<font size="5"><font color="Navy">Dallas Mavericks (47-23) </font><font color="Black">vs. </font><font color="Green">Boston Celtics (38-32) </font></font> March 30, 2005 Mavericks at Celtics 7:00 PM <u>The Mavericks come into Boston looking for a 2-0 start to a tough four game road trip.</u> <font size="3">Statistical Leaders:</font>(Active Players) <font size="2"><font color="Navy">Mavericks:</font></font> Points:<font color="Navy">Dirk Nowitzki (26.5 PPG) </font> Rebounds:<font color="Navy">Dirk Nowitzki (10.1 RPG) </font> Assists:<font color="Navy">Jason Terry (5.3 APG) </font> <font size="2"><font color="green">Celtics:</font></font> Points:<font color="green">Paul Pierce (21.5 PPG) </font> Rebounds:<font color="green">Antoine Walker (9.3 RPG) </font> Assists:<font color="green">Gary Payton (6.0 APG) </font> <font size="3">Probable Starters:</font> <font color="navy"><font size="3"><font color="navy">Mavericks:</font></font> <font size="1">Jason Terry, Michael Finley, Josh Howard, Dirk Nowitzki, Shawn Bradley</font> </font> <font color="green"><font size="3"><font color="green">Celtics:</font></font> <font size="1">Gary Payton (Probable), Tony Allen, Paul Pierce, Antoine Walker, Raef LaFrentz</font></font> <font size="3">Key Matchup:</font> vs. <font size="1"><font color="navy"> Josh Howard </font> vs. <font color="green"> Paul Pierce </font></font> Paul Pierce is obviously the best player on the Celtics, and therefore will get the most attention. As the resident defensive stopper on the Mavericks, Josh Howard will have the assignment of guarding him throughout the game. I see this as being not only the most important matchup but also the most entertaining. Josh is coming off a big game and I think he will come up large on both ends of the court Wednesday. <font size="3">X-Factors:</font> <font size="2"><font color="Navy">Mavericks:</font></font> <font size="2"><font color="navy"><u>Key Players Returning From Injury</u> </font> <font size="1">Both Erick Dampier and Jerry Stackhouse are expected to return to the court against Boston, and this is obviously an X-factor for the Mavericks during their playoff run. Both of these players need to be playing up to their potential during the last weeks of the season and into the playoffs if the Mavs want to have a real shot at the title. Erick Dampier seemed to have fed off of Avery Johnson when he filled in for Nelson, so it will be interesting to see how he plays now that Avery is in charge</font></font> <font size="2"><font color="green">Celtics:</font></font> <font size="2"><font color="green"><u>Raef LaFrentz's Play </font></u> <font size="1"> Raef LaFrentz will have to come up big in this game in order for the Celtics to have a real chance. He has always been able to shoot the 3 and he will need to hit open shots. Shawn Bradley will not want to venture outside, so Raef should have some clean looks. If he hits them, this may force the Mavericks to drop into their 2-3 zone, leaving Boston the opportunity to pick them apart from outside the arc.</font></font> <font size="3">WhiteManCanJump's Prediction:</font> This is a more dangerous game for the Mavericks than it may seem, as they seem to be set for a let-down. I believe they will start sluggish but pick it up in the end and blow it open by the time the game is over. I expect a decent defensive game from them, winning by 11. Mavericks 99, Celtics 88. Discuss the game in this thread!
Nice preview. I'd have to agree that the Mavs will win. The C's defensive problems are killing them. There's too many rotations happening, and teams take advantage of that too easily. I expect Dampier to have a big game, if it fact he returns. The last time these two teams played, he put on a show with dunk after dunk after dunk. (Good enough, CeltsMan?)
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting 44Thrilla:</div><div class="quote_post">I'd have to agree that the Mavs will win. The C's defensive problems are killing them. There's too many rotations happening, and teams take advantage of that too easily. I expect Dampier to have a big game, if it fact he returns. The last time these two teams played, he put on a show with dunk after dunk after dunk. (Good enough, CeltsMan?) </div> Yeah, thats the ticket, Thrilla. There's a good reason to believe the Mavericks will start slow, because apparently the fire alarms were going off in their hotel all night. (I didn't provide the link because you had to register). If Stackhouse and Dampier are both back tonight, it would benefit the Celtics to try and run them early, since I'm sure their conditioning and timing will be off. I'd like to see one of the young points really step up tonight, because I think Doc would rather rest GP, but neither Banks nor West have given him reason to hand them the keys to the team. Apparently things got a little chippy at practice yesterday, so hopefully the Celtics will come out with some fire in their eyes and end this losing streak.
Doc Rivers was on The Jim Rome Show yesterday, he said that GP will be playing his normal minutes. Apparently, Doc was told by medical staff that resting him will hurt his condition more than help it. I'm not a Rome fan, but I just happened to be flipping through stations and heard Doc's voice. It was actually a great interview.
Whiteman, i heard that if it wasnt tonight it would be in Phili that they would come back but if we do have them back, i see this game being close down to the wire, because we have to get them back in our system so i still kinda sorta see us winning but not before Ricky goes Crazy on us.
We did a fantastic job of blowing it in the 4th. The bench was great, but the starters didn't get the job done. I hope Walker and Payton don't get a suspension for leaving the bench. Mike and Tommy didn't explain the situation very well.
The Celtics played tough until the 4th, pretty much how i expected it would be . Personally I agree, I don't think they should get suspended either. Right in the middle of the playoff run, that would kill the Celtics. Another great game by Dirk, now if we got these performances against the elite teams of the West during the playoffs. . .
First off WhiteMan, good job with the preview, you were nearly dead-on with the margin of victory and I never thought it was gonna get that out of hand. As for the thing with Dirk and Perk, I had a great view of it and basically after the dunk Perk started backing up the court and walked into Dirk. To me it didn't look intentional or as if he was trying to send a message, but thats how Dirk took it and started to say something to Perk, at which point Walker tried to intercede. Overall, pretty harmless. They were going to a timeout anyways, so I think (and hope) they'll let Walker leaving the bench slide. couple other things: -The whole team seemed to be forcing the action. Walker especially just lowered his head and was going to the basket no matter what. Just not smart basketball. -Perk should play all Blount's minutes. Mark was sleepwalking out there. -Doc was really animated for this game, you can see the frustration mounting. I was convinced he was going to get tossed by halftime. -Avery Johnson has done a great job with them. This was the first game of theirs that I have fully watched since he became the full-time coach and their pick-up in intensity was impressive. -Shawn Bradley... seriously, how does he not get at least 1 basket by accident? Also, he and Van Horn may be the palest frontline in history. I have been to Dallas, I know there is sun there; these guys are almost clear.
I heard on WEEI today that Antoine is shooting 34% in the last 4 games. I think he's being involved in our offense way too much. The reason we had so much success with him at first was because he was only an afterthought on the offensive end. The other guys are giving him the ball too much, especially in situations when they have a much better chance to score. Antoine is great, but he loves to shoot. Sometimes it's best to keep the ball out of his hands. He shouldn't be our number one option, try 3 or 4.
