Game Recap: Mavs defeat Celtics 118-113 despite sloppy second half

A broken remote, shouting, tears, cheers, stress, and an all caps Twitter kind of night. That's what this game was, in a nutshell.

It's impossible to understand why this Mavs team can get out to a good start after halftime, but for the fourth straight game the Mavs were outscored in the third quarter. This stat says it all.

Third quarters this season: Opponents 135, Mavs 88.

— Tim MacMahon (@espn_macmahon) November 4, 2014

That's not a typo. Dallas is being outscored by almost 12 points per game in the third quarter. And frankly, if it wasn't for Brandan Wright, that would be much, much worse. Before we get any further into analyzing the third quarter though, let's look at the sweet, sugary goodness that was the first half. You want the first half in one, quick visual? Here you go.

Before you could blink the Mavs jumped out to a double-digit lead, led by Chandler Parsons and his 14 first quarter points. The Mavs led 40-19 after one thanks to five made three-pointers. Behind Parsons was Dirk, and at one point early in the second quarter the duo had combined for 25 points, matching Boston's output, as Dallas worked its way to a 50-25 lead with over eight minutes left in the first half.

The lead climbed to as large as 30, as Dallas shot over 63% from the floor for the half.

But that damn second half had to happen. I seriously don't understand it, but with Avery Bradley and Jeff Green forgetting how to miss the Celtics came storming back, cutting the lead to six with 4:46 left in the game. At that point in the game Bradley and Green had combined for 58 of the Celtics' 99 points. FIFTY EIGHT. Avery Bradley and Jeff Green. Fifty eight. It would have been better if Al-Farouq Aminu had been on the floor, but he suffered an undisclosed knee injury and missed the entire second half of the game. Afterwards, Carlisle said the injury was not serious, so Mavs fans can breathe a sigh of relief.

Rebounding was a huge problem once again, as the Mavs were dominated on the boards 49-36, giving up 22 offensive rebounds to the Celtics for 25 second-chance points. Also, a note to Devin Harris. Stop. Stop it. Stop shooting bad threes, and play some transition defense. You're better than that.

With less than 20 seconds left Chandler Parsons reigned in a rebound and was immediately swarmed by three Celtics, who somehow managed to get a jump ball, thanks to an overwhelmed trio of referees. Parsons won the tip, and Monta took it the other way. He went up for the layup, but was horsecollared by Rajon Rondo and taken to the ground. It was assessed as a two shot common foul, but will no doubt be reviewed by the league. Fortunately, Monta looked to be ok, and he made both free throws to extend Dallas' lead to five.

Parsons finished with 29, Dirk had 27, and all's well that ends well. Tyson had a 10 point, 12 rebound, four block night, his first double-double this season and 19th as a Maverick. Dallas is 15-4 when Tyson has a double-double. Dallas also had their best three-point shooting night of the young season, drilling 14-of-25 from long range. Parsons and Dirk led the way with four each, while Devin and Jameer Nelson each went 2-for-6.

For Boston, Bradley and Green wound up with 67 combined points to keep it close until the end. Jared Sullinger was the only other Celtic in double-digits with 14.

So, what are your thoughts on the game? It wasn't a great win, or even a mediocre win, but 3-1 is better than 2-2. Sure, there are a lot of questions, but there's time to answer them all.