Basketboll: Boston Celtics 96, New York Knicks 93

Basketboll: Boston Celtics 96, New York Knicks  93





BOSTON MA: Celtics 96, Knicks 93: Carmelo Anthony's 42  points and 17 
rebounds just wasn't enough to lift the Knicks to victory last  night against the 
Celtics. While Anthony tied a career playoff high in points,  New York 
played without Amare Stoudemire in the entire 2nd half (back spasms)  and 
without Chauncey Billups for the entire game (back spasms). While Rajon  Rondo led 
Boston with 30 points, it was Kevin Garnett who sealed the game for  
Boston. Garnett scored both the go-ahead basket to put the Celtics up by one and  
had a steal with 4 seconds left that essentially ended the game. The two 
teams  meet again Friday at The Garden in third game of the best-of-seven 
series.
 
 
 
 
 
 
Rapid reaction: Celtics 96, Knicks 93

AP 

Rajon Rondo ran layup lines in the first quarter for the  Celtics.




Rapid reaction after the Boston Celtics defeated the  New York Knicks 96-93 
in Game 2 of an Eastern Conference quarterfinal series  Tuesday night at TD 
Garden. Boston now holds a 2-0 lead as the series shifts to  New York. 
 
 
 
 
 




HOW THE GAME WAS WON 


Rajon Rondo scored a career postseason-high 30 points on  13-of-23 
shooting, while adding seven assists and four rebounds, while Kevin  Garnett 
produced 12 points and 10 rebounds -- hitting the winning basket and  providing a 
key late-game stop -- as the Celtics again pulled ahead in the final  seconds 
of a dizzying fourth quarter. Without Chauncey Billups (left knee  strain) 
and Amare Stoudemire (left with back spasms), Carmelo Anthony tried to  will 
the Knicks to victory, scoring 42 points on 14-of-30 shooting with 17  
rebounds, but it wasn't enough. 
 
TURNING POINT 
Nursing a one-point  cushion with little more than four minutes to play in 
the third quarter, the  Celtics embarked on 12-2 run to build a 11-point 
bulge. Ray Allen ignited the  burst with a 3-pointer, Jeff Green contributed a 
triple along the way and Paul  Pierce capped it with a pair of jumpers for a 
74-63 lead with 44 ticks to play  in the third. 
 
It should have been enough, but the Celtics couldn't cool  off Carmelo. 
Anthony scored the final four points of the third frame, then  produced nine of 
the first 13 to start the fourth as the Knicks rallied ahead on  his jumper 
with just less than eight minutes to play. After seesaw play, the  Knicks 
grabbed two offensive rebounds while trailing by a point late and Jared  
Jeffries produced a layup to put the Knicks on top 93-92 with 19.3 seconds to  
play. That's when KG took over with a little bunny in the lane for the 
pivotal  bucket. 
 
STAT OF THE GAME 
After finishing  with a 10-rebound edge in Game 1, the Celtics got 
annihilated on the glass. The  Knicks boasted a 53-37 advantage, turning 20 
offensive caroms into 24  second-chance points, which allowed them to hang around as 
long as they did. 
 
UNSUNG HERO 
Pierce might have been  on the wrong side of Anthony's 42 points, but he 
did all he could in the final  moments to force the ball out of his hands (and 
Boston's constant double-team  with Glen Davis aided that cause). Pierce 
chipped in 20 points on 8-of-18  shooting over 45 minutes. 
 
WHAT IT MEANS 
The Celtics sure don't  like making things easy on themselves. Even without 
two of its three stars, New  York hung around on the offensive exploits of 
Anthony and the Celtics' aversion  to rebounding. Yet again, however, the 
Celtics produced the big plays when they  mattered most, leaning on a rare 
late-game hero in Garnett (Pierce and Ray Allen  are normally the go-to guys 
down the stretch).




 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Celtics Take 2-0 Series Lead


 
 
 
 
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