"Last Saturday, Eastern Conference dreg New York came to Dallas and waylaid the Mavericks, avenging a 50-point January home loss.

Visiting tonight is Eastern Conference contender Boston, a team the Mavericks thumped during that same January road trip. Afterward, Celtics forward Rasheed Wallace promised "retribution" when the teams next met.

That's tonight. If Wallace's words weren't ample warning, the Mavericks should heed last week's 128-94 defeat to the Knicks, which shattered Dallas' 13-game winning streak.

Of course, the Mavericks don't envision an 84-point turnaround by the Celtics. Nor do they expect an overt retaliation by Wallace, who was fined $35,000 by the NBA for saying that referees protected Mavericks star Dirk Nowitzki in that game.

Nowitzki scored 22 of his 37 points in the second half that night, inflicting much of his damage after Wallace was benched with four fouls midway through the third quarter. Dallas' 33-10 run and 99-90 win left Wallace seething.

The referees "don't like no tough defense on [Nowitzki]," Wallace said that night. "So of course I get a lot of [expletive] calls, but that's how the story goes.

"I ain't worried about it. We'll see them again. There will be retribution.""