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Final Score: Dallas 90 - Boston 96

Boston, MA (Sports Network) - Ray Allen and Paul Pierce scored 26 apiece, as the Boston Celtics edged out the Dallas Mavericks, 96-90, at TD Banknorth Garden.

Kevin Garnett missed his third game in a row with an abdominal strain. But Pierce, who on Thursday was named a reserve for the NBA All-Star Game, and Allen provided enough firepower for Boston, which has won two in a row and wrapped up the month of January 10-5.

Rajon Rondo finished with 14 points and 12 rebounds for the Celtics, who had lost seven straight to the Mavericks.

Dirk Nowitzki, who was also named an All-Star reserve, finished with 31 points, 11 rebounds, and six assists. Josh Howard had 19 points for Dallas, which had a four-game winning streak snapped.

"Seemed like they had a scheme, you know, something we ain't used to seeing," Howard said. "We were able to figure it out towards the end; they just made a couple plays that we didn't make at the end. It's that simple."

Nowitzki made a pair of free throws with 58.4 seconds left to tie the game at 90. On the ensuing Celtics possession, Pierce missed a jumper, but the six- foot-one Rondo outdueled the seven-foot Nowitzki for the rebound under the hoop, and scored on the put-back layup.

Dallas had the opportunity to tie, but missed three shots on its next possession. The Celtics' James Posey came down with the rebound on the last one, and was fouled with 17.7 on the clock.

He made both free throws for a 94-90 Boston lead, then came up with a steal as the Mavericks tried to quickly put points on the board, and made another pair from the line to seal the game.

"It's a big win. As I said, guys have been stepping up in his absence making big plays for us," Pierce said. "That's what we are going to need with the big guy out. This is a tremendous opportunity for a couple of other guys to get more minutes than they've been getting, develop confidence down the stretch."

The Celtics took a 27-20 lead after the first quarter, thanks to two consecutive shots from Allen at the end of the stanza. But the Mavericks opened the second quarter with a 6-1 run, and climbed within 28-26 on a Brandon Bass pullup jumper.

The score was close for the rest of the half, and the teams went into the break deadlocked at 44.

Boston slowly built up a lead in the third, and Rondo hit back-to-back jumpers for a 58-48 Celtics edge, with 7:16 left. But again, Dallas had an answer, and scored the next 11 points.

Nowitzki had three baskets in the run, and capped it with a jumper to give the Mavs a 59-58 lead with 4:09 left. Boston took a 71-70 lead into the fourth quarter. It was a one or two-possession affair for the rest of the contest.