GDT 1/11/12: Mavs @ Celtics (7 CT/FSW/ESPN)

[mavspwnage]

Mavs (5-5, 1-3 away)
Celtics (4-4, 3-1 home)

http://espn.go.com/nba/preview?gameId=320111002

Dirk Nowitzki rid himself of his shooting slump in the Dallas Mavericks' most recent victory. Paul Pierce and the Boston Celtics hope they can do the same.

Dallas seeks its fourth victory in five meetings with Boston when the teams meet Wednesday night at TD Garden. Nowitzki, who scored a combined 16 points while shooting 22.7 percent in a loss to San Antonio on Thursday and a victory over New Orleans on Saturday, bounced back by going 9 for 10 from the field for a team-high 18 points in Tuesday's 100-86 win at Detroit.

Defending NBA champion Dallas (5-5) has won four of its last five to reverse its 1-4 start to the season. Shawn Marion scored 14 points and Vince Carter added 11 on Tuesday for the Mavericks, who played without Jason Kidd as he nurses a lower-back injury.

"We've had some rough ones, but (Tuesday) was a good one all around," Marion said. "Everybody was contributing, helping each other."

Dallas also won for the first time on the road after having lost its previous three away from home, including the last two by a combined 39 points.

"It's a road win that we haven't had yet, so that's really important to us," coach Rick Carlisle said. "Momentum has been elusive for us, so we respect how tough it is competitively in this league right now, but our goal is to build on this."

Kidd will miss his third straight game Wednesday, though he could return Friday against Milwaukee. Dallas has fared well without its starting point guard, however, and it has a solid chance to keep rolling if Nowitzki can repeat his recent performances against Boston.

The reigning NBA finals MVP has averaged 31.2 points while shooting 56.6 percent in his last five games against the Celtics, including a 29-point performance in a 101-97 victory in the most recent meeting Feb. 4 in Boston.

Pierce scored only 12 points in that contest while going 1 for 6 from 3-point range, and he's hoping to rebound from another tough outing. Pierce finished with 10 points while shooting 3 of 17 in Friday's 87-74 loss to Indiana that snapped Boston's four-game winning streak. The Celtics shot 39.4 percent as a team.

"Both teams set offense back about 50 years (Friday). It was awful to watch," coach Doc Rivers said. "I just thought offensively we were horrible."

The Celtics (4-4) lost for the first time this season with Pierce, Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen all healthy. Pierce missed the season's first three games with a bruised right heel. Allen, who returned to the lineup after missing one game with an illness, had 23 points but couldn't compensate for Pierce's struggles.

"He was human," Rivers said of Pierce. "I thought he tried to do too much off the bounce, especially early. And then I thought he got frustrated."

Boston has had four days off to recover, while the Mavericks haven't had more than two straight off days all season and are playing in their fifth set of back-to-back games. Dallas has won two straight visits to Boston and five of the last seven meetings there. Nowitzki is averaging 27.8 points in 12 career games at TD Garden.

Last time Mavs were in Boston...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fQyoNN2bBSY

[deamon]

I hate this pseudogangstas team from Boston.
JUST DESTROY THEM!

[Underdog]

Stomp balls.

[Rick41]

F KG and Peirce.

[LonghornDub]

Easy win, tbh.

[sefant77]

lets see how often Pierce will die tonight driving to the basket...

[rabbitproof]

With sefant's post, the Mavericks smoke 'em.

[mavspwnage]

22,981 reasons we win this game.

See what I did?

[sefant77]

Dirks 23k career point will come off a nice fadeaway jumper in KGs face, making him his usual bitch....

[41mvp]

Let's go Mavs!!!

[alby]

Dirk should just go ahead and score 354 points tonight to pass Robert Parish and be in the top 20 all time.

[Kante]

A win tonight would be a pretty good statement!

[j0Shi]

Celtics by the numbers: http://www.mavsmoneyball.com/2012/1/...boston-celtics

[sike]

Go Mavs!

[dirt_dobber]

Dirk (reigning NBA finals MVP)
31.0 Min. Per Game
18.9 Pts. Per Game
2.6 Ast. Per Game
5.4 Reb. Per Game
46.9 Field Goal %
20.0 Three Point %
88.7 Free Throw %

paul pierce (stabbing victim)
30.4 Min. Per Game
15.2 Pts. Per Game
4.0 Ast. Per Game
6.2 Reb. Per Game
38.5 Field Goal %
40.7 Three Point %
75.0 Free Throw %

[clutch#41]

Mavs by 5

[Rick41]

Originally Posted by alby

Dirk should just go ahead and score 354 points tonight to pass Robert Parish and be in the top 20 all time.

I think he can pull it off tonight.

[MavsFTR]

Dirk's three-ball has been piss poor so far. Would love to see him get back on track there.

[Kidd Karma]

One of the reasons I'd like to see some of our end of bench guys see some minutes this season, especially during tough stretches of 4 in 5 or back to backs. More Wright, Roddy and DoJo.

[LetsGoMavs]

Dirk is going to slaughter KG.

[SMC0007]

I can't stand KG's stupid face. I hope we beat their butts. Over.

[DMOC]

Dirk needs to get his 3-point shot % up a lot and his overall rebounding up a little, hopefully he can make progress tonight.

[SMC0007]

Crank it up baby!! Go Mavs!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3jYcW1nEsGk

[irishock]

Originally Posted by LetsGoMavs

Dirk is going to slaughter KG.

Please. KG at 35 can still stop Dirk, prime or not.

[SMC0007]

Originally Posted by irishock

Please. KG at 35 can still stop Dirk, prime or not.

Payniss?

[MavsFTR]

Originally Posted by irishock

Please. KG at 35 can still stop Dirk, prime or not.

Obvious troll is obvious.

[Dirkgreatness]

Originally Posted by irishock

Please. KG at 35 can still stop Dirk, prime or not.

Seriously? KG could never stop Dirk, regardless of his age.

[iella]

Originally Posted by MavsFTR

Obvious troll is obvious.

If you guys would stop quoting him, we could all just put him on our ignore lists...

[BGMaverick9]

Dirk’s 27.8 points per game average against Boston ranks him 4th all-time in scoring average for an opposing player against Boston. Not a bad three for Dirk to be behind: Michael Jordan (32.0), Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (30.7) and Wilt Chamberlain (29.8), then Dirk (27.8)

[irishock]

Originally Posted by dirt_dobber

Dirk (reigning NBA finals MVP)
31.0 Min. Per Game
18.9 Pts. Per Game
2.6 Ast. Per Game
5.4 Reb. Per Game
46.9 Field Goal %
20.0 Three Point %
88.7 Free Throw %

paul pierce (stabbing victim)
30.4 Min. Per Game
15.2 Pts. Per Game
4.0 Ast. Per Game
6.2 Reb. Per Game
38.5 Field Goal %
40.7 Three Point %
75.0 Free Throw %

Pierce is the better defender of the two. theres no question about that.

[LSMF]

I'm excited.

[grandmasta8]

link

http://www.firstrow.tv/watch/101575/...mavericks.html

[skakavac]

hey everybody..first live game for this season...lets get a win and watch dirk get to 23000

[MavsFTR]

Let's do this.

[skakavac]

2:00 am good morning everybody :-)

[LSMF]

West.

[LSMF]

West again.

[CadBane]

KG still allowed to hold people with both hands I see...

[CadBane]

That sure didn't look like a walk...

[CadBane]

Maybe give Dirk a touch instead of posting Haywood?