first lead with a jumper to open up the second half. In a mere seconds things got worse with Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle earning back-to-back technical foul calls and an eventual ejection for arguing with officials with 10:34 on the clock in the third period.

“It could have been a turning point and it could have gone south quick," Terry explained, "but when you’ve got guys like Terry [Stotts] who’s been a head coach in this league, he settled us down right away. Guys started to communicate and Delonte did a great job of maintaining the team’s composure.”

With their coach back in the locker room and assistant Terry Stotts in charge of things on the sideline, the Mavs again turned to West and Marion to get them back in the game. The two would help the Mavs to play inspired basketball, powering a 24-6 run from the time of Carlisle’s ejection to go up 66-53 on Terry’s corner 3-pointer.

“Sometimes the coaches do it to change the momentum a little bit. Sometimes it’s a momentum-changer,” Nowitzki said of Carlisle’s ejection.

Indeed it would change the momentum of the game as the reigning champs headed into the game’s final period with a 68-59 advantage, despite losing their head coach and with Nowitzki not even attempting a shot in the third.

With a growing sense of urgency in front of their home fans, the Celtics opened the fourth quarter on fire to trim their deficit to three. But emotions would get the better of the home team with Rondo and coach Doc Rivers called for technicals of their own from the sideline.

Protecting and padding the lead at the foul line, Nowitzki slowly crept closer to the personal milestone while creating some separation on the scoreboard. But Rondo and his henchmen showed they had one more run in them, storming back to tie the game at 77-all with 6:04 remaining after the All-Star lead guard’s driving score.

After Mahinmi and Rondo exchanged scores, Terry began to take over yet again, first nailing a 3-pointer from the corner off the feed from Nowitzki then using a screen from the reserve center to get to the cup, putting the Mavs up 84-79 with 2:42 left.

“We needed everybody. Look, there were timely plays made the whole second half. … A game like this comes down to a lot of little things and the sum total of our game is a lot of good, solid plays being sandwiched together. The guys did a good job of that in the second half,” Carlisle said.

But the Mavericks’ inability to make free throws down the stretch kept the Celtics in the game, and Boston would capitalize, tying the game at 85-all on Paul Pierce’s 3-pointer with 25.0 seconds still on the clock. That’s when Nowitzki saved his best for last, driving with Garnett all over him for an and-1 finish and subsequent free throw to put the Mavs up three with 5.1 seconds left.

“JET [Terry] set a good screen and I was able to get some separation on the catch. I saw the clock going down and he was really up tight on me, basically making me put the ball on the floor and that’s what I did,” Nowitzki said of the sequence. “I was able to get to the rim, didn’t even see the ball go in to be honest. I just threw it up there. I saw the contact and was a little lucky it went in.”

“Tremendous play,” Carlisle added. “He made the right read, Garnett got real close, drove it and made the shot.”

With a chance to answer, Rondo threw the inbound pass out of bounce trying to find 3-point specialist Ray Allen. Terry then put the finishing touches on the win with a deuce as the Mavs notched their first three-game winning streak of the season.

“It’s really big for us to be able to get three wins without Jason Kidd. That’s a huge loss for us. And the team is finding itself a little bit, but this is a very challenging year on a lot of levels. But the guys are meeting the challenge,” Carlisle concluded.

Led by Terry’s 18 points on 7-of-16 shooting and Nowitzki’s 16 points — three shy of 23,000 — on 5-of-11 from the floor, the Mavericks continued their winning ways. Marion finished with 15 points while West added 12 points against his old team.

Rondo led all scorers with 24 points and Garnett pitched in 16 points and 10 boards for the Celtics. Boston outshot the Mavs on the night, 45.3 percent to 44.3 percent, but behind Brendan Haywood’s 11 rebounds Dallas finished with a 43-35 advantage on the glass.

The Mavs will now take Thursday off before returning home for a back-to-back with a four-game West Coast road trip looming. The defending champs will face off with the Milwaukee Bucks Friday night in a game that will air locally on Fox Sports Southwest at 7:30 p.m. CT. The next night, the Mavericks welcome in the Sacramento Kings for a game that will also air on Fox Sports Southwest at 8 p.m. CT. Tickets are still available and can be purchased by calling (214) 747-6287.

“It’s all about how we compete," Carlisle said while looking ahead. "We’re building some consistency with our competitiveness. We’re getting a little more familiarity with our new guys and the challenge will be to carry this into Friday night.”

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.