Gino's Jungle

CELTICS 102 MAVS 93

Was it a must win? Eh... Was it a a huge win? Definitely. If nothing else, the Celtics did two things tonight: 1) Proved to themselves and everyone else they can win on the road against a contender and 2) Proved to themselves they can come back on the road to win a game they looked destined to lose. At 8:34 in the 4th, the Mavs had finished a 10-0 run and were up by 7. At that time, I thought to myself, "This is going to be very tough to come back from but I know we can do it. Even if we don't, the team played a solid game so there is not much to complain about."

Suddenly, with a new focus and drive to win this basketball game, the Celtics took off. Look at the score, and you can see the C's outscored Dallas in the final 8:34 by 16 points. That is special. On the road, with all the momentum being in your opponents hands, Dirk can't miss a shot, suddenly down 7 in the fourth, and the team battles it out to win by not 2... no not even 3-4 but 9 points. Okay, you caught me red handed... 3 of those points came at the very end on free throw shots when Dallas was fouling on purpose. BUT, that can also show good execution in getting it in free throw shooters hands (that should save my back).

The game was dominated by Paul Pierce without question. He took the team on his back, and carried the other 11 guys to victory. Quite simply, "Wow" was the first word out of my mouth on some of his attempts. From his strong and 1's, to his three that finally found the bottom of the net in the clutch- we found the Paul Pierce we know. His 29 points tonight is something to get excited about. He has strung together 3 games in a row of 25+ scoring nights so he is beginning to show his consistency.

This article wouldn't be fair if we didn't also give Ray Allen his dues. He hit huge shots in the 4th that were a large part of the Celtics nipping away at the lead the Mavs had created. He is a cold blooded shooter and has extreme focus when the team needs it the most. After getting off to a cool start he was money when it mattered. Ray finished with 21 points on 4-8 shooting from behind the arc, and he was the highest +/- in the game at +24.

The trip closes in Utah on Monday. Enormous, and I mean enormous chance comes in this game for the C's to drive that nail in one inch further. They are looking for those 3 last blows that will close the metaphorical theory that the Celtics can't get it done. Step 1 is closing out the trip. Step 2 is beating the Nuggets at home who are a title contender, and finally Step 3 is beating the Cavs when they come back to Boston later in the season. It is all just a part of the tale that is the 2009-10 Boston Celtics season. Its good stuff.

(Photo by Danny Bollinger/NBAE via Getty Images)