Boston Celtics and Orlando Magic win: 2011 NBA Playoffs Game 2 Round-up (Part 2)
Boston Celtics 96 – New York Knicks 93
Kevin Garnett sank a go ahead hook shot in the clutch as the Boston Celtics overcame a monster night from Carmelo Anthony and squeaked past the short-handed New York Knicks in a 96-93 win at home.
With this victory the Celtics went 2-0 in the best of seven game series. Rajon Rondo led Boston with his career playoff-high 30 points and his team-mate Paul Pierce had 20 points out of which 16 came in the second half.
"We won the game. That's all we got out of that. They had no Stoudemire, no [Chauncey] Billups ... They played hard. We were lucky to win."
-- Boston coach Doc Rivers
The Knicks launched a second half assault on the Knicks and made 15-2 run. Anthony led the rally with 13 straight points in a span of seven minutes extended over the third and fourth period. The Celtics spend the rest of the game
double teaming him.
After Garnett’s hook shot, the Knicks had a chance to snatch the lead from the Celtics, but double-team on the wing forced Anthony to pass the ball to Jared Jeffries. Then, Garnett swiftly rotated to Jeffries and stole the attempted
pass by the power forward. A time out from Doc Rivers followed immediately.
After the quick timeout, Delonte West draws the foul on Anthony’s personal take and hit two free throws and concluded the game in Celtics favour.
"The Celtics didn't do anything special, they won two games on their home court. Now it's our turn to do the same thing."
-- Anthony on Knicks defeat
Anthony knotted his previous playoff-high with his 42 points along with game-high 17 boards. Besides Anthony, only Toney Douglas (14 points) and Jared Jeffries (10 points) made it to the double figures.
Orlando Magic 88 – Atlanta Hawks 82
Dwight Howard and Jameer Nelson led the Orlando Magic, as they defeated the Atlanta Hawks in a closely contested 88-82 victory. Howard scored 33 points and 19 boards, while Nelson had 13 points and eight boards.
With this victory in Game 2 the Magic were able to tie the seven game series 1-1.
The Magic used a 10-1 run and pushed the score to a 65-54 advantage at the end of the third quarter.
The Magic took 11-point lead into the fourth quarter, but they blew the advantage away as the Hawks made a late surge down the stretch and inched their way within two points.
However, Hedo Turkoglu made a layup that added a soap drama in the game, as the ball took time to go in the rim and then passed one to Jason Richardson who hit a three-pointer that iced the game, as the Magic went on guiding the
way and sealed the victory by six points.
J.R. Smith was the major contributor for the Hawks, he scored 17 points together with six rebounds and three assists.
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