Smell that! (Photo by Glenn James/NBAE via Getty Images)
The Los Mavs, lost. Paul Pierce scored 29 points, Rajon Rondo added 20 points and 10 rebounds, and the Celtics stretched their winning streak to four games with a 102-93 victory over the Mavericks on Saturday night.
Ray Allen had 21 points for the Celtics, beaten by the Mavericks 99-90 in Boston on Jan. 18 in their only other meeting this season. Boston’s Rasheed Wallace vowed “retribution” in the rematch, complaining after the game in January that the referees give Dallas’ top scorer Dirk Nowitzki preferential treatment. Wallace refused to comment after Saturday night’s game, but Rondo said the Celtics weren’t dwelling on the past.
“We don’t look at it as payback,” Rondo said. “That game was over when it happened. It’s a new time for us and we just needed a win.” Nowitzki had 37 points in the first meeting, but Boston’s Kevin Garnett, a longtime Nowitzki nemesis, missed the game with a hyper extended right knee. Had he been healthy, Garnett would have been the primary defender on Nowitzki. This time, Garnett and Wallace took turns guarding Nowitzki, who still went 11 for 19 from the floor and finished with 28 points. Boston went 12 for 17 from the field in the fourth quarter, with Rondo hitting all five field-goal attempts and scoring 10 points in the quarter.
The Celtics are on a four game winning streak. There longest winning streak since late November. For most teams a four game winning streak is a something to celebrate, for the Celtics its expected. The Celtics defense against the Rockets and Mavs in back-to-back games was at a level unseen pretty much all season.
The true test comes Monday when the Celtics travel to Utah to play the Jazz. The last time the Celtics played in Energy Solutions Arena Kevin Garnett injured his knee on a simple* alley-oop play. Its been just over a year since then, and the question of whether the Celtics are playing rope-a-dope with the rest of the league is soon to be answered come playoff time. After Mondays game against the Jazz the Celtics return home for the next six games ending against the Cleveland Cavaliers.
*Simple to Kevin Garnett, NOT simple to YOU!
