Celtics 'Pierce' Mavs for 4th consecutive win

THE Boston Celtics derailed the Dallas Mavericks' bid to move into second place in the Western Conference with a 102-93 victory on Saturday.

Paul Pierce scored 29 points for the Atlantic Division leading Celtics, who won their fourth successive game, while Dirk Nowitzki led Dallas, the Southwest Division's top team, with 28 points.

Pierce had 17 points in the second half, when the Celtics shot a torrid 68.8 per cent.

"He's starting to get his confidence," Celtics coach Doc Rivers said of Pierce. "I got on him in a timeout because I thought he was looking to pass too much.

"I told him to just be aggressive, just be who you are, and he was that."

Pierce's three-pointer with 1:44 to play turned a one-point Boston lead into a more comfortable four-point cushion.

He then stole a pass from Nowitzki and fed Rajon Rondo for a fast-break layup to put away the Mavericks, who had won 14 of their previous 15 games.

Rondo finished with 20 points and Ray Allen had 21 for Boston.

Dallas trailed by only a point at the half, but let Boston open up a nine-point lead on an Allen 3-pointer in the 3rd quarter.

A win would have lifted the Mavericks past Denver into second place behind the Los Angeles Lakers in the Western Conference.

The Nuggets lost to the Milwaukee Bucks 102-97 and maintained a half-game lead over the Mavericks in the conference standings.

LOS ANGELES LAKERS centre Andrew Bynum will be out of action for at least a week after suffering a strained Achilles tendon, the team said on Saturday.

The injury occurred during the third quarter of the Lakers' 104-96 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Friday and a scan on Saturday revealed the extent of the injury.

"It's not a torn Achilles," Phil Jackson said on the team's website. "We just hope that the time is not extended.

Bynum, who averages 15 points and 8.3 rebounds a game, will not play for at least a week when he will be re-evaluated.

He will miss Saturday's game against Washington, games at San Antonio on Wednesday and Oklahoma City on Friday and is also likely to miss the Mar 27 game at Houston.

Jackson said Lamar Odom would start for Bynum and that forward Pau Gasol would play as the team's centre.

The NBA champion Lakers have won five successive games and already qualified for the playoffs.

They lead the Western Conference with a 51-18 record.

Reuters