Boston Celtics Crush Indiana Pacers 99-88 to make it 13 in a row
The short-handed Boston Celtics did not have too much trouble in trouncing the Indiana Pacers for their 13th straight win. The final score was 99-88 at the TD Garden in Boston. Some 18,624 basketball fans witnessed the fantastic victory of the home team.
High-Flying Players
Five Boston players scored in double figures. Paul Pierce played one of his best games in Boston’s uniform and had his seventh career triple- double with 18 points, 10 rebounds, and 12 assists. Nate Robinson, who was playing for the injured Rajon Rondo,
posted 18 points, as did Glen Davis. Shaq O’Neal who missed four games due to a sore right calf scored 11 points and grabbed five rebounds.
“Shaq is a big guy. When he looks up, I get his head nod and he says ‘throw it to the rim’—that’s what I try to do,” “He doesn’t have to jump too high to dunk the ball, so I just try to put it right next to the rim.” said Pierce.
Danny Granger did all he could by leading all scorers with 19 points for the Pacers but could not save his team from defeat. Roy Hibbert chipped in 17 points and 14 rebounds and Darren Collison contributed 15 points in the in the fourth defeat of Pacers
in the last five games.
Game Story
It was all about encores tonight. How do the Boston Celtics handle success of a big win when they have to turn around in the next match and take on the Indiana Pacers? Fortunately, the Celtics passed that test with flying colors.
Both teams started with same velocity but Boston managed to make it to the free throw line early to help build a quick lead. In the first quarter, the Celtics did not play offensively but slowly began to build their lead, taking a 30-23 lead into the second.
In the second quarter, Indiana got it going offensively and scored 25 points by limiting the Boston to 21 only. However, the Celtics managed to maintain a 3-point lead at the end of first half, 48-51.
In the third, both teams started ice cold, but Boston Celtics slowly built up a 69-65 lead at the end of third quarter.
Indiana kept the game tight for the majority of the second half but Pierce once again took charge for the Celtics in the fourth quarter, scoring six of Boston's ten points during a 10-2 run. The outburst pushed the Celtics’ lead to nine with 7:33 remaining
in the fourth quarter. The Pacers did not get closer than six points for rest of the way and Boston stamped their 22nd victory of the season.
"They're a heck of a basketball team and they're stingy in the fourth quarter. We didn't stop them enough times to give us our chance to make a run." Said Indiana head coach Jim O'Brien.
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