At 7-0, and with four of the seven wins coming by 20 points or more, the Celtics are off to their best start since the 1972-73 season when they opened 10-0. The franchise’s best start of all time came in 1957-58 when Boston reeled off 14 straight victories to open the season.

Paul Pierce is leading the team in scoring at 23.4 points plus 5.0 rebounds, 4.6 assists and 2.0 steals per game. But Kevin Garnett is truly dominating and has averaged 21.0 points, 14.0 rebounds, 4.9 assists, 2.9 steals and 1.4 blocks per game. And Ray Allen is putting up 20.6 points, 4.4 rebounds and 3.6 assists. Allen and Pierce are shooting 49.0% or better, and KG is hitting 54.6% of his shots.

Eddie House, Rajon Rondo, Kendrick Perkins and James Posey add scoring. Perkins is averaging just 5.1 rebounds per game in 26 minutes. He needs to raise that number.

The Celtics as a team are shooting a fantastic 50.1% from the field.

The Dallas Mavericks won their first Southwest Division title last season, unseating the two-time defending Southwest champion San Antonio Spurs. It didn’t stop the Spurs from earning a fourth NBA title. The Texas powerhouses meet for the first time this season tonight (8 p.m. ET, TNT) when the Spurs visit Dallas in search of their fifth straight victory.

Dallas won three of four meetings last season en route to a league-best 67-15 record, ending the Spurs’ reign in the Southwest. The Mavericks, however, were upset in the first round of the playoffs by Golden State. San Antonio, eliminated from the playoffs two seasons ago by Dallas, took advantage and won another NBA title.

Both teams have gotten off to strong starts this season, with the Spurs (7-1) holding the best record in the Western Conference. They made a season-high 13 three-pointers on 27 attempts to beat the Los Angeles Lakers 107-92 on Tuesday for their fifth victory by at least 10 points.

Meanwhile, the Mavericks (5-2) have averaged 106.2 points in winning four of their last five contests. Jason Terry had 25 points - including 12 in the third quarter - as Dallas beat Philadelphia 99-84 on Tuesday. Dallas forward Dirk Nowitzki averaged 27.3 points and 8.3 rebounds while shooting 51.7 percent from the field against the Spurs last season. Duncan averaged 19.0 points and 7.5 boards while shooting 51.9 percent against the Mavericks.

- NBA News

The Chicago Bulls announced today the team has assigned rookie guard JamesOn Curry to the Iowa Energy of the NBA Development League.

Curry (6-3, 190) appeared in all seven of Chicago’s 2007-08 preseason games and averaged 4.0 ppg, 2.1 apg and 1.9 rpg in 17.3 mpg. He joined the Bulls as their third draft selection in NBA Draft 2007 when they chose him 51st overall.

Through Chicago’s first six regular season games, Curry was placed on the inactive list. While with the Energy, he will remain on Chicago’s 15-man roster.

The Nets do not want your great grandchildren to have to walk around wearing gas masks. Here’s what the team said today:

The Nets are committing to a comprehensive “greening” program for the franchise and have tipped-off a broad environmental assessment of their operations with the goal of adopting sustainable practices in the operations they control.  The Nets are targeting to become the first NBA team to become carbon neutral.

Initiatives will include improving energy efficiency, recycling rates, water efficiency, indoor environmental quality, and establishing green procurement policies the Nets use on a regular basis, such as paper and cleaning supplies.

The Nets have retained two firms, e4, inc. and The CarbonNeutral Company to assist in evaluating and executing their greening goals.