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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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GAME FLOW
ATLANTA (AP) – Boston's Paul Pierce launched a career-high 30
shots and made the ones that mattered most.
|  | | Celtics forward Paul Pierce scored 41 points on a career-high 30 shots. |
Pierce scored 41 points and Eric Williams hit a reverse layup
with 17.8 seconds remaining to give the Boston Celtics a 115-112
overtime victory over the Atlanta Hawks on Tuesday night.
"I don't think we played as well as we could have," said
Pierce, who shot 12-for-30 from the field and 14-for-17 from the
line. "We had a lot of breakdowns on defense, but we pulled it
out. It doesn't get any better than this."
Pierce, averaging 36.6 points over Boston's last seven games,
hit a 3-pointer from the top of the key with 13.8 seconds left in
regulation to force a 105-105 tie. Though he was 0-for-3 in
overtime, including 0-for-2 on 3-point attempts, Pierce hit three
of four 3-point shots in the second half and led the Celtics with
28 points in the third and fourth quarters.
"It really would have been a setback for us to lose this
game," said Pierce, named Sunday as the NBA player of the week.
"We got some big stops when we needed them. Everybody stepped
up."
Bryant Stith's 16-foot jumper fell off the rim with less than
one second left in regulation for the Celtics, who won their third
straight. Boston, which took its fifth victory in six games,
remained even with Indiana, a 110-102 winner at Washington, in the
race for the eighth playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.
Reserve guard Matt Maloney missed a 3-point attempt at the
buzzer that would have forced a second overtime. Maloney, who
scored 18 points, also missed a 12-foot jumper with 3.5 seconds
left in regulation.
Lorenzen Wright scored 27 points and pulled down 18 rebounds for
the Hawks, who lost their fourth straight and dropped to 3-16 in
their last 19 games. Jason Terry added 24 for Atlanta, which has
not won since upsetting the Los Angeles Lakers 108-106 on March 19.
Wright, a reserve forward, was called for charging with 5.8
seconds to go in overtime – a foul that allowed Pierce to hit a
pair of free throws that ended the scoring.
"Everybody in the gym knew I was fouled," Wright said.
"Everybody watching on TV knew I was fouled. People in England
knew I was fouled. If Ray Charles was watching, he knew I was
fouled. We didn't lose this game. It was taken from us."
Williams' reverse layup, coming in Boston's half-court offense,
was the final field goal of the game.
"We were down by one. We still had some time," Williams said.
"I had a center guarding me. The key was perseverance. They had
energy the whole game, and everything was going well for them."
Toni Kukoc, who finished with 19 points, hit a 3-pointer with
2:33 left in overtime to give Atlanta a 110-107 lead.
"We had a chance to win both times," Kukoc said. "The first
time, Pierce hit a great 3-point shot. We were right there. But
sometimes, as much as you're trying to protect him and defend him,
I thought that was a great shot. We couldn't have defended that. In
overtime, we did have a chance to win, and I thought that Lorenzen
got fouled underneath the basket."
The Celtics trailed from the start of the second quarter and
trailed by as many as 10 points before Antoine Walker's 3-pointer
gave them a 95-92 lead with 6:34 to play.
Game notes
Pierce scored 40-plus points in three of the Celtics' five
previous games. The last Boston player to be so prolific on offense
was Larry Bird, who scored 182 in February 1988. ... Atlanta was
without Brevin Knight in the second half after the starting point
guard reopened a wound on the palm of his left hand. ... The
Celtics moved to 4-1, while Atlanta fell to 0-1, in overtime games
this season. ... Boston improved to 20-16 under interim coach Jim
O'Brien.
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ALSO SEE
NBA Scoreboard
Boston Clubhouse
Atlanta Clubhouse
RECAPS
Indiana 110
Washington 102
Boston 115
Atlanta 112
Toronto 101
Miami 92
Houston 109
Utah 86
San Antonio 93
Charlotte 79
LA Clippers 101
Detroit 94
Sacramento 124
New York 117
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