Official GDT: Celtics @ Mavs - 02/12/09 - 8:30pm CST

[alby]

Boston Celtics (43-11)
Dallas Mavericks (31-20)

Boston is 19-7 on the road and Dallas is 14-7 at home, something's gotta give.

We all know what happened the last time these two teams met. Can Dallas revenge that lost on national TV with a win on national TV right before the All-Star break? Another reason why this game is big is because if the Blazers lose tonight coupled by a Mavericks win, Dallas will be sitting in 4th! Nobody would have expected that. Whether that is a good thing, or a bad thing... pertaining to trades, we will see.

NBA.com preview

The Boston Celtics will be well represented in the All-Star game, as Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen and Paul Pierce are all scheduled to play for the Eastern Conference.

The "Big Three" certainly play like All-Stars against the Dallas Mavericks.

Before entering the break, the East-leading Celtics look to sweep their second straight season series from the Mavericks when the teams meet in Dallas on Thursday night.

Boston (43-11), in the midst of a stretch of games against Western Conference powers, came away with an impressive 89-77 victory at New Orleans on Wednesday.

Pierce scored a game-high 30 points and the Celtics pulled away late, outscoring the Hornets 25-13 in the final period.

That was encouraging for Boston, which squandered fourth-quarter leads in two games last week - a 105-99 home defeat to Southwest Division-leading San Antonio on Sunday, and a 110-109 overtime loss to the Los Angeles Lakers three nights earlier.

"I guess we learned from our mistakes,'' Pierce said. "It was all about execution, especially in the fourth quarter and we defended at a higher level there in the fourth. Those are two things we've got to do, especially on the road.''

The Celtics have won eight straight road games after dropping their previous four away from Boston.
Dallas (31-20), meanwhile, has won 10 of its last 11 at the American Airlines Center, and is looking to win six straight home games for the first time this season.

Boston had little trouble in its first meeting of the season with the Mavericks, which it won 124-100 at home on Jan. 25. The Celtics, who led by as many as 35 points, have defeated Dallas three straight times since the start of last season after losing 13 of the previous 14 meetings.

Garnett had 23 points in 25 minutes in last month's win over the Mavericks, while Allen and Eddie House also finished with 23 apiece.

Allen hyperextended his right thumb in the first half Wednesday and left after scoring just one point in 19 minutes. However, the nine-time All-Star is expected to return Thursday.

Despite playing without their second-leading scorer, the Mavericks had little trouble Tuesday beating one of the league's worst teams.

Sixth man Jason Terry, averaging 19.9 points, broke his left hand in Saturday's 115-114 overtime win over Chicago. He had surgery Monday, and is expected to miss three to six weeks.

Without Terry, Dallas is looking to get Josh Howard and Antoine Wright more involved on offense. They were able to do just that plan against lowly Sacramento on Tuesday, as Howard and Wright led the Mavericks with 23 points apiece en route to a 118-110 victory - the sixth in seven games overall for Dallas.

"Antoine came in and played great along with everyone else," Howard said. "We've got to keep doing this.''

Getting similar production Thursday against a stingy Boston defense won't be easy.

The Celtics have the league's second-best scoring defense (92.0 points per game allowed), and completely frustrated Dirk Nowitzki in the first meeting. The eight-time All-Star finished with 18 points but shot only 4 of 17 from the field.

Nowitzki has been tough to slow down lately, especially at home. He is averaging 28.0 points on 52.0 percent shooting during Dallas' five-game home winning streak.

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Latest news on Ray Allen:

Ray Allen (hyperextended thumb) is expected to play on Thursday.
He had his right hand wrapped after Wednesday's game but fortunately it doesn't sound serious. Keep him active, but don't be shocked if his shot is affected by the injury.
Source: Associated Press

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If Dallas can keep Rondo and Allen in check, we should be in this game. It is all about defense.

I'm putting my 4-0 GDT record on the line, let's keep the winning streak alive!

Boston 93 - 98 Dallas

Go Mavericks!