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Boston Celtics (44-24) at Dallas Mavericks (46-22)
Saturday, March 20
9:00 PM ET
Game #69 Road Game #36
TV: CSN-NE, KTXA, NBA LP 757
American Airlines Center 
American Airlines Center was constructed in Victory Park in order to help revitalize and redevelop the area into mix use development that includes the arena, housing and commercial spaces. From the exterior, the arena is a massive structure that has a façade of brick and glass arches. Because of the design, American Airlines Center has won numerous architectural awards. The Mavericks played their first game at the arena on October 30, 2001 against the Detroit Pistons. American Airlines Center has a seating capacity of 19,200 with 142 luxury suites and 1,600 club seats.
Coach: Doc Rivers
Average Age: 29.1
Average Height: 6-6
Average Weight: 228Probable Starters
PG: Rajon Rondo
SG: Ray Allen
SF: Paul Pierce
PF: Kevin Garnett
C: Kendrick Perkins
Off the Bench Tony Allen
Nate Robinson
Rasheed Wallace
Michael Finley
Marquis Daniels
Glen Davis
Brian Scalabrine
Shelden Williams
Injuries None
D League Marcus Landry
Coach: Rick Carlisle
Average Age: 30.3
Average Height: 6-6
Average Weight: 220Probable Starters 
PG: Jason Kidd
SG: Caron Butler
SF: Shawn Marion
PF: Dirk Nowitski
C: Brandon Haywood
Off the Bench JJ Barea
Matt Carroll
Jason Terry
Erick Dampier
DeShawn Stephenson
Rodrigue Beaubois
Eduardo Najera
Injuries Tim Thomas (personal) out
Key Matchups
vs
Rajon Rondo vs Jason Kidd
Kidd may be slowing down, but he is still a tough matchup. Rondo has to continue to be aggressive and use his speed to beat Kidd.
vs
Kevin Garnett vs Dirk Nowitski
Dirk is a tough cover since he is a threat from beyond the arc as well as in the paint. KG needs to make Dirk work on both ends of the court. Dirk had 37 points in their win in Boston and KG has to do a better job of defending him in this game.
Honorable Mention Nate Robinson vs Jason Terry
Terry is a scoring threat off the bench for the Mavs and is averaging almost 17 points per game. Nate will need to play his game and give the Celtics some offense off the bench as well as limiting Terry's scoring threat.
Team Connections: Jason Kidd and Brian Scalabrine were teammates in New Jersey from 2001-04
Mavs head coach Rick Carlisle played for the Celtics from 1984-87 and was a member of the 1985-86 championship team
Marquis Daniels played for the Mavericks from 2003-06
Michael Finley played for the Dallas Mavericks from 1996-2005 and appeared in two All-Star Games for Dallas
Kevin Garnett played for Dallas Assistant Coach Dwane Casey when Casey coached the Minnesota Timberwolves from 2005-07
Caron Butler and Ray Allen are former UConn Huskies
Brendan Haywood and Rasheed Wallace are former North Carolina Tar Heels
Nate Robinson and Tim Thomas were teammates in New York during the 2008-09 season
Game Notes The Mavs are currently leaving the season series 1-0; The Mavericks are Celtics won the season series 2-0 against the Mavericks in 2008-09
Rajon Rondo averaged a triple-double against the Mavericks last season with 16.0 points, 11.0 rebounds and 14.0 assists per game during the
2008-09 season
Dirk Nowitzki led the Mavericks with 27.5 points per game against the Celtics during the 2008-09 season
It marked the first time since the 1992-93 and 1993-94 that the C’s had swept back-to-back season series
The Celtics are leading the all-time series 34-23 with the Celtics 20-9 at home
The Celtics continue their tough stretch of 3 games in 4 nights against a very strong Dallas Mavericks team. The Mavs improved themselves a great deal at the trade deadline when they added Caron Butler, Brendan Haywood and DeShawn Stephenson. All 3 are playing well for their new team.
The Mavericks are in the 3rd spot in the West, battling with Denver, who is half a game ahead of the Mavs, for the second spot. They are just 4 games behind the Lakers and would love to take over that top spot so they are taking every game seriously and playing hard.
The Mavs are a good home team with a 24-10 record and are 9-1 in their last 10 games. The Celtics have been a good road team and are 23-12 on the road and 7-3 in their last 10. This is the second meeting between these two teams with the Mavs winning 99-90 in Boston. After that game, Sheed was fined $35,000 for complaining about the refs favorable treatment of Dirk Nowitski and he vowed retribution for that game.
The Celtics are playing in the second of back to back games after beating a tough Rockets team the night before. Paul Pierce was in foul trouble early and played only 28 minutes. KG played 31 minutes and Ray Allen played 36 minutes so hopefully they will still have some energy for this game. The Celtics defense was great against the Rockets. They withstood a couple of runs by the Rockets and just buckled down and built the lead back up again, both of which are good signs for this team. A win against a Dallas team that has been on fire would go a long way to convince the fans that the Celtics are heading in the right direction.
Keys to the GameDefense When the Celtics play their trademark tough defense, they are very hard to beat. We saw the Celtics customary defense against the Rockets and the question is, can they bring it two nights in a row. They need to get back to consistently playing the tough lock down defense night in and night out.
Rebound The Mavericks are a very good rebounding team and the Celtics need to be aggressive in crashing the boards and going after rebounds. Limiting the Mavs' second chance points will be important.
Limit Turnovers The Celtics still turn the ball over too much and they need to work on taking better care of the ball. A team like the Mavs will make them pay by converting the turnovers into points. Most turnovers are the result of a lack of focus and so the Celtics must also improve their level of focus.
Be Aggressive The Celtics need to be aggressive in going after loose balls and taking the ball to the basket. While the Celtics are good shooters, they shouldn't depend on the outside shot. They need to aggressively take the ball to the hoop as well as be aggressive in going after loose balls and rebounds.
X-FactorBack to Back
The Celtics are playing in the second of back to back games. Fatigue could be a factor in this one.
Topic: Celtics (44-24) at Mavericks (46-22) 3/20 (Read 106806 times)