Your Morning Dump... Where Sheed's 4th foul was the turning point

Every morning, we compile the links of the day and dump them here... highlighting the big storyline.  Because there's nothing quite as satisfying as a good morning dump.

He (Dirk Nowitzki) scored 13 of his game-high 37 in the third, including nine straight after Rasheed Wallace— Boston’s only hope of containing the All-Star — left the game with fourth fouls. At the time of Sheed’s departure (3:56 left), Boston led 65-62. When the third quarter buzzer sounded, the Mavs led 75-68, and the Celtics would never again get closer than five points.

"That was a big call," Rivers said of the foul on Wallace. "The fourth really hurt. I thought Rasheed was really doing a terrific job on Dirk, and without Kevin [Garnett], knowing that Rasheed was the only other guy [who could cover Nowitzki], that put us in a tough situation."

Defense Rests as Celtics Fall to Dallas

"You know, they don't like no tough defense on him, so of course I get a whole lot of bull[crap] calls, but that's how the story goes," Wallace said. "I ain't worried about it. We'll see them again. Honestly, I can't remember which one the fourth foul was, there were so many bogus [calls]. I ain't worried about it. Like I said, we'll see again. We go down there in about a month or so. There'll be retribution."

WEEI - Sheed Blasts Bogus Foul Calls

I don't think the referees were a factor in the game. They made a few bad calls against both teams. The following quote from Doc sums up the game.

“The second half, I thought our defense was horrendous,’’ Celtics coach Doc Rivers said. “I don’t think we got back at all on defense, they had numbers every single time. We had our guards crashing the glass . . . our bigs complaining to refs . . . they beat us down the floor, and they scored. Then, all of a sudden it became a walk the ball up the court, slow down game on one way. And then, on the other way, they were running back down our throats.

Globe - Celtics Can't Keep Up

On Page 2, what happened to the Celtics home court advantage?

Much will be mentioned in the next days about the Garden not being a fearsome place for opponents, but this has nothing to do with the building or those in the stands.

This is about the people on the parquet floor. Teams aren’t afraid about coming in because the Celtics don’t give them any reason to feel that way. The Garden can only be a house of horrors if the Celts start acting like Freddy Krueger.

The problem is that the Celtics “expect” to win - and that’s it. Expectation is an important element for a good team, but it means nothing unless said club is also willing to do the work required to win. Simply put, and we’ve said this more than once this season, you have to try.

Herald - House is not a Home

Reminder: Join us for the Red's Army Birthday Bash on Thursday, Jan 28th at Red Sky in Boston. Free food, no cover and we'll be giving away T-Mobile's new MyTouch phones. Oh yeah..and we'll be watching the Celtics play the Magic.

The rest of the links:

Globe - Home is Where the Heart Was | Cs Have No Answer for Dirk | Herald - Garden of Evil to Celtics | Missing KG Not an Excuse | Maverick Mark Cuban in Line | WEEI - Banged Up Perk Can See Woes Clearly | ESPN Boston - Home Struggles are Defenseless | Celtics Blog - Cs Lose 3rd Straight at Home |