Ray Allen and the Boston Celtics arrived in New York still weary from a tough loss to the Los Angeles Lakers. And it certainly showed – until the fourth quarter.
A night after a one-point, overtime defeat, Paul Pierce scored 26 points and Allen added 22 as the Celtics used a 38-point final period to beat the Knicks 110-100 on Friday night.
“It was a big win,” Pierce said. “For one, I thought we were mentally and physically drained coming into this game, especially after the tough loss. It took us a while. We got off to a slow start, but this team continues to find ways to win.”
Kevin Garnett also had 15 points and 11 rebounds for Boston, which trailed 47-46 at halftime and 76-72 after three quarters.
“When you go through such an emotional roller coaster one night, then you come back the next night, you’re just playing the game,” Allen said. “We knew they were sitting home waiting for us. It was important that we came out and played.”
Al Harrington scored 27 points and David Lee had 18 points and 18 rebounds for New York, which absorbed its third straight loss to one of the NBA’s elite teams.
not,” Knicks coach Mike D’Antoni said, “and we’re trying to get to be really good and I thought for a long time we played really well.”
In other games, it was: Oklahoma City 102, Portland 93; Indiana 107, Orlando 102; Atlanta 102, Charlotte 97; New Orleans 101, Toronto 92; the Los Angeles Clippers 126, Memphis 105; Denver 124, Washington 103; Utah 111, Sacramento 107; and Phoenix 115, Golden State 105.
At New York, the Celtics won the season series against the Knicks 3-1 and have won nine of the last 10 in the rivalry.
“They know how to close out games down the stretch,” New York’s Chris Duhon said. “They execute perfectly offensively and defensively, and that’s something that we have to get to.”
After Danilo Gallinari scored to give New York an 80-79 lead, Allen scored Boston’s next 11 points. His drive with about 6 minutes left put Boston in front 90-86.
“I really thought that stretch where Ray got it going got us out,” coach Doc Rivers said. “That was huge for us.”
It was an appropriate finale for a difficult week for the Knicks, who surrendered a couple of the greatest performances in Madison Square Garden history. Kobe Bryant scored 61 points in the Los Angeles Lakers’ 126-117 victory Monday, and LeBron James had 52 points, 11 assists and nine rebounds to lead Cleveland to a 107-102 win Wednesday.
loved to get two victories out of it, but unfortunately we didn’t.”
Thunder 102, Trail Blazers 93
At Oklahoma City, Kevin Durant scored 31 points and outplayed Greg Oden in the first pro meeting between the top two picks of the 2007 NBA draft as the Thunder snapped a three-game losing streak.
Oden finished with four points and two rebounds in 16 minutes for Portland, which had won four of its previous seven road games but fell to 0-4 in Oklahoma City.
Pacers 107, Magic 102
At Indianapolis, Danny Granger scored 14 of his 33 points in the fourth quarter as the Pacers snapped a three-game losing streak.
Orlando’s Dwight Howard had 21 points and 20 rebounds, but made just five of 12 free throws.
Hawks 102, Bobcats 97
Marvin Williams scored 29 points, including going 18-for-20 from the foul line, to key Atlanta’s comeback from a 17-point deficit.
Raja Bell scored 17 points for Charlotte, but was lost late in the third quarter to a groin injury.
Hornets 101, Raptors 92
At New Orleans, Peja Stojakovic scored a season-high 28 points and the Hornets tied a franchise record with 15 3-pointers, snapping their four-game losing streak.
Jermaine O’Neal scored 24 points for Toronto, which lost its fifth straight.
Clippers 126, Grizzlies 105
ecord 16 3-pointers and snapped a seven-game losing streak.
Rudy Gay led Memphis with 26 points, hitting nine of his 13 shots.
Nuggets 124, Wizards 103
At Washington, Carmelo Anthony had 23 points, eight rebounds and six assists as the Nuggets celebrated their best 50-game record (34-16) since they joined the NBA in 1976.
Antawn Jamison, the only member of the Wizards’ ideal starting lineup in uniform, had 26 points and eight rebounds.
Jazz 111, Kings 107
Deron Williams scored 34 points on a badly bruised thigh and hit the go-ahead layup with 20.2 seconds to play, leading visiting Utah.
Kevin Martin scored 19 of his 37 points in the fourth quarter for Sacramento.
Suns 115, Warriors 105
At Phoenix, Grant Hill scored a season-high 27 points and the Suns pulled away in the final 3 1/2 minutes to beat Golden State.
Corey Maggette scored 25 points and Stephen Jackson 24 for the Warriors, who fell to 5-23 on the road.
With his first basket, which didn’t come until the second quarter because of foul trouble, the Suns’ Shaquille O’Neal became the seventh player in NBA history to score 27,000 points.
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