Dallas Mavericks hand Boston Celtics their first defeat this season, 89-87
Dirk Nowitzki’s remarkable performance took the Dallas Mavericks over the moon on Monday. Coming from a five game winning streak, Boston Celtics were probably not expecting to lose to the Mavericks. This was Boston’s first defeat at the hands of the Mavericks
since March 16, 2007.
The German power forward Dirk Nowitzki scored 25 points for his team Monday night. The player successfully attempted a 16-foot jumper over the Big Baby Glen Davis with only 20 seconds to play.
The Dallas Mavericks were in their complete spirits and they showed determination while playing against the Celtics.
Nowitzki later said, “What really won us the game down the stretch tonight was our defense showed a lot of will. We were down five or six late and we came together in the final timeout and said, 'this is our game, let's go out and get it”.
Rumor has it that Nowitzi changed his hair cut and that changed his luck. He had his hair cropped to a buzz cut on Monday.
“Dirk cut his hair,” Jason Terry said. “He’s back to his MVP status. Tonight, he wasn’t going to settle”.
Jason Terry and Tyson Chandler from the Mavericks scored 17 and 12 points respectively. Chandler grabbed 13 rebounds for the team and blocked two important shots of the opponent team. He deemed higher and higher throughout the game and covered all five field
goal attempts.
Paul Pierce scored 24 points. Kevin Garnett scored 18 points and clinched 15 rebounds. Rajon Rondo made 11 points and 15 assists for his team. This team was unusual as the Celtics, who had won their previous three matches on the hands of Dallas.
The Celtics were in the lead with 87-82 until Paul Pierce’s made his 17 footer. The game was tied at 87 with 1:13 left when Jason Terry made his 3 pointer. Unfortunately, Kevin Garnett missed an inside shot when there were 36 seconds left. Jason Kidd passed
the ball to Nowitzki, who was successful in connecting to the left wing over Boston’s Glen Davis. With 17.4 left to play, the Celtics at that point gave the Mavericks the lead for good.
Although the Boston Celtics made 25 more shots than Dallas did, 91-66, but the Mavericks successfully shot 50 percent whereas the Celtics ended at 41.8 percent after a 34.7 percent first-half effort.
U-Turn:
The game took a u-turn when Celtics took their largest lead at 80-74. This was made possible by Rajon Rondo to Kevin Garnett alley-oop slam. Boston could not take its next six shots and after that missed 11 of its 14 shots from the field. The Mavericks took
that as a golden opportunity and Nowitzki scored 10 of the final 13 points for the Mavericks.
Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle made a good decision that proved to be beneficial after he moved Jason Terry to a reserve role. Terry, the former NBA Sixth Man of the Year succeeded in drawing 17 points off the bench that also includes a 3 pointer that tied
the game with 1:13 remaining. After that shooting guard DeShawn Stevenson replaced him in the starting lineup.
Shaquille O’Neal (Boston Celtics) fans were disappointed to have endured the fifth straight game without him. The player has had a bruised right knee and was confined to the bench only. He will return on Saturday and would make up for his missed games.
Coming Up: Celtics will play against Miami on Thursday, Memphis on Saturday, Washington on Nov 17. Mavericks will be playing against Memphis on Wednesday, Philadelphia on Friday and New Orleans on Monday.
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