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Pierce, Celts top Mavs in double overtime

Dec 13, 2012 - 8:03 AM Boston, MA (Sports Network) - Paul Pierce scored 34 points and the Boston Celtics needed two overtimes to beat the Dallas Mavericks, 117-115, on Wednesday.

Rajon Rondo added 16 points, 15 assists and nine rebounds for the Celtics, who have won two in a row. Kevin Garnett and Jeff Green tallied 16 and 15 points, respectively.

"I didn't like our shots down the stretch, but overall we got a lot of good shots," Celtics head coach Doc Rivers said. "They just weren't going in. So we won a game where the team we played shot 51 percent, and we shot 43 percent. That was happening to us earlier in the year, where we lost a couple of games where we shot the exact opposite."

O.J. Mayo ended with 24 points to pace the Mavericks, who had a three-game winning streak snapped. Darren Collison donated 20 points and Shawn Marion had 16 points and 11 boards.

"We had plenty of opportunities to take control of that game and win," Mayo said.

Trailing by 14, 68-54, with 4:57 left in the third quarter, Dallas went on a 12-4 run to get back in the game. Collison tallied seven points during the surge, including a layup with 1:43 remaining to cut the gap to 72-68.

Rondo made a pair of jumpers around Collison's jumper to give Boston a 76-70 edge heading to the fourth.

Dallas kept it close in the fourth frame and took the lead, 95-94, on Derek Fisher's 3-pointer with 1:47 to go.

Pierce responded with a 16-foot jumper to put the Celtics back in front. At the other end, Fisher was off the mark with a floater. Marion and Pierce battled for the rebound underneath, with the ball going out off Pierce.

Consecutive fouls on Garnett and Rondo sent Mayo to the foul line, where he made 1-of-2 to tie the game with 52.1 seconds left.

Dallas called a timeout after Pierce missed a jumper. The Celtics had a chance to win the game following Rondo's steal, but Fisher blocked Rondo's jumper.

With the score tied at 101 late in the first overtime, Jason Terry stripped the ball from Collison. Terry missed a layup at the other end, but Boston kept the ball due to a loose ball foul on Fisher.

The game remained deadlocked following Pierce's jumper and Marion's floater. Garnett's 18-foot jumper made it 105-103 Boston with 26.9 seconds remaining.

Mayo responded with a driving layup to tie the contest again. Boston was left with 11.1 ticks to win the game, but Dahntay Jones blocked Pierce's jumper.

The Celtics finally put the contest away late in the second overtime. Rondo's layup and Pierce's layup around Collison's missed jumper gave Boston a 111-107 margin with 19.3 seconds left.

Vince Carter kept it interesting by making a 3-pointer. The Celtics, though, went 6-of-6 from the line in the final seconds to seal the victory.

Boston led for the entire first half and took a 48-43 edge into the locker room.

Game Notes

Dallas had won four straight against the Celtics. The Mavericks had won three straight at Boston ... Pierce surpassed 23,000 points in his career -- the 25th player in NBA history to reach the mark.