Even the most pie-eyed, green-blooded Celtic optimist didn't think it was going to be this good. No team since the Kings did it in 2001 has traveled the fabled Texas Triangle without at least a nick and a scratch. Maybe no team since then has really been as good as the 2007-08 Celtics.

And last night was tough; make no mistake. The Mavericks, even though they haven't gotten all the attention of some of their Western counterparts, are still a nasty team to go play. But the way to beat that was the C's incredible balance: 22 for Pierce (and a season-high 13 rebounds), 20/13 for KG, and 21 for the returning Ray Allen - including a clutch 3-pointer to all but seal the game.

The C's magic number is nine, to clinch home-court for the entire postseason. The road home from Texas is still tough; the C's will look for a lagniappe to this brilliant road trip in New Orleans tomorrow night.

The Bruins...Montreal...bet you can guess how this ended. The Habs won their 743rd straight game over the B's. Boston's offense was capable - they got 36 shots on Carey Price - but only Mark Stuart and Dennis Wideman connected. Meanwhile, the Canadiens solved Tim Thomas four times. "Somewhere in that dressing room, someone's got some goals in them" says coach Julien; unfortunately, he's probably right, and that someone is Patrice Bergeron, and those goals won't come anytime soon, especially before the B's play Montreal again on Saturday.

While our heads are exploding trying to grok the 13-hour time difference (we're half convinced it's already Tuesday over there), we're having fun reading about the Sox' adventures in the Far East. Dan Shaughnessy has a pretty good recap of the flight. Dice-K is living large as the biggest celebrity of the bunch. Some of the team went to visit a US military base (guess who). And Sox history guru Bill Nowlin has a great recap of all the other times the Sox played outside the USA (including a trip to the Arizona Territory).