Maverick sharpshooters too much for the Celtics

BOSTON — Dallas had one too many shooters for the Boston Celtics to cover.

Jerry Stackhouse made a baseline jumper with 0.1 seconds left to lift the Mavericks over the Celtics 104-102 Monday night.

Jason Terry hit seven 3-pointers and finished with 30 points, and Dirk Nowitzki scored 26 as the Mavericks won their third straight game. They improved to 13-5 on the road, best in the Western Conference.

On the game-winning play, the original plan was for Terry or Nowitzki, but it was Stackhouse who got open.

Stackhouse got the ball in front of the Celtics bench and drove the right baseline before pulling up and nailing a 12-footer over Ricky Davis.

Stackhouse finished 20 points and Keith Van Horn had 12.

"It was for JT if we could get him the ball because of the game he was having, or we would have liked Dirk to take the shot," Stackhouse said. "At that point, it's just a matter of whoever gets the ball."

Stackhouse missed the first 26 games of the season with a sore right knee before returning on Dec. 23.

"It was a matter of time before Jerry got back into his rhythm," Terry said. "We see it every day in practice. It's nothing new to us."

Paul Pierce led the Celtics with 32 points, tying it with a 3-pointer with 6.5 seconds to play. The Celtics erased a 12-point deficit in the closing 5:50.

"They have a number of guys who can step up," Pierce said. "That's why they're one of the better teams in the NBA."

Van Horn hit two 3s, Nowitzki one and Terry another during a 14-4 run that made it 96-84.

The Celtics answered with a 15-4 surge, closing to 100-99 on Pierce's driving dunk with 1:35 to go. Mark Blount missed a jumper with just over a minute left that would have given Boston the lead, and Josh Howard grabbed the rebound. Howard also got an offensive rebound before Nowitzki hit a fallaway over Pierce, making it 102-99 with 16 seconds to play.

Pierce then nailed his 3, setting the stage for Stackhouse.

"I was right there," Davis said. "He made a great shot. I pressured him, but he made a great pull-up."

Led by three from Terry, five of Dallas' eight baskets in the third quarter were 3-pointers as the Mavericks took a 79-74 lead.