Pierce, Rondo star as Boston Celtics hold off Dallas Mavericks 117-115 in double O.T. – NBA Recap
Paul Pierce made a three pointer right at the start of the second overtime, and then sank five of the six free throws he got in the period as Boston Celtics held off the Dallas Mavericks 117-115 in a double overtime thriller here
at the TD Garden on Wednesday night.
Pierce finished the night with 34 points, 6 rebounds and 4 steals as Boston rose to a 12-9 record. Rajon Rondo was sensational again and fell one short of a triple-double with 16 points, 15 assists and nine rebounds while Kevin
Garnett ended up with 16.
In what was Jason Terry’s first game against his former team, the guard managed just 3 of 10 from 10 points; Jeff Green scored 15 while Chris Wilcox also had 6 rebounds.
O.J. Mayo scored a team high 24 points for the Mavericks, but committed 9 of the 27 turnovers. Darren Collison added 20 off the bench, and had 7 turnovers, while Shawn Marion chipped in with 16 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists.
The poor ball handling cost the Mavs big, and negated the effect of their 51.1 percent shooting from the floor, in comparison to 43 percent by the C’s.
Boston had a solid start to the game and were leading by 7, seconds before the interval, before Mayo made a jumper to make it 43-48 at the break.
The Greens were relentless after the half and nearly seven minutes into the third, they had stretched their lead to 14 points, 68-54. The Mavs however fought back with a 14-4 run to make it a 4 point game. Boston increased their
lead to 8 early in the 4th, but with 6:46 to go in regulation a Dahntay Jones jumper made it a one point game, before a Collision layup with 2:20 to go tied the game at 92. A Rondo deuce later, Derek Fisher made a three to actually put the Mavs
infront, but with seconds ticking down it was the Celtics who had the chance to win it. Rondo’s layup however got blocked by Fisher right at the buzzer.
Terry started the first overtime with a three point play to make it 99-96 for the C’s, but they couldn’t hold off the Mavs, who chased the hosts throughout the period and a Jones’ block on Pierce’s jumper deep meant that the game
headed into second extra time.
Pierce took control of the game with a three early in the second bonus period which put the C’s ahead for good. Boston led by 5 with 4.1 second to go, before Mayo nailed a consolation three to make it 115-117.
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