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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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GAME FLOW
BOSTON (AP) -- New Boston Celtics coach Jim O'Brien didn't stomp up and down the sideline. He barely used the full-court press. He didn't
yell at his players every second of the game.
In fact, the only thing he did like Rick Pitino was lose.
|  | | Portland's Rasheed Wallace, left, goes high to knock the ball away from Boston's Vitaly Potapenko. |
In Boston's first game after Pitino resigned, Steve Smith hit a
pair of 3-pointers 42 seconds apart in the fourth quarter to give
the Trail Blazers the lead and help Portland beat the Celtics 98-90 Monday night.
"I've got news for you, I had a big part of us being 12-23,"
O'Brien said, dispelling any chance that Pitino would take all of
the blame for the team's troubles. "But I feel pretty good that
one of Rick's people can be involved in trying to turn it around."
It was the eighth consecutive victory for Portland. Boston has
lost six in a row and 12 of the last 15, a skid that convinced
Pitino to declare his rebuilding plan a failure earlier in the day
and walk away with more than $20 million remaining on his contract.
"Jimmy has his work cut out for him," said Portland coach Mike
Dunleavy. "I wish him luck."
Scottie Pippen, playing in his 1,000th regular-season game,
scored 22 points. Smith had 17 points, Rasheed Wallace 15 with 12
rebounds and Damon Stoudamire had 21 points and eight assists for
Portland.
Paul Pierce scored 25 points, and Antoine Walker had 17 with 11
rebounds for the Celtics. Boston made just three of 18 from 3-point
range, missing five in the final minutes.
Pitino gave up on a team that wouldn't play the swarming defense he preferred and took bad shots instead of passing the ball to an
open teammate. The Celtics seemed to come out inspired, taking a
72-69 lead after three quarters against the top team in the Western
Conference before crumbling in the fourth.
"I think the guys look at it like a fresh start. It was like
starting over," Pierce said. "I think I see a different kind of
attitude."
But O'Brien said he didn't think the team was reacting to the
day's news.
"I think they played hard and, for the most part, I think they
played smart," O'Brien said. "I think that if Rick were standing
here now, I think the guys would have played extremely hard
tonight. I don't think there would have been one bit of
difference."
Boston led 71-61 before the Trail Blazers closed the third
period with an 8-1 run, getting two baskets apiece from Wallace and
Stoudamire. Portland opened the fourth with a 10-3 spurt, taking a
76-75 lead on Smith's 3-pointer from the right wing and adding to
it when he hit a 3-pointer with 9:36 to play.
Pitino, who inherited a 15-37 team with two lottery picks,
resigned as Celtics coach and president 3½ years into a 10-year,
$50 million contract. He finished 102-146 with three consecutive
losing seasons and part of a fourth.
"It has been a great privilege to coach the greatest basketball
tradition in sports," Pitino said in a statement released by the
team. "I wish we could have accomplished more between the lines,
but I am proud with the efforts of my staff and players."
O'Brien, who was Pitino's assistant with the Knicks and
Kentucky, was named interim coach.
O'Brien's first message to his team was to edit the standings on
a chalkboard in the locker room to erase all of the teams except
the four ahead of the Celtics in the Eastern Conference playoff
race. O'Brien said he was convinced that his team, which was three
games out entering the night, could reach the postseason, which
they haven't done since 1995.
O'Brien received an ovation from the half-filled FleetCenter
when he was introduced before the game. But the crowd mostly booed
as the team left the court after the defeat.
The Celtics showed spurts of impressive defense but, just as
they did under Pitino, they couldn't sustain it. Boston gave up
five dunks and a layup in the first eight minutes, but stayed close
with offensive rebounds and second-chance points.
The Celtics led 46-44 at the half and used an 8-0 run early in
the third to take an 11-point lead before Portland scored 18 of the
next 22 points.
Game notes
O'Brien coached one game when Pitino was ill in 1998. Boston
beat Cleveland 78-71. ... Pitino beat the defending champion
Chicago Bulls in his first game. ... Arvidas Sabonis was scratched
from the starting lineup with a toothache. ... Portland plays 13 of
its next 15 games against the Eastern Conference.
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ALSO SEE
NBA Scoreboard
Portland Clubhouse
Boston Clubhouse
RECAPS
Portland 98
Boston 90
Cleveland 92
New Jersey 90
Miami 88
Golden State 78
Dallas 104
Chicago 91
Indiana 85
LA Clippers 82
Sacramento 100
Minnesota 97
AUDIO/VIDEO
 Despite a lose in his debut, Jim O'Brien thinks the Celtics can still make the playoffs.
wav: 189 k
RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6
Not seeing Rick Pitino on the sidelines was a bit strange for Paul Pierce.
wav: 104 k
RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6
Jim O'Brien felt the players would have given Rick Pitino the same effort they gave him.
wav: 112 k
RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6
FROM
ATHLETESDIRECT
Antoine Walker Official Site
Mike Dunleavy Official Site
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