Celtics Central

The Celtics drop their third straight home game and are now 11-7 at home and 27-12 on the year. The Celtics are slumping at 2-4 over their last 6 games, and are 4-7 over their eleven games…all without Kevin Garnett.

Last night’s game had its ups and downs. But the second half it was Dallas. Jason Kidd dished 17 assists and Dirk Nowitzki score 37 points on the night. Paul Pierce led Boston with 24 points and Ray Allen supported in a losing effort with 21.

The following recap and quotes are from Jay King, who was at the game credentialed for Celtics Central. Thanks to Jay for his efforts. He will have another article for later today, as well. Here is Jay’s recap:

It’s tough to beat a good team without following the game plan.

Unfortunately for the Celtics, the Dallas Mavericks are a good team and, for the second half of the game at least, Boston certainly didn’t follow the game plan.

“[In the] third quarter we came out and we didn’t have great energy,” said Ray Allen. “We’ve got to put together 48 minutes if we want to be good and successful for a longer period of time.”

Explained Doc Rivers,

“[In the] second half, I thought our defense was horrendous. I didn’t think we got back at all on defense. They had numbers every single time. We had our guards crashing the glass, trying to get to the offensive glass.

“All of a sudden it became a walk-the-ball-up-the-floor, slow-down basketball game on one way. And then on the other end they were running it back down our throats.”

Long story short, ’twas a tale of two halves.

The Boston Celtics emerged from their locker room after halftime with a comfortable nine-point lead. They returned after the game with their heads down, their tales firmly between their legs, and a nine-point loss.

On the surface, the game should have been very winnable. The Boston Celtics were rested, playing at home, and matched against a struggling Mavs team having lost three out of its last four games. (Not to mention playing the second night of a back-to-back that started with last night’s 22-point shellacking in Toronto.)

But if you’ve seen some of the C’s home performances and knew some of their injury problems, you understood it wouldn’t be that easy.

Even though — for a half — it looked like it might.

Boston was every bit the better team in the first half, shooting 55.0% and — more importantly — even getting an occasional defensive stop.

In the second half, Dirk Nowitzki and the Mavericks were simply too tough for the suddenly listless Celtics to compete.

“I thought we came out relaxed and we thought Dallas would just go away,” said Rivers.

But Dallas, and especially Nowitzki, had other plans.

Dominant Dirk

Dirk Nowitzki has had a hell of a season. In fact, if had he not once received a Most Valuable Player award some regard as one of the most undeserved in NBA history, Dirk might even be garnering some attention as this season’s MVP.

But even in a season as special as Nowitzki’s has been so far, few games have seen him be so dominant as he was in scoring 37 points at the hands of the Boston Celtics. Glen Davis….

“Dirk’s a great player. He did some great things today, hit some big shots. He got going in the third, hit four or five straight.

“The fourth foul with Rasheed really hurt us because Rasheed was doing a great job playing defense on him.”

To be fair, Rasheed had already given up six third-quarter points to Nowitzki before exiting with 3:56 remaining in the third.

But after Brian Scalabrine subbed in for Wallace, Nowitzki erupted for nine straight points, scoring on each of the Mavs’ next four possessions.

Kevin Garnett’s absence no excuse

Kevin Garnett is the heart and soul of the Celtics’ defense. He’s the anchor who’s always talking, always moving his feet, and always active and ready to make a play.

But Doc Rivers refuses to use Garnett’s absence as an excuse for their porous defense of late.

“Even if [Garnett's return] does fix problems, everybody has to have a better mental focus,” Rivers said. “It can’t be one guy.”

Rivers explained…

“[Garnett's] not in right now and everybody else is. And they know their jobs. You know, they know their jobs.

“The voice of Kevin, yeah, it always helps. Because he holds everybody accountable.

“But that voice isn’t there right now and somebody else has to do it.”

Mavs in transition

In the first half, Boston won the battle in transition. Rajon Rondo was flying up and down the court, disrupting the Mavericks offense and creating scoring opportunities at the other end.

The second half was a different story. Dallas was hungry, getting stops and pushing the ball the other way down Boston’s throats.

“I think offensively, we put them in transition,” said Ray Allen.

“There was a stretch we didn’t get back at all and they had us playing on our heels. One side of the ball affects the other.”

Dirk Nowitzki thought the Mavs’ transition offense was a key to their success.

“If we get stops then we can play the kind of game we want to play and that’s a fast-paced game. Get the ball to J-Kidd on the break, get everybody on the move, get Marion on the run, get Josh on the slice and dice, get Jet on the move and I think that’s the way we want to play.”

In the second half, the Mavs’ played just that way.

Nowitzki said, “We finally got some stops in the second half and we were running, we were moving the ball, and it was fun to watch.”

Isn’t Jason Kidd supposed to be old?

The Celtics are an old, aging bunch; nobody would dispute that.

But none of them are as old as Jason Kidd, the point guard who torched them for 13 points and 17 assists.

Kidd, who hit all three of the three-pointers he shot, limited Rajon Rondo to only 2 points and 4 assists in the second half while running his own offense to near perfection.

“Dirk putting the ball in the basket helps,” said Kidd. “But just running the pick and roll, running the offense, knowing who is going to be there and guys putting the ball in the basket.

“I had the ball today and I felt comfortable in making the right decision.”

Perhaps Rick Carlisle said it best…

“Kidd was spectacular.”