"The only statement is we're done with Texas," Celtics coach Doc Rivers said. "We don't want to see Texas anymore. It's a [heck] of a state, no taxes, and I don't want to see any of those three teams anymore [in the regular season]. They're just too tough. I'd rather move on."
The Celtics began the trip by overcoming a 22-point deficit against the reigning NBA champion Spurs Monday. The next night, Boston erased the Rockets' 22-game winning streak in a 94-74 pounding. And last night, the Celtics outscored Dallas, 28-20, in the fourth quarter to finalize the sweep.
"It's great. I looked at the schedule before this week and said, 'This is going to be the ultimate test for this ball club," said Paul Pierce, who scored a team-high 22 points. "The last time we came out West [in February] we struggled. Coming into these three games, this was the ultimate test for us. It gives us momentum going into the playoffs. What better way to do it than this?"
Kevin Garnett, who had 20 points and 13 rebounds, said, "No one in this locker room has done this. What's good about it is we did it together. We did it the way we said we were going to do things at the beginning of the season, one game at a time. And it feels good."
The Celtics (55-13) have won eight straight road games and four straight overall. The Mavericks (44-25), however, are 0-7 against teams with winning records since the arrival of Jason Kidd (2 points, 11 rebounds, 9 assists) via trade from New Jersey and suffered another loss in the tight Western Conference playoff race.
Ray Allen, playing his first game since bruising his ankle last Friday against Milwaukee, scored 21 points on 7-of-17 shooting. Rivers said Allen looked rusty and sat him most of the fourth quarter, putting him in with Dallas up, 87-86, with 1:54 remaining.
With 33.1 seconds left, Allen nailed a running 3-pointer to put Boston up, 90-88. The Celtics held on by nailing four free throws to seal the game. Allen said he felt fine after the game.
"It goes into the last two or three sequences offensively," said Allen of his 3-pointer. "We got good shots. The play Doc drew up brought me to the ball and the shot fell."
