BOSTON – The game began with the 3-point spotlight on Ray Allen. It ended with it shining on Jason Kidd.

Kidd, third in NBA history in 3-pointers made, hit one with 2.5 seconds left Friday night, putting the Dallas Mavericks ahead to stay. They scored the last 10 points and beat the Boston Celtics 101-97 for their seventh straight win.

Allen, second on the 3-point list, missed a desperation shot from behind the arc as the buzzer sounded, leaving him five behind Reggie Miller as his quest to pass him continues.

“You’re not a shooter so they’re going to give you the shot,” said Kidd, known throughout his career more for his passing and all-around play.

Allen, though, knew not to underestimate the player who passed Dale Ellis this season to take over third place.

“He’s proven over his career that he can knock the 3-ball down,” Allen said. “For most of his career he hasn’t been given the credit for being able to shoot because he’s been able to do so many other things well. He’s always had the stigma that he was flashy, but he was very effective.”

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With the Celtics leading 97-96, Kevin Garnett missed an 18-foot jumper with 15 seconds to go. Then the Mavericks tried to go inside, but Dirk Nowitzki had trouble handling the ball and threw it to Kidd. He went up to shoot, then held back as Allen flew past him, and finally put the ball up for his second 3-pointer of the game.

“The play was all over the place. I was just lucky to get the ball out to him,” said Nowitzki, who scored a game-high 29 points. “The pump fake is one of the toughest shots in basketball. That he made that shot is amazing.”

After a timeout, Boston’s Rajon Rondo threw the ball over Garnett’s head and out of bounds on an alley-oop play. Garnett then fouled Nowitzki, who made two free throws with 2.2 seconds left. Allen, who led Boston with 24 points, then missed the final 3-pointer.

He went 3 of 6 from beyond the arc and needs to make six more to break Miller’s NBA record of 2,560. His next chance to add to his total of 2,555 comes Sunday at home against the Orlando Magic. Kidd is a distant third with 1,742.

“There’s a sense of me getting sidetracked if you worry about it because you feel like you’ve got to shoot it from beyond the arc,” Allen said. “I don’t want to press. I don’t want to step outside of what we’re trying to do here.”

The Celtics fell to 22-4 at home, the third-best record in the NBA. And they seemed headed to another victory in front of their fans with less than three minutes to go in a game that was tight throughout.

“I thought we got shots that we wanted,” Paul Pierce said. “We just missed them.”

 


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