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Mavs, Celtics meet in Dallas

Nov 3, 2014 - 3:23 PM (SportsNetwork.com) - The Dallas Mavericks will go for a three-game winning streak Monday night when the Boston Celtics pay a visit to American Airlines Center.

After opening the season with a tough loss in San Antonio to the defending champion Spurs, the Mavs have won two straight, including a 109-104 road victory over the New Orleans Pelicans on Saturday night.

Dallas dominated the first half and built a 14-point lead at intermission. The Pelicans stormed back and took the third by a 37-20 margin, but Dallas owned the final 12 minutes for the victory.

Chandler Parsons led a balanced attack with 20 points and six Mavericks reached double figures. Dirk Nowitzki and Monta Ellis both scored 17 for Dallas.

Devin Harris and Brandan Wright both posted 12 off the bench and Tyson Chandler finished with 11 points, seven rebounds, four assists and two blocked shots.

"You know, it was a great game and a very fun game to be a part of," Nowitzki said. "They're a heck of a team, and the third quarter got us in trouble again. We had a great first half with great ball movement, scoring the ball and making shots. And then in the third quarter they stepped up the pressure a little bit. This is the third bad third quarter we've had in a row now, and they got right back into it and took the lead."

The Celtics opened the 2014-15 campaign with a decisive home victory over the Brooklyn Nets, then got walloped by the Houston Rockets, 104-90, Saturday night in Texas.

Houston started the game on a 14-4 run and never looked back. The Rockets won wire-to-wire.

"I thought (the Rockets) really played aggressively out of the gate; more aggressively than we did at either end of the court," Celtics head coach Brad Stevens said.

Jeff Green led the way for the C's with 17 points and Jared Sullinger added 14. No other Boston player scored in double figures as the Celtics shot 37.8 percent from the floor and a stomach-turning 1-for-25 from long range.

The Celtics play five of their next seven in Boston.

The Mavericks won both matchups last season and are 8-2 in their last 10 against the Celtics. Boston has dropped four straight in Big D.