The Associated Press

The Associated Press

BOSTON – Dallas had one too many shooters for the Boston Celtics to cover.

Jerry Stackhouse made a baseline jumper with 0.1 second left to lift the Mavericks over the Celtics 104-102 last night.

Ex-Arizona Wildcat Jason Terry hit seven 3-pointers and finished with 30 points, and Dirk Nowitzki scored 26 as the Mavericks won their third straight game. Dallas improved to 13-5 on the road, best in the Western Conference.

On the game-winning play, the original plan was to look for Terry or Nowitzki, but it was Stackhouse who got open.

Stackhouse got the ball in front of the Celtics bench and drove the right baseline before pulling up and nailing a 12-footer over Ricky Davis.

“Obviously, I’ve hit quite a few shots in this league,” Stackhouse said with a smile.

Stackhouse had 20 points and Keith Van Horn had 12.

“It was for JT if we could get him the ball because of the game he was having, or we would have liked Dirk to take the shot,” Stackhouse said. “At that point, it’s just a matter of whoever gets the ball.”

Stackhouse missed the first 26 games of the season with a sore right knee before returning on Dec. 23.

“It was a matter of time before Jerry got back into his rhythm,” Terry said. “We see it every day in practice. It’s nothing new to us.”

Paul Pierce led the Celtics with 32 points, tying it with a 3-pointer with 6.5 seconds to play. The Celtics erased a 12-point deficit in the closing 5:50.

“They have a number of guys who can step up,” Pierce said. “That’s why they’re one of the better teams in the NBA.”

Bryant reaches 45 again

LOS ANGELES – Kobe Bryant scored 45, making him the first player to get at least that many in four consecutive games in more than 41 years, and the Los Angeles Lakers beat the Indiana Pacers 96-90 for their third straight victory.

The last player to score at least 45 or more points in four consecutive games was Wilt Chamberlain in November 1964, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.

Bryant had 45 on Dec. 28 against Memphis, 48 on Friday night against Philadelphia, and 50 on Saturday night against the Clippers.

Last night Bryant scored 17 in the fourth quarter, reaching 45 by making two free throws with 9.6 seconds left. He had 10 rebounds and five assists. He had become the first player with at least 45 in three straight games since Michael Jordan accomplished the feat in 1990.

Bulls 113, Raptors 104: At Chicago, Kirk Hinrich scored 25 points and had 11 assists, Luol Deng added 21 points, and Chicago beat Toronto.

76ers 107, SuperSonics 98: At Philadelphia, Allen Iverson notched 41 points, John Salmons had 18 and Kyle Korver 17 to lead Philadelphia over Seattle.

Jazz 97, Wizards 89: At Washington, Mehmet Okur had 19 points and 13 rebounds, and Utah moved above .500 with a victory over Washington.

Andrei Kirilenko added 17 points for the Jazz, who used balanced scoring and patient teamwork to win their seventh of eight games. They had assists on nine of their first 11 baskets and began to pull away with a 14-2 run starting late in the first.

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