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.

Tweet


Follow @RichSlate

Tripping balls in the desert

I have never done LSD but I assume it's something like the mess I witnessed last night as the Boston Celtics no-showed in Phoenix, losing 88-71 to the Suns at US Airways Center.

Want bizarre? How about Marcin Gortat scoring a career-high 19 points and grabbing 17 rebounds off the bench. Don't forget mild-mannered Celtics (35-11) head coach Doc Rivers getting ejected in the first half to try and get his team fired up. Haha, didn't work so much. Finally, the night wouldn't be complete without Kevin Garnett (18 points, 9 rebounds) hitting Channing Frye in the balls while the latter took a 3-pointer and also getting tossed from the game.

WTF! It was the end of a long, snow-filled work week so I might have been hallucinating even though I was as sober as a BYU undergraduate. Still, I couldn't believe what I was seeing as the below-.500 Suns (21-24) got whatever they wanted against the helpless Celtics.

It was very strange. Vince Carter scored 17 points, Steve Nash had 13 points and 11 rebounds, Robin Lopez added 11 points and Mickael Pietrus notched 11 points off the bench.

Paul Pierce was the only other Celtic in double-figures with 14 points. Glen Davis left in the second quarter with a hamstring injury and never returned, it was that kind of night.

The good news is that Boston can put all of that nonsense behind them with a strong showing in Los Angeles on tomorrow afternoon as they play the Lakers for the first time since Game 7 of last June's NBA Finals. These two teams and fan bases absolutely hate each other so it should be a good one.

Care to change your NBA finals pick?

The Celtics pulled off a first in franchise history (which is really saying something) as they won the first two games of the Eastern Conference Finals on the road.

Last night's 95-92 Game 2 win at Amway Arena in Orlando was further validation that the Celtics are back while conversely the Magic are frauds (just like LeBron and the Cavs).

Paul Pierce scored 28 points with five rebounds and five assists while Rajon Rondo notched 25 points, eight assists and five rebounds. Kevin Garnett had 10 points and nine rebounds while Kendrick Perkins scored 10 points in limited time before fouling out. Glen Davis added eight points and six rebounds off the bench and Rasheed Wallace hit two important 3-pointers.

Dwight Howard had a breakout game (30 points, 8 rebounds) but his teammates didn't offer much help aside from Vince Carter (16 points) and J.J. Redick (16 points).

Boston led this one for over 45 minutes and it was Orlando that made the key mistakes down the stretch (Carter bricking two free throws, Redick hesitating to take a timeout and Jameer Nelson taking a stupid pull up three on a fastbreak that he missed).

Orlando led 28-27 after the first quarter but Boston was up 53-51 at the half. The Celts came out stronger in the third quarter (25-19) and for the second straight game, were able to withstand a desperate push by the Magic in the fourth (22-17).

Boston outshot Orlando 45.9% to 39.4%, which let them survive seven more made free throws by the Magic (29-22).

Game 3 is on Saturday night at the TD Garden and since I'll be in Las Vegas for a bachelor party, it'll be tough to avoid putting all the money I have on the C's to win the NBA title.

I thought last night was a must-win for Orlando so needless to say if they lose on Saturday, they'll probably get swept.

Magic lose for the first time since April 2

Remember when nobody gave the Celtics a chance heading into the 2010 playoffs? It seems like a long time ago since they knocked out the Cavs and yesterday beat Orlando 92-88 in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals at Amway Arena.

Boston played great for the first three quarters, leading by as much as 20 and although the Magic cut it to two points with eight seconds left, the Celts hit their free throws to ice it.

It was shockingly easy against a team that had won all eight of its playoff games and 14 overall. They hadn't lost since April 2 and it's clear that they didn't know how to react to getting their ass kicked.

Ray Allen led the Celts with 25 points and seven rebounds while Paul Pierce notched 22 points, nine rebounds and five assists. Rasheed Wallace scored 13 off the bench, Kevin Garnett had eight points and 11 rebounds, Rajon Rondo added eight points and eight assists while Tony Allen and Glen Davis had six points off the bench.

Vince Carter (23 points) and Jameer Nelson (20 points, 9 rebounds) were the only Magic players to show up. Dwight Howard (13 points, 12 rebounds, 5 blocks) still looks like a guy that can't solve the defense of Perk, Sheed and Big Baby.

Boston led 22-14 after the first quarter and 41-32 at the end of the ugly first half. The Celts were able to take the third quarter (33-26) which let them hang on in the fourth (30-18 for Orlando).

Orlando is the best 3-point shooting team in the NBA but they looked nothing like that team yesterday, shooting 5-for-22. They had seven more rebounds (45-38) but the C's did a much better job spreading it around (21-10 assists).

Is it too early to call Game 2 a must-win for the Magic? I don't think so; no doubt they'll play ten times better than yesterday but if the Celtics can pull out another road win, this series could be over quickly.

The Celtics can't beat good teams, simple as that

Remember when the Celtics consistently beat the NBA's best teams? On the road, at home, back-to-back, it didn't matter.

Times have changed as the Celts are still a good team but right now, nobody can say that they're great.

Thanks to a coma in the third quarter (36-11), Boston (32-17) choked away an 11-point halftime lead and lost to the Orlando Magic (34-17) 96-89 yesterday afternoon at the TD Garden.

That wrapped up the season series with the Magic taking it 3-1. Overall, the Celtics are 1-7 against Orlando and Atlanta this season, two teams they are very likely to see in the playoffs.

Vince Carter led Orlando with 20 points and Dwight Howard battled foul trouble but still managed 16 points and 13 rebounds. Jameer Nelson had 15 points, Rashard Lewis scored 14 points and Matt Barnes added 11 points.

Rajon Rondo nearly had a triple double with 17 points, eight rebounds, nine assists and three steals. Ray Allen added 14 points, Kevin Garnett had 13 points and nine rebounds while Paul Pierce scored 13 after missing the last two games.

Key reserve Marquis Daniels after missing just over two months of action and scored eight points off the bench.

Boston led 24-23 after the first quarter and 51-40 at halftime in one of their best halves of the season. Of course, they juxtaposed this with their usual third quarter/second half meltdown.

The C's outscored the Magic 27-20 in the fourth and cut it down to five points but it was too late. A 19-0 Orlando run in the third quarter, thanks to some great outside shooting, put them in control for the rest of the contest.

Boston has one more game before the All-Star break as they travel to New Orleans (good timing) on Wednesday night to play the Hornets minus star point guard Chris Paul.

Celts get it done in the swamps of Jersey

It wasn't pretty but the Boston Celtics picked up a win last night on the road against the New Jersey Nets, 115-111.

Still without KG, Paul Pierce led the C's (48-14) with 31 points and five assists on 12-for-14 shooting. Rajon Rondo added 20 points, five rebounds and five assists while Kendrick Perkins notched a double-double of 17 points and 13 rebounds.

Ray Allen scored 16 points (including a clutch 3-pointer that tied it late in the fourth) and grabbed five rebounds and Eddie House tallied 10 points off the bench.

Vince Carter had a game-high 34 points for the Nets (27-34). New Jersey's other star Devin Harris notched 25 points and 11 assists but rookie Brook Lopez was held to 10 points. Jarvis Hayes scored 16 points as a substitute.

The victory clinched a playoff spot for Boston but that's not exactly news with this squad and their ultimate goals.

Boston led 27-20 after the first quarter and 58-51 at the half. The Celts outscored the Nets 34-30 in the third and New Jersey started making its move in the fourth (30-23) but it was too late.

Even without Garnett, the Celtics possess two of the most dependable players in close games: Allen and Pierce.

Boston shot a ridiculous 61.2% as a team to New Jersey's 49.2%. The C's also had 13 more rebounds (39-26). The Nets hung around and made it interesting by hitting five more 3-pointers (13-8) and committing five less turnovers (19-14).

For a regular season game, it doesn't get much bigger as LeBron and the Cleveland Cavaliers invade the TD Banknorth Garden. The Cavs currently are one game ahead of Boston for the top spot and home court in the Eastern Conference playoffs.