Celtics Beat Mavericks In The Worst Double Overtime Game In NBA History

Maybe it's because they blew a 14-point lead (68-54) from the third quarter or perhaps it doesn't feel so great since the Celtics squandered not one but two shots to win at the end of regulation and the first overtime. Still, I guess we should be thankful that Boston (12-9, 8-4 home) found a way to hold off Dallas (11-11, 4-8 away) 117-115 tonight at TD Garden in double overtime.

All you can say is that this was an exceedingly ugly game. How else do you describe 28 turnovers by the Mavericks or suffering through two overtimes officiated by Joey Crawford? Boston outscored Dallas 34-17 on points off turnovers.

Paul Pierce rescued the Celts with a game-high 34 points (1st Celtic with 30+ points this season), six rebounds and four steals. Rajon Rondo just missed another triple-double with 16 points, 15 assists, nine rebounds and three steals. Kevin Garnett had 16 points and five rebounds, Jason Terry scored 10 against his former team while Jeff Green (16 points, 5 rebounds) and Chris Wilcox (10 points, 6 rebounds) were great off the bench and honestly should have played more.

The Mavericks are still without the talents of superstar Dirk Nowitzki but O.J. Mayo (24 points, 6 rebounds) is turning into the All-Star nobody thought he would be. Remember when the Celtics could have flipped Ray Allen for him? Yeah, that could have worked. Shawn Marion (16 points, 11 rebounds, 7 assists) wasn't that far off of a triple-double of his own, Dahntay Jones and Chris Kaman (5 rebounds) scored 12 while Derek Fisher added 10 points.

I think the average age of Dallas is 53 when you factor in Vince Carter (10 points, 8 rebounds, 5 assists). Darren Collison (20 points, 6 assists, 5 rebounds, 3 steals) was spectacular off the bench so I have no clue why he doesn't start over that fossil Fisher, who still hits daggers left and right.

Boston could never shake Dallas, despite leading 27-25 after the first quarter, 48-43 at halftime and 76-70 heading into the fourth. The Celtics hit 12 more free throws (25-13) and made eight more steals (16-8). They needed all of that since the Mavericks shot way better (51.1%-43.0%), hit two more 3-pointers (8-6), grabbed eight more rebounds (50-42) and handed out three more assists (27-24) with two more blocks (7-5). Oh and Dallas had 20 more points in the paint (60-40).

At the end of regulation, Rondo isolated on Fisher but he got blocked, thinking he'd get fouled but he wasn't. Even worse, Pierce basically did the same thing at the end of the first overtime as Jones stuffed his feeble attempt.

The C's passed their first Texas test of the week but it will get harder this weekend as they travel to Houston (8 p.m., CSN) on Friday and San Antonio (8:30 p.m., CSN) on Saturday. The Rockets are 10-11 and fourth in the Southwest Division while the Spurs are 18-5 and first in the Southwest Division. Nobody expected much from Kevin McHale's Rockets but mostly thanks to James Harden and some emerging young guys, they are pretty competitive. As for San Antonio, they continue to defy age and play excellent team basketball while battling Oklahoma City for the top spot in the Western Conference.

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Mavericks Roll In Summer League Style Pretend Game Vs. Celtics

With their dynamic point guard (Rajon Rondo) suspended, their best interior player and soul of the team (Kevin Garnett) out to deal with a personal matter and their best bench scorer (Brandon Bass) sitting with a knee injury, the Boston Celtics should have never bothered to show up in Dallas tonight.

There was no way in hell that the Mavericks (21-12) would lose to the shorthanded Celtics (15-16) and they didn't as Dallas rolled to an easy 89-73 win at the American Airlines Center.

Boston has lost six of its last seven games (since the Lakers loss) to fall back under the .500 mark. The All-Star break couldn't come at a better time for them since they look like the NBA's version of Old Yeller.

Conversely, after a slow start to their title defense, the Mavs have picked it up and won seven of eight mostly thanks to Dirk Nowitzki (26 points, 16 rebounds) getting back in shape. This win gave them the season series with the Celts as Dallas went 2-0.

Paul Pierce led the Celts with 20 points while Ray Allen had 15 and Avery Bradley scored 12. Did I mention that Jermaine O'Neal and Chris Wilcox left with injuries so essentially Greg Stiemsma and JaJuan Johnson were Boston's only big guys left? Is it too early to say I wish this NBA season (not just for the Celtics) was over?

Shawn Marion added 11 points for Dallas while Jason Terry notched 16 points off the bench.

The unofficial end of Boston's first half is Wednesday night in Oklahoma City where they'll get pummeled by the Thunder, with or without KG. This is miserable.

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Sorry Folks, It's Going To Be A Long Season For Our Beloved Boston Celtics

There is no better way to sum up the Celtics's game with the Mavericks tonight at the TD Garden than to list the last few plays in Dallas's 90-85 win.

With 25 seconds left, Paul Pierce shook off a brutal night (7 points) to hit a 3-pointer that tied it at 85. The problem was that there was way too much time left for the Mavs (6-5).

Everybody in the Garden except for apparently Celtics (4-5) head coach Doc Rivers and his team knew that Dirk Nowitzki (16 points, 7 rebounds) would get the last shot for Dallas. Kevin Garnett (16 points, 10 rebounds) was forced to guard him by himself and since this is 2012 and not say 2006, it didn't work. Dirk hit a crazy floater and got fouled with five seconds left. His free throw put Dallas up three points (88-85) with five seconds left.

No problem, the Celtics would get the last shot after all. Except not so much. Rajon Rondo (24 points, 7 assists) threw a crappy bounce pass at Ray Allen's (9 points) ankles and it bounced harmlessly out of bounds. It was over by then but just for good measure, Boston allowed a layup to Jason Terry (18 points) and Allen threw the inbounds pass away as time expired. Yuck.

In summation, this is who the Celtics are in 2011-12: frauds. They can beat up on the dredge of the NBA but when it comes time to play a decent opponent, they fold. This game was right there for them to snatch but all their minor mistakes added up to a particularly bitter loss. They have yet to beat a team that's over .500 this season or one that made the playoffs last season, something to chew on.

Everything that Boston does right now seems more difficult than it should be. Rondo is playing very well and Allen had been great before tonight but Pierce is lost and KG is a shell of his former self.

It's telling that the Celtics only got back into it this evening thanks to a second unit of Avery Bradley (4 points), Brandon Bass (8 points), Keyon Dooling (9 points) and Mickael Pietrus (5 points in his Celtic debut). Their younger legs allowed Rivers to put more ball pressure on the Mavs.

Shawn Marion had 15 points and seven rebounds for Dallas which has now won five of its last six games after starting 1-4. Without Tyson Chandler or J.J. Barea, I don't think they have a prayer of repeating but they'll be a factor in the Western Conference. Starting in place of Jason Kidd, old friend Delonte West had 12 points while Brendan Haywood had eight points and 11 rebounds.

After getting smoked by the Pacers on Friday and having four days off (probably as long as you can have this season in the NBA), the Celtics truly had no excuse for starting off so poorly once again. They got plenty of open looks but none of them were falling.

Dallas led 23-15 after the first quarter but Boston rallied to cut it to 42-41 at halftime. The Mavs pushed it further and were up 68-59 heading into the fourth before withstanding Boston's last spurt (26-22).

The Celts hit nine more free throws (23-14) but the Mavs grabbed eight more rebounds (43-35) including an embarrassing 12-2 edge in offensive boards. Dallas also played more big boy basketball with a 44-30 margin in points in the paint.

Things don't figure to get much better for the C's since this was the start of a three games in four days stretch. They face the Bulls (10-2) on Friday at the Garden before a rematch with the Pacers in Indiana on Saturday night. Chicago won three games in the past three nights showing that they are both legit and not prone to making excuses even though Derrick Rose (last season's MVP) sat out tonight. At this point, I'll be happy if Boston wins either of those games.

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PJ Brown is rolling over in his grave

It doesn't take a haughty degree from Harvard or M.I.T to figure out the formula for success for the Celtics. Without KG, they're pretenders; with KG, they're one of the NBA's best teams and a championship contender.

As Kevin Garnett sat out his eighth straight game, the Dallas Mavericks came into the TD Garden last night and beat the Celtics 99-90 behind 37 points from Dirk Nowitzki.

It was Boston's (27-12) third consecutive loss at home as they continue to play better on the road than at home (better road beef?).

Paul Pierce led the Celtics with 24 points, Ray Allen scored 21, Kendrick Perkins had 14 points and 12 rebounds and Rajon Rondo notched 12 assists. Rasheed Wallace added 11 points but when he got in foul trouble, the game shifted in Dallas' (27-14) favor.

The ageless and hairless Jason Kidd had 13 points and 17 assists, Shawn Marion added 16 points and eight rebounds, Erick Dampier scored 11 and Drew Gooden had 10 points off the bench.

The C's were up 25-20 after one quarter and 50-41 at the half but once Wallace went out in the third quarter, Glen Davis and Brian Scalabrine were forced to cover Nowitzki, advantage Mavericks.

Dallas outscored Boston 34-18 in the third and they pushed the lead to as much as 18 points in the fourth while Boston didn't have any type of comeback in them.

Dallas shot 57.4% for the game to Boston's 50.6%. The Celts continue to struggle at the line (8 for 16) while the Mavs (17 for 24) did enough to win.

With KG's possible return looming on Friday vs. the Blazers, the Celts have a very winnable game tomorrow night in Detroit against a garbage Pistons team. A blowout would be just what the Doc (Rivers) ordered.