Boston Celtics hold off New York Knicks 113-96, take a 3-0 series lead
Paul Pierce tallied 38 points while Rajon Rondo had a franchise playoff-record 20 assists as the Boston Celtics took a 3-0 lead in their first-round play-off series against
the New York Knicks with a 113-96 victory on Friday night.
Rondo ended with 15 points and 11 boards. Boston Head Coach Doc Rivers said of Rondo, "He called a terrific game. That's a great sign for us because when he does that, he
allows us to run pretty much whatever we want to run."
Pierce made six three-pointers for Celtics, who have put the Knicks on the verge of elimination. Ray Allen was also in his groove. He fired eight long-distance shots and
posted 32 points for the victors.
With a 3-0 lead, the defending Eastern Conference Champions Celtics are in a position to close out the series in Game 4, which is set for Sunday back at Madison Square Garden.
Knicks were at a disadvantage without their starting point guard, Chauncey Billups, who did not play his second straight game in the series because of a knee injury.
Shawne Williams was Knicks’ leading scorer, with 17 points off the bench. New York forward Amare Stoudemire shot 2-of-8 and ended with just seven points. Carmelo Anthony
tallied 15 points on 4-of-16 shooting while Toney Douglas added 15 points for the Knicks, who were down by 23 points after three quarters.
“You can’t give them that big an opening that they can smell blood,” Knicks coach Mike D’Antoni said.
Boston quickly notched the first nine points of the opening period before New York got on the board with Landry Fields’ jumper less than four minutes into the first. Pierce
later made a 3-pointer to begin a 10-0 run that gave the Celtics a 22-5 advantage.
New York however cut the deficit to seven points, 27-20, by the end of the first quarter and kept the gap to single-digits for almost all of the second quarter. They trailed
by eight points, 52-44, heading into the second half.
Pierce nailed a 3-pointer less than three minutes into the third quarter before Allen drilled a mid-range jumper to give the Celtics a 63-50 lead.
Jermaine O'Neal canned a jumper to begin an eight-point run near the midway point of the third quarter that made it 77-56 for the Celtics. The Knicks did not score, missing
three shots and turning the ball over three times during the stretch.
Boston held an 86-63 advantage heading into the fourth quarter and continued to make shots. The Celtics essentially secured the victory in a three-possession span late in
the fourth quarter. Rondo got a clean shot to the basket for a go-ahead layup and Pierce made a trey. Allen then drained his final three-pointer to make it a 106-84 game.
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