Dallas Mavericks Team Report - March 20

(Basketball News) - Dallas mustered a 120-104 win over the Boston Celtics at AmericanAirlines Center Friday night.

Dirk Nowitzki scored 24 points, grabbed seven rebounds and handed out five assists to pace the Mavericks to the win. Against his former team, Antoine Walker added 21 points and nine boards for the Mavericks, who bounced back from one of their worst losses of the season to the lowly Atlanta Hawks on Wednesday.

Dallas has won three of its last four games overall and improved to 30-5 at home this season. The Mavericks sit fifth in the West — one game ahead of sixth place Memphis and 1 1/2 contests behind fourth place San Antonio.

The Mavericks led 32-14 after the opening 12 minutes and they never looked back. In fact, Dallas posted 23 of the game’s first 30 points.

Each team shot well from the field with the Mavericks leading the way 53 percent to 51 percent. Each team also forced 17 turnovers, but the difference was on the boards where Dallas dominated, 46-27.

Dallas lost to the Celtics earlier in the season, but has won seven of eight and nine of the last 11 meetings. The Mavs have also won four straight at home against Boston.

The Mavericks will look to build on their momentum when they face the New Jersey Nets at Continental Airlines Arena on Sunday afternoon.