BOSTON -- The Celtics dont want to rely solely on Isaiah Thomas to win.But on some nights, putting the ball in the All-Star guards hands is simply the best option.Thomas scored 22 of his 30 points in the fourth quarter in Bostons 90-83 victory over the Dallas Mavericks on Wednesday night.He scored 20 of Bostons final 24 points to help the Celtics beat back a late Mavericks surge.Avery Bradley added 18 points and 13 rebounds.After the Mavericks took a 70-66 lead, Thomas scored Bostons next 13 points to put the Celtics back in front 79-76. They never trailed again.After one of the baskets late in the run Thomas ran down the court and flashed two thumbs up.I guess I just like that quarter, Thomas said. Sometimes guys get a little tighter, and then the pressure gets a little tougher for them. I guess I like the pressure.Harrison Barnes led the Mavericks with 28 points. Wesley Matthews added 22.Dallas, which was already missing several players because of injuries, lost two more. Starter Deron Williams exited in the second quarter with a left calf injury, and J.J. Barea was helped off the court in the fourth quarter after straining his left calf as well.Coach Rick Carlisle said it appears Barea will be out for a while, but added that he didnt think it was real serious. He said its his understanding that Williams just experienced some tightness.The Celtics outrebounded Dallas 53-32, which coach Brad Stevens said is a welcomed sign for a team that struggled in that department early in the season.Maybe its the law of averages, and some just bounced our way, Stevens said. But were defending at a better rate than we were.TIP-INSMavericks: Have lost three straight. ... Had a season-low 31 points at the first half. ... Dirk Nowitzki missed his fifth straight game with a right Achilles strain.Celtics: Thomas has scored 20 or more points in each of the first 11 games of the season. ... Scored a season-low 90 points. ...Tied their season high with 19 turnovers. ... Bostons 10-point second quarter was its lowest scoring output in a second quarter this season. ... Al Horford remains in the NBA concussion protocol and sat out his eighth straight game. Jae Crowder missed his seventh consecutive game with a sprained left ankle.TEAM MEETINGCeltics guard Marcus Smart said the team held a meeting after its blowout loss to the Wizards on Nov. 9 to help refocus its commitment on the defensive end.It was no coaches, just us, Smart said. We had to look ourselves in the mirror and come to the conclusion that it is on us and were the ones playing and that we have to get it together.Bradley said the conversation was frank and honest.Just that we need to hold each other accountable, he said. We werent playing to our ability. We had two or three guys playing hard at the defensive end, but the other three guys werent. And we needed everyone playing hard consistently as a team. Tonight I feel like was one our best defensive games.NO FREEBIESThere werent many trips to the free throw line in the first half for either team. The Celtics were just 2 for 6 in the half, and the Mavericks missed their lone attempt in the first quarter. Neither team attempted a free throw in the second quarter.INJURY UPDATEStevens said Crowder would practice Friday, but that he does not expect him to play Saturday against Golden State. Stevens said his last report on Horford was that the big man had a great workout on Wednesday.Carlisle said Dirk Nowitzki is making progress as well.It feel likes hes getting close, he said.UP NEXTMavericks: Return home Friday to host the Grizzlies, before heading back on the road for trips to Orlando and San Antonio.Celtics: Host the Warriors Friday, and then begin a three-game trip with a stop in Detroit on Saturday.---Follow Kyle Hightower on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/khightower Michael Saunders Jersey . 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Abraham Almonte Jersey . -- Timbers coach Caleb Porter didnt stray from his business-like approach to the season even after Portland downed the two-time defending league champion Los Angeles Galaxy to gain crucial playoff position. Hampshire 325 for 5 (Vince 92, Smith 90, Adams 53, Ervine 50 ) v DurhamScorecard Hampshires pursuit of the 22 points they began this game needing to guarantee safety, and a second consecutive Great Escape, could barely have started better. By days end, on a pitch already turning with some venom, four of those points were in the bag. A fifth - they need 30 runs in 13 overs - seems there for the taking. Events at Edgbaston are going their way.There was, it seems, a masterplan in place. The players have been agonising over this pitch since their last game, against Surrey at the Oval, finished in a draw 11 days ago. Then James Vince, the captain, had hinted that they wanted, perhaps needed, the ball to turn and that Mason Crane, Liam Dawson and even Will Smith would have substantial roles to play with the ball. Spin-bowling, as Hampshire had suspected and Vince subsequently proved in his fine hand of 92, is not Durhams forte.Smith, who made 90, seemed pleased with Hampshires day. Its a wicket where we dont think its going to get any better so getting as many runs as we can first up is great, he said. To be 370 on day one is great, with some bonus points - get that final one and we have done well.Paul Collingwood looked up (on a cold, cloudy morning), not down (at a dry, straw-coloured surface with a small ridge running down it that apparently had umpire Geoff Cook smiling before play), and invited Hampshire to bat without so much as the flick of a coin.In trying to play to his strengths - seam and swing, he was unwittingly playing his part in the masterplan. Hampshire wanted to bat first, bat big, and then let the pitch disintegrate under Crane and Dawsons watch. The sight of Ryan Pringles off-breaks coming on - and immediately finding turn - to try and break in the games 12th over reaffirmed this.Pringle would bowl 31 overs by the end of the day and take three wickets - the first and third, left-handers Tom Alsop and Ryan McLaren, both lbw, with notable turn - but at the significant cost of a daddy ton of runs. The other wicket, Sean Ervine caught behind trying to cut a ball too close to him, came a ball after the batsman reached 50 (his fifth in six innings), just as he was looking to cut loose.There was plenty of spin, but even more loose balls. We have played the turn well, said Smith, trying to put pressure onto their spinners. It will be interesting what happens once we bowl because it should turn consistently and more and more as the game goes on.It was a disappointing day, said Collingwood, the amount it is turning on day one you would expect to take more wickets.dddddddddddd I knew it was going to turn for day one, there is a lot of sand on that wicket which is the same tactic Somerset seem to be using as well. But we didnt quite get it right and to only get six wickets on day one is pretty disappointing.Vince, particularly, mauled Pringle, to the tune of 52 from 45 balls. Having walked to the crease a ball after lunch, he instantly looked at ease, exploiting the vast gaps for twos and threes from dabbed sweeps and late cuts. There was that cover-drive, which felt so much safer to the spinners but was played with control to the seamers too, while a single Pringle over yielded two swept fours and a skip down for six over long-on. In the blink of an eye he had a 48-ball 50, brought up with his first false stroke, an edge over the keeper as Ben Stokes found pace and bounce.By tea he had 89, having added the backfoot drive and pull to the repertoire, but he was run out by Ervine shortly after the break. The left-hander pushed to cover point, and called Vince through, failing to note the presence of Stokes. Vince hesitated, and Stokes had the wherewithal to forgo the direct hit, knowing the keeper had time to finish the job. Despite the careless ending, this was the Vince the selectors picked - achingly elegant and, as in last seasons Great Escape, doing it in a jam, too.Jimmy Adams and Smith, with whom Vince shared 102 before the opener skewed to point, had laid the foundations for Vinces knock. They put on 111 for the first wicket until Adams chopped on to Scott Borthwicks second over, his eighth half-century of the season curtailed before a first ton was reached. Nevermind, it had been a punchy, platform-building innings full of pleasant off-drives and dainty cuts. Survival would mean more to Adams than most; he is as Hampshire as the hills around the Ageas Bowl and, in 2016, it is odd to think he played a full season with Robin Smith all those years ago.Will Smith ploughed on, sweeping the spinners and cover-driving Hampshire into a fine position against the county he captained to the title (and won two others with) before his abrupt release. He knows better than anyone, however, that games are not won on day one. There is so much ebb and flow to come, he said. Sure, we are ahead, but Durham are a side who have fought back incredibly well in games like this. We will have to be incredibly wary of that. ' ' '