Buzzword is: crushing

There was no controversy this time, only a sense of crushing disappointment. To get jobbed by the referees is one thing. To get beaten cleanly on a jumper at the buzzer is something else. But they both hurt. And they both count.

''Where are the basketball gods?" Doc Rivers called out after his postgame news conference.

The Celtics have now lost three straight for the second time this season -- and defeats Nos. 2 and 3 in this run have been particularly painful. There was a 103-102 loss to Washington Saturday. There was last night's 104-102 loss to the Mavericks, the league's third-best team for those who might be results-oriented.

The hero/villain last night was Jerry Stackhouse, who elevated over Ricky Davis as the clock was winding down and dropped a baseline jumper with one-10th of a second to play. What made the loss even more devastating for the Celtics is that they had rallied from a 12-point hole in the final six minutes, finally getting even when Paul Pierce knocked down a 3-pointer with 6.5 seconds to play.

''At that point," Pierce said, ''you're hoping for overtime. You know they've got the last shot and all you want to do is get one stop."

The Celtics wasted a foul with 4.5 seconds left and then Dallas got the ball to Stackhouse, who had been warm all night. In just his ninth game this season (he missed the first 26 with a sore right knee), Stackhouse scored a season-high 20. And he was just the third-highest scorer on his team, behind Jason Terry (30, including a career-best 7 treys) and Dirk Nowitzki (26 after a slow start).

The play was supposed to go to Nowitzki, who had 11 in the fourth. But Pierce did a good job sealing him off, so Stackhouse got the ball and made the play.

''I pressed him a little bit, but he stepped up and made a big shot," Davis said.

There was not enough time for the Celtics to do anything -- except wonder why they've been singled out for such suffering. They played well enough to win, holding the Mavericks to 42 percent shooting and turning the ball over only 9 times. They got 32 from Pierce in another macho performance (12 of 12 from the line along with 8 rebounds) and 17 from Davis.

''You've just got to feel that at some point, it's going to turn our way," Rivers said. ''Our guys, I feel horrible for them. They fought their butts off."

Said Delonte West, ''The basketball gods sometimes work in your favor and sometimes in the other guy's favor. You've got to remain positive. There's still a lot of basketball to be played."

Like tonight, for instance, in Atlanta, against a team that has beaten the Celtics twice this season.

This was really two games in one. There was the interminable, essentially unwatchable first half, punctuated by occasional periods of basketball surrounding a parade to the free throw line for both teams. The Mavs attempted 29 free throws in the first half, which happens to be the number they average for an entire game. The Celtics took 25, just shy of their per-game average. But, as they say, the refs adjusted at halftime and the game took on a quicker pace.

Boston controlled the uneven first half, but the Mavericks seized control in the third. It was Terry and Terry and Terry, 3-pointers from everywhere. Keith Van Horn and Stackhouse added treys as well, as the Mavericks did their Lithuanian best to pull away.

They led, 79-74, after three and then, following back-to-back treys by Terry and Nowitzki, led, 96-84, with 5:53 to play. In the game, the Mavericks connected on 12 treys, a season high. Five came in the third period.

The Celtics, you may recall, erased a 7-point lead in less than 30 seconds Saturday. So a 12-point hole with nearly six minutes to go didn't faze them. Trailing, 98-87, West started a 12-2 run with a layup. Tony Allen (12 points in 24 active minutes) added a pair of hoops and, after a Nowitzki jam, Davis (layup) and Pierce (two free throws, baseline drive/jam) scored to make it a 1-point game with 1:35 to play.

Boston missed a chance to take the lead when a triple-teamed Pierce found Mark Blount wide open. But Blount (12 points, 6 rebounds) rimmed out a 15-footer. At the other end, Nowitzki converted a second-chancer over Pierce, making it a 102-99 game with 16.1 seconds to play.

At this point, Rivers would have taken an easy two and then tried to foul. Dallas, normally a good free throw-shooting team, had its troubles at the line (30 of 42). But there was no such undertaking because Pierce got wide open in international waters. He upfaked Nowitzki, took a dribble left, and then calmly swished it home to tie the game.

The hoop completed an 18-6 run, and the 15,064 in attendance were on their feet. But they were soon on their way out of the building and the Celtics were soon on a charter to Atlanta, wondering what they might have done to upset the higher authorities.