Paul Pierce’s herculean effort sees Boston Celtics past Orlando Magic 102 – 98 – NBA Recap
The Boston Celtics picked up an important 102 – 98 win on Wednesday over the Orlando Magic, increasing the gap between the two teams in the Eastern Conference standings. Playing at the TD Garden, Boston started strong and looked the more dangerous side for
large periods, holding off Magic at the end for the 102 – 98 victory.
Celtics captain Paul Pierce was in scintillating form tonight as he led the side to victory. In the absence of star point guard Rajon Rondo, Pierce took over playmaking responsibilities and ended up with 14 assists, the game high. Not only that, he had game
high 29 points and also grabbed 5 rebounds.
Avery Bradley started in place of Rondo for the Celtics and did not disappoint with a 23 point effort. Veteran star Kevin Garnett raked in 15 points and 9 rebounds while Brandon Bass netted 21.
Former Celtics player Glen Davis was the spearhead of Orlando’s efforts on the night. He scored a team high 27 points and had 7 rebounds to go with it. Jameer Nelson netted 21 points and dished out 9 assists while Ryan Anderson scored 12 and hauled down
9 boards.
Jason Richardson and J.J. Redick also got into double figures.
After an even start to proceedings the Celtics got their noses ahead thanks to a 6 – 0 spurt, taking them to 11 – 6. Orlando hung close for the remainder of the first quarter before Boston had a 10 – 2 sprint to close the segment up at 33 – 22.
The Magic came back well in the second segment. A 7 – 2 spurt got them close at 39 – 33. Soon an 11 – 4 run saw them get within a single point, 45 – 44. A Redick effort from beyond the arc levelled matters at 47 – 47 but Boston surged ahead again to end
the first half up at 55 – 51.
The Celtics changed gears again after the interval and their defensive effort improved visibly. The result was that Orlando couldn’t go past 19 points in the third frame while Boston soared for 24. That gave the home side a significant advantage heading
into the final period at 79 – 70.
The Magic though weren’t going to give up and came into the final 12 minutes with a lot of determination. They had an 7 – 1 burst in that took them right to the brink, behind by just a single point at 93 – 92 with less than 3 minutes left in the game.
Boston didn’t let them go ahead however, 5 unanswered points increased the gap again and Pierce made some big shots at the end to see them through for the 102 – 98 win.
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