Live Blog: Celtics at Knicks

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Nov 22, 2009

Live Blog: Celtics at Knicks Final, Celtics 107-105: Kevin Garnett, for all his struggles and all his limping, hits a long jumper to pull the Celtics out of Madison Square Garden with a huge win.

It was Paul Pierce again engineering the game-winner, taking the bulk of the time off the clock, drawing two defenders and giving Garnett a great look.

There were some ugly moments in this one but if Boston is a good team, and we think it is, it will win games like this.

Some numbers of note:

– Pierce made 6-of-7 3-pointers en route to a season-high 33 points.

Rasheed Wallace was held scoreless in 15-plus minutes.

Al Harrington led the Knicks with 30 points. David Lee had 22 points and 15 rebounds.

The C's have two days off before they host Philadelphia. In the first meeting between those two teams, Boston hit 14-of-20 3-pointers and got 62 points from its bench in a rout in Philly.

We will be courtside for the rematch.

Overtime, 9.3: Give Larry Hughes and David Lee plenty of credit for executing a perfect pick-and-roll for an easy game-tying hoop.

Again, it is Paul Pierce time.

Overtime, 19.3, Celtics 105-103: One defensive stop and the Celtics will survive, but they have gone nearly three minutes without scoring.

Overtime, 1:07, Celtics 105-103: The timing might not be great to say this, but it's clear that Kevin Garnett is not right.

He came up lame in Friday's loss to Orlando and has been gimpy all afternoon agianst the Knicks. You could see it when he came to the ground after a recent alley-oop attempt.

Overtime, 2:41, Celtics 105-101: Paul Pierce has put the Celtics on his shoulders here in overtime.

Pierce has all seven of Boston's points.

Overtime, 4:05, Celtics 103-100: It took an extra session but the Celtics finally have a 30-point scorer this season as Paul Pierce gets over that mark and makes it a three-point game with two free throws.

End of regulation, 98-98: Looking at the replay it looks as if Rajon Rondo's options were limited on that final play as the Knicks defended it well, but there seemed to be a second extra of hesitation.

End of regulation, 98-98: Not sure what Rajon Rondo was thinking there.

With 4.7 seconds left he held the ball for a solid three-count before firing up a 28-footer, certainly not the Celtics' best option there.

We go to overtime in a game that has see-sawed back and forth all afternoon.

Fourth quarter, 44.8, Celtics 98-96: Sure enough, Paul Pierce draws multiple defenders and leaves Kevin Garnett all alone at the top of the key.

Garnett, so quiet in this one, makes a huge shot.

Fourth quarter, 1:19, 96-96: I've said it before and I'll say it again, get the ball to Paul Pierce here.

Sure, he just missed a jumper on the Celtics' last possession, but Pierce has been the only consistent scorer for Boston today.

Fourth quarter, 2:44, Celtics 96-94: Unsure as to why they went away from him but Paul Pierce remains the Celtics' best option as there are no Knicks capable of guarding him.

And on the heels of Pierce's latest basket, which gave him 26 points,
Ray Allen is freed up for his first 3-pointer of the game, a huge shot as Boston crawls back in front.

The Celtics are on a 15-7 run.

Fourth quarter, 4:42, Celtics 91-90: Two free throws by Kevin Garnett give Boston its first lead of the quarter.

Fourth quarter, 5:21, Knicks 89-88: A flagrant foul by Eddy Curry may give the Celtics what they need to start a run, but Rajon Rondo continues to be a disaster from the line.

He makes 1-of-2 and the Celts have the ball down two.

Fourth quarter, 5:57, Knicks 88-84: A basket by Kevin Garnett, his first since a dunk with 4:33 left in the first, has the Celtics within four.

Fourth quarter, 7:31, Knicks 87-81: Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen and Rasheed Wallace are a combined 3-of-26 from the floor and the Celtics offense has disappeared.

Fourth quarter, 9:03, Knicks 86-81: It was a matter of time before Rasheed Wallace lost his cool, but he may have been justified in yelling at the officials to pick up his latest technical foul.

Wallace has been whistled for some borderline fouls underneath. The latest looked a lot worse than it was as he swung his arms when Eddy Curry fell to the ground to draw the whistle.

With the technical the Knicks can push the lead to seven again after the break.

Fourth quarter, 10:35, Knicks 82-77: Rasheed Wallace's drought from 3-point range has reach 13 straight.

Wallace has missed three shots already this quarter and the Celtics have one field goal in roughly eight minutes of play.

End of third quarter, Knicks 82-77: The Celtics have been outplayed plenty of late, but perhaps no stretch best exemplifies the fact that they have some work to do than the close of the third quarter.

After building a 14-point lead against 3-9 club it has owned, Boston gave up 29 points in eight minutes, 15 seconds of playing time.

Al Harrington had 11 points in the run for the Knicks, who limited the Celtics to one field goal in the last six-plus minutes.

All in all an ugly stretch for Boston, which looked a step slower throughout the drought.

Third quarter, 2:26, Celtics 75-75: The Knicks run goes to 12-0 before Ray Allen knocks down a pair of free throws.

Moments earlier Allen had missed a 3-pointer from the corner. He entered the game shooting 32 percent from beyong the arc, nearly eight percentage points below his career mark, and is 0-of-4 against New York.

Al Harrington has made three 3-pointers in the last two-plus minutes.

Third quarter, 4:47, Celtics 73-67: After scoring the quarter's first 11 points, the Celtics have let the Knicks crawl back in with a 7-0 burst.

Also, Paul Pierce commits an offensive foul before the break and New York can get even closer.

Kendrick Perkins has been the bright spot for Boston in the third with eight points. Remember, this is the floor where Perkins blew up for a then-career high 24 points in January 2008.

Third quarter, 7:20, Celtics 69-58: This is the Knicks club we are more used to seeing.

It took nearly four minutes for New York to score in the third quarter before David Lee gets a basket.

In that span the Knicks missed four shots and had three turnovers.

Third quarter, 9:15, Celtics 65-53: A 3-pointer by Paul Pierce, his fifth in as many attempts, caps a 9-0 burst to start the second half.

Kendrick Perkins, an afterthought in Friday's loss with Orlando (he had five fouls and a technical in limited minutes and sat the entire stretch run), has four points in the run and has nine points, six rebounds and two blocks.

Third quarter, 11:30, Celtics: 56-53: We are underway in the second half of the only Boston-New York sporting even that matters today.

At least it is the only one that matters to those waiting for the Celtics to look like the team that emerged 6-0 this season.

End of second quarter, Celtics 56-53: Just before the break we were treated to a blocked shot by Knicks little man Nate Robinson, who is good for a highlight a game (his shot on the Nets' basket Saturday the latest to make the reels).

The Celtics had a 10-3 run going until Al Harrington made a jumper to create the three-point halftime margin.

Paul Pierce carried Boston in the first half, scoring 17 points and making all four of his 3-pointers.

The teams are on pace to take 56 shots from beyond the arc. Celtics big men Kevin Garnett, Kendrick Perkins, Rasheed Wallace and Shelden Williams have combined for nine points in 44 minutes.

Back for the second half in a bit.

Second quarter, 2:32, Celtics 51-48: Five quick points give the Celtics the lead again.

After Ray Allen hits two free throws, Brian Scalabrine makes his third 3-pointer in four attempts this season.

While the 5-0 burst is all well and good it would be nice to see Paul Pierce touch the ball on every possession so long as Danilo Gallinari is on him.

Pierce had 14 points in the first. He is scoreless in the second.

Second quarter, 4:00, Knicks 48-46: I have protested my disdain for over-the-top NBA public address announcers before, but the way the Madison Square Garden mic-man punctuates a 3-pointer by Danilo Gallinari takes the cake.

If you are watching from home take note. Gallinari will certainly be chucking up a few more.

Second quarter, 5:05, 40-40: The Knicks are on a 14-4 run and Kevin Garnett just picked up his third foul.

Nate Robinson has seven points in the quarter for New York. Boston has managed just two shots in past three-plus minutes.

Dr. Jekyll, meet Mr. Hyde.

Second quarter, 8:30, Celtics 36-30: That is now 12 straight missed 3-pointers by Rasheed Wallace going back to Wednesday's win over Golden State.

His last two attempts may have been the ugliest. First, Wallace threw up a contested 3-pointer with plenty of time on the shot clock, leading to a fast-break layup for the Knicks.

Wallace then missed everything on another attempt before the break.

Second quarter, 11:30, Celtics 30-22: Paul Pierce or Ray Allen are usually the starters who stay in as the second unit trickles in, and they stay out there sometimes into the second quarter before getting a breather.

Doc Rivers has mixed that up just a bit by putting Rajon Rondo back in to run point with the bench players.

End of first quarter, Celtics 30-22: Amid all the second-guessing after Friday's loss to Orlando, there was a sense that the Celtics were simply out of sync and needed work.

Until they work out the kinks, it would be nice for someone to simply take over a basketball game (Boston has yet to produce a 30-point scorer this season). Paul Pierce appears like a great cancidate to do so today.

Pierce has hit all three of his 3-pointers and has 14 points through one quarter. He has manhandled Danilo Gallinari and Al Harrington and has been put on the line for six free throws already.

First quarter, 2:57, Celtics 17-12: Kevin Garnett just picked up his second foul in a span of 15 seconds and will be forced to the sideline.

Rajon Rondo, meanwhile, was removed from this one in favor of Eddie House just over seven minutes in. Much was made of Doc Rivers playing House instead of Rondo down the stretch Friday.

First quarter, 4:53, Celtics 13-12: Paul Pierce nearly gets a steal before the break on Danilo Gallinari, who has proven a tough matchup on one end but not much of a force on defense.

Pierce has seven early points to pace the Celtics. Kevin Garnett, meanwhile, is the lone Boston starter without a point and is 0-of-4 from the floor.

First quarter, 7:00, 6-6: Knicks coach Mike D'Antoni made waves earlier this season when he declared Danilo Gallinari the best shooter he had ever seen.

Well, apparently Gallinari also can take it to the hole, blowing by Paul Pierce and throwing down a two-hand jam in traffic.

First quarter, 8:35, Celtics 3-2: It is only fitting after the talk over the past couple of days that the 3-pointers start flying up early and often.

Between the two teams, five of the game's first eight shots were from beyond the arc.

Paul Pierce is the only one to make one and was the only player to score before Larry Hughes finally put the Knicks on the board nearly three minutes in.

First quarter, 10:48, 0-0: We are underway here with a few empty possession on both sides.

12:45 p.m.: We are about 20 minutes from the tip and the starting lineups are in.

No surprises from the suddenly struggling Celtics, who go with Rajon Rondo, Ray Allen, Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett and Kendrick Perkins.

The Knicks start Chris Duhon and Larry Hughes at guard, Wilson Chandler and Danilo Gallinari at forward and David Lee at center.

There has been a lot of chatter in the Celtics' world the past couple of days. Why so many 3-pointers? What is the deal with Rondo playing so little in the fourth quarter against Orlando on Friday (overblown in my opinion)? Is this a mere slump or a sign of bigger issues the team will wrestle with all season?

Well, the Knicks usually provide a respite so perhaps there will be some easy answers today. We will see in just a few minutes.

10:25 a.m.: After a dominant start, the Celtics have hit a bit of a skid. Following a miserable beginning, the New York Knicks are feeling a bit better about themselves.

Boston visits New York for a matinee at Madison Square Garden, hoping to right the ship in what has been a one-sided rivalry for years.

We will have all the action and analysis right here so make sure to check back before the 1:00 p.m. tip.

The C's dropped an 83-78 decision to Orlando on Friday at home, the fourth loss in seven games after a 6-0 start. Paul Pierce had 21 points in the setback, which saw Boston shoot 2-of-19 from the arc.

New York got six players into double figures in a 98-91 win over New Jersey on Saturday. It was the Knicks' second straight victory after a 1-9 start.

Al Harrington
and Danilo Gallinari scored 17 points apiece to lead the way.

New York is 0-2 in the second half of back-to-backs, losing by an average of 14.5 points.

The Celtics have won 17 of the last 21 meetings between the teams.

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