Celtics drop yet another close game in Dallas 94-89

The Celtics finished off a brief two-game west coast trip in Dallas on Monday night with yet another loss in the final seconds. Down as many as 15 points, the Celts rallied back to make a game of it, but came up just short. Boston has now dropped five in a row - the last two losses representing the first time in franchise history the Celtics have gone winless on the road against the west (0-15).

Rajon Rondo was in street clothes in Dallas to rest after Sunday night's loss in New Orleans, as he does on the second night of all back-to-backs. But Boston still gave it their best effort despite not having their star in action.

Kelly Olynyk had another solid performance finishing with 16 points to go along with nine boards. Kris Humphries was a monster on the glass ripping down 14 rebounds himself to keep Boston in the game, along with Jerryd Bayless netting a team-high 19 points. Jeff Green followed up his 39 point effort with a classic 2-for-12 shooting night, good for five points. . . go figure.

Dirk Nowitzki led five Mavericks in double figures with 19 points, including a dagger 3-pointer in the closing seconds.

The Celtics were able to hang in the game primarily due to offensive rebounding, edging the Mavs  21-6 in that category. But it wasn't enough, as Boston fell back into a tie for the fourth-worst record in the NBA.

The C's will now return home to host the Heat on Wednesday night.

Follow Julian on Twitter @julianedlow

See more of Julian's articles here