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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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 GAME FLOW
BOSTON (AP) -- Dirk Nowitzki made Don Nelson look like he made
the right decision in the draft two years ago.
|  | | Dennis Rodman reaches for one of his game-high 16 rebounds. |
The Dallas forward, drafted by Nelson one spot ahead of Boston's Paul Pierce in 1998, scored 26 points including a pair of key
3-pointers in the fourth quarter to lead the Mavericks a 108-100
victory over the Celtics on Monday night.
"They spotted him up and fed him," said Boston coach Rick
Pitino. "He's a big guy who's a great shooter. He made the big
shots when they needed him."
Dallas improved to 4-4 since the arrival of Dennis Rodman, who
was on his best behavior as he scored four points and grabbed 16
rebounds.
"He's a legend," Boston forward Danny Fortson said of going up
against Rodman. "I was very impressed."
Erick Strickland added 19 and Michael Finley finished with 17
for the Mavericks.
Boston used a 24-11 second-quarter run to take a 61-44 lead with
1:17 left in the first half and grabbed its largest lead of the
game, 78-58, on Pierce's jumper midway through the third quarter.
But the Mavericks battled back with Pierce on the bench in foul
trouble. Reserve center Sean Rooks scored all 11 of his points in a third-quarter run in which Dallas cut the deficit to four.
"I was sitting there in the first half and was surprised to be
put in there to start the second half," Rooks said. "It was a
huge win. We weren't happy with our performance in the first
half."
Dallas took its first lead since early in the first quarter when
Rodman grabbed an offensive rebound and kicked it out to Finley,
who sank a 3-pointer for a 90-87 advantage. Cedric Ceballos'
three-point play capped a 35-9 spurt that made it 93-87.
The Celtics tied it at 95 on a pair of free throws by Tony
Battie, but Nowitzki answered with a 3-pointer from the right wing
with 3:50 remaining. After the Celtics cut it to 100-97, Nowitzki
again answered with a 3-pointer with 1:52 left.
"Offensively I had my game going, but rebounding-wise I didn't
do my job," said Nowitzki, who finished with two rebounds, both in
the second half. "I was just feeling it and they did a great job
of finding me. I was wide open."
Antoine Walker led Boston with 23 points and also had seven
assists and six rebounds. Pierce finished with 21 points in just 25
minutes while Vitaly Potapenko had 19 points and nine boards.
"We just turned the ball over too much in the second half,"
Pierce said. "We got a big lead, relaxed and it cost us the
game."
Game notes
Finley played in his 352nd consecutive game. ... Rodman
received an ovation from the Boston crowd after diving head-first
for a loose ball midway through the second quarter. ... Hubert
Davis leads the league in three-point shooting at 52.6 percent and
is on pace to break Steve Kerr's NBA record of 52.4 percent. ...
Walker continued to hoist up 3-pointers despite shooting 26 percent
this season. He missed all three of his attempts. ... Boston
outrebounded Dallas, 32-16, in the first half, but was
outrebounded, 22-17 in the second half.
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ALSO SEE
NBA Scoreboard
Dallas Clubhouse
Boston Clubhouse
RECAPS
Dallas 108
Boston 100
Seattle 84
Charlotte 81
Miami 85
New York 76
Utah 106
New Jersey 101
Golden State 80
Atlanta 75
Houston 96
LA Clippers 77
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