DALLAS (AP) — Thirty-seven-year-old Dirk Nowitzki said he was tired late in the Dallas Mavericks’ 118-113 overtime win over the Boston Celtics on Monday night after the pesky, young Celtics turned a 17-point fourth-quarter deficit into a six-point lead.
“I just dug deep,” said Nowitzki, who tied a season high with 31 points and had 11 rebounds for his sixth double-double of the season. “That was a gutsy win.”
Nowitzki scored 14 in the fourth quarter, including a late four-point play, and was part of Dallas’ barrage of 3-pointers at the start of overtime. Deron Williams added two 3-pointers early in overtime and had 10 of his 20 points in the extra period while the Mavericks bounced back from their worst loss of the season, 112-83 at San Antonio on Sunday night.
“He has been fantastic for us down the stretch,” Nowitzki said of Williams. “He was extremely great tonight.”
“Boston’s a team that just doesn’t go away,” Dallas coach Rick Carlisle said.
Isaiah Thomas and Marcus Smart led Boston with 20 points each and Avery Bradley added 19.
Jae Crowder, traded from Dallas to Boston last season, sent the game to overtime by hitting three free throws with 6.7 seconds left after being fouled by Raymond Felton.
“We were playing uphill but had our chances anyways, but weren’t able to take advantage of it,” Celtics coach Brad Stevens said.
The Mavericks have beaten the Celtics seven straight times, 11 of 12 and six straight at American Airlines Center.
The Celtics had a three-game winning streak snapped.
The Mavericks led 17-2 after 8 minutes, during which time the Celtics hit only 1 of 15 shots. Boston then sank 12 of 15 field goal attempts to pull within 40-31 with 7:16 to play in the half. The Mavericks’ 8-0 run put them ahead 52-39 at halftime.
“We were just flat,” said Crowder, who was 0 for 7 with one rebound during the first half. “They got into us early and dictated the game.”
The Mavericks led by 16 early in the third quarter only to have the Celtics outshoot them 55 percent to 29 percent during the period and take a 72-70 lead going into the final quarter.
Boston led 86-80 with 5:48 remaining before Dallas went on a 10-1 run to move ahead 90-87 with 2:47 left.
Comments are not available on this story. Read more about why we allow commenting on some stories and not on others.
We believe it's important to offer commenting on certain stories as a benefit to our readers. At its best, our comments sections can be a productive platform for readers to engage with our journalism, offer thoughts on coverage and issues, and drive conversation in a respectful, solutions-based way. It's a form of open discourse that can be useful to our community, public officials, journalists and others.
We do not enable comments on everything — exceptions include most crime stories, and coverage involving personal tragedy or sensitive issues that invite personal attacks instead of thoughtful discussion.
You can read more here about our commenting policy and terms of use. More information is also found on our FAQs.
Show less