The Boston Celtics (12-14, 3rd in the Atlantic) head to Dallas tonight to take on the Mavericks (18-10, 2nd in the Southwest) at the American Airlines Center tonight at 8:30. This is the second part of the Texas 2-step for the Celtics, who lost to the Spurs Sunday night, 107-90. Ricky Davis led the way for the Celtics with 21 points, but the Celtics couldn't contain the strong play of Tony Parker, who had 27. Dallas comes into tonight's game fresh off a defeat of the Denver Nuggets 102-88. Michael Finley is starting to round back into form after battling injuries to start the season, but both Jerry Stackhouse and Marquis Daniels could miss tonight's game with a hand and knee injury, respectively. <div align="center"><font color="DarkGreen">Celtic Keys to the Game</font></div> 1. <u>Jump out early</u>. Dallas has a great arena and really good fans. The Celtics would be well served to try and take an early lead and take them out of the game as early as possible. 2. <u>Run, Run and Run some more</u>. If there is one thing a team that likes to get up and down the floor hates, its another team that will run with them. The Celtics have to come out with intesnsity and a commitment to the running game. 3. <u>Hit the Boards</u>. No one expects Raef to match Dirk in terms of points, but he should be able to hold his own on the boards. The same stands for Mark Blount with Eric Dampier. If those two can keep the rebound numbers close, the Celtics have a good shot at stealing this game. <div align="center"><font color="DarkGreen">Key Matchup of the Game</font></div> Michael Finley vs Paul Pierce The Celtics don't have anyone who can stay with Dirk Nowitzki, so I expect him to have a good night. The key for the Celtics will be making sure that no one else hurts them. Look for the C's to rotate Pierce, Davis and Jiri on Finley to make sure that he doesn't have a big scoring night. Prediction: While I think the Celtics have made some great strides over the last couple of weeks, I don't think they are at the point where they can hang with the big boys of the West just yet. I expect I high-scoring affair, with the Mavs eventually pulling away 119-107.
This is Raef's first return to Dallas, and I expect a big game from him. I strongly feel that San Antonio's domination had more to do with the Spurs playing far better than normal then it had to do with them being far above the Celtics. I think the C's can win this one, and I'll go ahead and predict a Celtics win. Besides Dirk, I think the matchups are in our favor as long as Ricky continues his light out shooting. Yeah, it's settled, I'll be the idiot that picks Boston, 116-111.
