Celtics rally against Mavs for 44th victory

[February 13, 2009]  DALLAS (AP) -- Paul Pierce scored 18 of his 31 points in the fourth quarter, finally giving Boston its first lead, then hitting two jumpers in the final 1:12 to put the Celtics ahead to stay in a physical 99-92 victory at Dallas on Thursday night.

Pierce's tiebreaking 11-footer gave the Celtics a 93-91 lead. At the other end, he took an elbow to the head from a charging Dirk Nowitzki, who was called for the foul. Then Pierce made another step-back jumper, from 14 feet, to seal the game.

Coach Doc Rivers wasn't on the Celtics bench to see the end of the game, having been ejected because of two technical fouls late in the third quarter. That came in a sequence when Kevin Garnett got three fouls in a matter of seconds -- two personals and a technical while battling with Nowitzki.

Boston (44-11), the defending champion, goes into the All-Star break with the most victories in the NBA. The Celtics have won nine consecutive road games.

Ray Allen, playing with an injured thumb he hurt the night before, had 20 points, and Rajon Rondo had 19 points, 15 rebounds and 14 assists for his second career triple-double, both this season.

Nowitzki led Dallas with 37 points. Josh Howard added 17 before fouling out with 3:47 left, which led to two more free throws by Pierce.

After Garnett was called for a non-shooting foul against Nowitzki with 2:27 left in the third quarter, they were exchanging words while setting up for the next play when official Dick Bavetta called a double technical against the two All-Stars.

Only 10 seconds later, Garnett got called for another foul -- his fifth personal -- and Rivers got a technical as Nowitzki turned around with a triumphant look on his face. After Nowitzki made the free throw and play resumed, Rivers was still arguing and got his second technical.

Garnett didn't return until 4:44 left in the game, soon after Boston took its first lead of the game.

Boston never led until Pierce made a tying 13-foot jumper while being fouled by Howard with 5:37 left, then added the free throw to make it 85-84. After Nowitzki missed two shots, stretching his quarter-long drought to six misses in a row, Pierce hit two more free throws after Howard's sixth foul.

Nowitzki finally scored again, hitting a 3-pointer that tied the game at 89 with 1:58 left. But Pierce then made two more free throws, before Nowitzki pulled up for a 12-footer.

Before his late spurt, Nowitzki hadn't made a field goal since 2:49 was left in the third quarter, putting the end to a 14-4 run by the Celtics before the altercation with Garnett.

Dallas had been up 65-50 only a few minutes earlier on Antoine Wright's 3-pointer. Wright had a steal and, while falling down, got the ball to Jason Kidd, who stepped over him on the way down the court. Kidd passed to Howard, who penetrated and then passed to Wright, who had gotten up and was open on the left wing.

Boston started the game hitting one of its first nine shots and trailed throughout the first half. Howard's 3-pointer broke a 2-2 tie, and the Mavs continued to lead, going up 51-40 after Nowitzki scored a versatile six points in the final 1:44 of the half.

Nowitzki made an inside basket, converted two free throws after going down hard while being fouled by Rondo, then had a turnaround 17-footer.

It was drastically different from their game in Boston last month, when the Celtics built a 31-point lead before halftime and had a season-high 74 points at the break. Boston won that game 124-100.

Notes: Allen had two fouls in the first 4 1/2 minutes. He played 35 minutes a night after injuring his thumb when it got caught in the jersey of another player in New Orleans. ... Boston swept the season series against Dallas for the second straight year. Before last year, the Celtics' last sweep was 1993-94.

[Associated Press; By STEPHEN HAWKINS]

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