Dallas 101, Boston 97

Friday's game was one of those where I was legitimately surprised that the Celtics couldn't finish the job.

[recap] [box score]

It's not even that we played that well; we didn't. Our defense was terrible in the first half, as was our offensive execution over the game's final two minutes. But it just seemed -- hmm, how do I say this without taking credit away from the Mavs? -- it just seemed like we were making far more plays down the stretch than they were. Yeah, we didn't score for the final 2:42, but we came up with a bunch of great stops defensively, whereas it seemed like we were just missing shots on our end, rather than being stopped.

Anyway, I can't be too mad at the key play, a Jason Kidd three that put Dallas up two with just seconds left. The Mavs ran Jason Terry off a Dirk Nowitzki screen, with Action Dirk rolling to the basket. Boston's defense was in place; Nowitzki was free to catch the ball, but he would have had a contested shot. Terry's pass was low and Nowitzki booted it. The ball was loose just long enough for Ray Allen to react to it, leaving Kidd open in the process. Dirk recovered quickly enough to beat everyone to the ball, kicked it to Kidd, who patiently waited for Allen to fly by before knocking down the game-winner.

Allen was pretty magnificent tonight, actually, coming alive offensively in the third quarter. He also contributed a huge block of Tyson Chandler in the fourth, and battled Chandler for the rebound on a Dallas miss that ended up out of bounds to Boston. These were all things I was prepared to write about in more detail had the Celtics won. Instead, because the Cs lost, I'm forced to question the quick three-pointer Allen took under a minute to go. It would have iced the game and frankly I'm perfectly fine with him taking that look, but I'm sure some will question the shot selection.

Kendrick Perkins started tonight in place of Shaquille O'Neal, who is out with some sort of Achilles injury and probably won't play Sunday against Orlando, either. Perk was great, with 13 points and 12 boards, including a couple of tip-ins and another bucket in the fourth. He looks terrific out there, and I think it's safe to say we have our starting center back. Just in time, too; in addition to Shaq's latest malady, word came after tonight's game that Jermaine O'Neal had knee surgery and is expected back in six to eight weeks -- in other words, expected back in time to mess up the rotation. More likely, because Doc Rivers is sensitive to these things, he'll be back in time to be available in absolute emergencies. But I'm not expecting anything out of JON the rest of the year.

Kevin Garnett started really hot and then missed something like nine of his last ten shots, including a long jumper that went in and out on the possession before the Kidd dagger. He also got hit with a technical foul for pushing J.J. Barea, which isn't that big of a deal. However, during the minor fracas with Barea, he also pushed away the arm of official Eric Lewis, drawing a reprimand of sorts from ESPN play-by-play man Mike Breen.

I doubt very much it's something the league is worried about, and therefore I don't bring it up in the context of it possibly costing him some money or even a game. KG did the same thing when Steve Javie was trying to keep him away from Channing Frye in the dustup in Phoenix last week. I mention it only to draw attention to what I thought looked like unprofessional conduct from Lewis: It sure looked to me like Lewis pushed KG back after Garnett swatted his arm away.

Generally speaking, I think it's a bad idea to put your hands on someone who is fired up. This is an accepted practice in breaking up NBA scuffles, however, so I'm not going to criticize Lewis for that. And if the rule is a player, KG in this case, can't swat an official's arm away, than I guess I have to live with that, too. But part of the officials' job is to keep a cool head when tempers flare, the same way, say, players aren't supposed to run into the stands when someone throws a beer at them. Lewis obviously didn't go after KG, but he reacted poorly. After KG pushed Lewis' arm away and Lewis responded by shoving KG's arm, Lewis then gestured with his thumb while talking with fellow official Bob Delaney -- at Garnett, perhaps, or perhaps suggesting that Garnett be shown the exit. It was as if Lewis was saying to Delaney: "You deal with him." That's not an acceptable mindset for an NBA official to have, and Lewis' actions were inappropriate.

As for Dallas, they're a pretty strong team. They're dealing with the loss of their starting small forward, Caron Butler, as well as a nagging ankle injury to Nowitzki that caused him to miss nine games earlier in the season. (It speaks to how talented Nowitzki is offensively that he scored 29 points against one of the league's best defenses while being far less than 100 percent healthy.) They've got DeShawn Stevenson in their starting lineup, which is okay as long as he doesn't finish games, and he nearly cost coach Rick Carlisle the win Friday night before Carlisle took him out. They also have a ton of scoring punch off the bench, with Shawn Marion, Barea, and Jason Terry, and they may get Rodrigue Beaubois back in time to contribute down the stretch. They're certainly deeper than the Lakers and Spurs, but I'm not sure they have the horses to beat those teams in a seven-game series. I wouldn't overlook them, though.

The Next Lamb: The Dallas Mavericks

Game 8: Boston (6-1) at Dallas (3-2)

Monday, November 8

8:30 p.m. (Eastern)

TV: League Pass

Despite a slow start to the season, or perhaps because of it, the Mavericks are going to prove a tough test for the Celtics.

Over the past three seasons, Boston has struggled against Dirk Nowitzki. Though the Celtics have won five of the six matchups between the two teams during those seasons, Nowitzki has averaged nearly 26 points per game. Kevin Garnett didn't play in two of those games, but Action Dirk did have 37 points with KG playing in a Boston win back in February of 2009. Moreover, the current-era Celtics have had trouble with scoring power forwards; the defensive scheme works best when Garnett can play free safety, but he can't really do that against Nowitzki.

Dallas' point guard, Jason Kidd, may also pose some problems. He's got several inches on Rajon Rondo, and he's perhaps the league's best at his position at operating in the post. He's surrounded by shooters, too, so any help the Celtics give Rondo on Kidd may come at a price. An interesting twist is that the much smaller Jason Terry, historically a sixth man, is now a starter. Doc Rivers could conceivably put Ray Allen on Kidd and Rondo on Terry. Kidd will be a tough cover for Allen, but it might eliminate part of Dallas' attack.

Finally, Dallas has a pretty good bench, even with Terry in the starting lineup. In addition to the versatile Shawn Marion, Dallas' second unit includes Brendan Haywood -- the first legitimate center Boston's second unit has faced this year. I've got no indication that Shaquille O'Neal will be back against the Mavs (though he is accompanying the team on the road trip), and I just read that Jermaine O'Neal is questionable for the game, too. Haywood is too big for Glen Davis to handle, which means that Semih Erden will need to step up. He had a terrific game against Oklahoma City, but Haywood is the most physical opponent he's seen in his brief NBA career. Fortunately for Boston, Haywood isn't totally polished offensively and doesn't always assert himself.

The Mavericks have already lost twice at home this year, and I imagine they'll be looking to make it up to the home crowd on Monday. They've also had a day off, whereas the Celtics are on the second night of a back-to-back. Doc kept Paul Pierce's and Garnett's minutes in check against the Thunder, but Rondo played 36 and Allen played 40.

Also, Rondo apparently has a mild case of plantar fascitis. This came to light after the Milwaukee game, and there was talk that Rondo would miss the Chicago game. But Rondo doesn't like sitting out, and he made it clear that he especially doesn't like sitting out against other elite point guards like the Bulls' Derrick Rose. This also likely means that we can't take much from the fact that he suited up against the Thunder -- Westbrook isn't on the same level as Rose and Rondo yet, but he's stolen some headlines this season and I'm sure Rondo wanted the opportunity to compete against him. Kidd's an elite point guard, even though he's lost a couple steps, so I expect to see Rondo in uniform on Monday.

I don't know what to make of Rondo's injury, actually. I think it was last year when Rondo put a scare into everyone by needing to be carried off the floor after a game because his feet were hurting. But it didn't affect his play then, and he hasn't shown any ill effects this season, either. Hopefully it's nothing. If it is a more serious injury, it will pose some major problems for the Celtics -- and not just against Dallas, where Rondo's far superior speed makes him as tough a matchup for Kidd as Kidd is for Rondo on the other end.