Dee Brown Leads Celts Back from 16-Point Deficit

Green Improves to 26-5
1990-91 Boston Celtics

The Energizer was at it again last night. Celtic coach Chris Ford saw nothing but stale, flat, uninspired basketball players and he summoned turbo-charged Dee Brown to shake things up.

It didn't take the hyperactive rookie long to make his presence felt. In a second quarter which saw the Celtics outscore Dallas, 42-19, and turn a 16-point deficit into a one-time 11-point lead, Brown was everywhere.

In the quarter, he had 6 points, 3 assists and 3 steals. The defense went from 0 to 60 on the intensity scale in a matter of minutes and Brown was at the epicenter of that convulsion as well.

"Dee came into the game and suddenly, there's life," said Ford after Boston's 127-110 victory over the Mavericks. "We had to generate some intensity, some emotion, and I thought Dee did that."

By halftime, the lead was 64-54 and the undermanned Mavericks never really threatened after that. And whenever Brad Davis took a breather, Dallas had no one to handle the ball against the relentless Brown and other Celtic attackers.

"Once Brad came out, they jumped on us," lamented coach Richie Adubato.

"Our defense won the game," said Brown, who finished with 17 points, 5 assists and 3 steals in 32 minutes, a season high. "We just started to put some pressure on them and they started to get a little out of sync. Our defense got everything going."

No argument there. Dallas shot 72 percent in the first quarter. Over the final three quarters, it shot 41.8 percent.