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Monday, Jan. 17 1:00pm ET
Boston's Walker scores 31, grabs 11 | |||||
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 GAME FLOW
WASHINGTON (AP) -- When either Paul Pierce or Antoine Walker have a good game Boston still needs some help to win. When they both have big games, no other help is necessary. Pierce scored 18 of his 34 points in the fourth quarter and Walker scored 31 and grabbed 11 rebounds as the Celtics beat the Washington Wizards 105-101 Monday. "I didn't realize I had 18 points in the fourth quarter, but I knew I could take my man down on the block," Pierce said. "Coach told me just to drive and not settle for the jumper because I was going to get fouled. And I was able to do that and get to the line and score some easy points for us." Boston trailed by as many as 14 points in the second quarter, but outscored the Wizards 48-30 over the final 10 minutes of the period and the first nine minutes of the third to take a 74-64 lead. "I think we had that little lapse in the third quarter," said Washington's Rod Strickland, who had 24 points. "Most of the time in this league when you get up on a team, they'll come back." Boston was able to maintain its lead because of excellent shooting from the foul line, hitting on 31 of 34. The Wizards rallied behind Juwan Howard, who had a season-high 31 points, and took an 89-88 lead with 6:22 remaining on Howard's baseline jumper. But Washington was without leading scorer Mitch Richmond because of a fractured rib and had no answer for Pierce or Walker, who had his ninth double-double of the season. "They went to their two main men and they delivered for them. You get 65 points from those two guys and they are going to be tough to beat," Wizards coach Gar Heard said. After Boston went ahead again, Washington closed the gap to 102-101 on Strickland's three-point-play with 36 seconds to play. But a jumper by Pierce with 14 seconds remaining and a free throw by Kenny Anderson with four seconds left clinched the victory. Washington's Richard Hamilton missed a potential game-tying 3-pointer before Anderson's free throw. Hamilton replaced Richmond in the starting lineup and scored nine points. Walker's 31 points gave him 70 in two games, following a 39-point performance against New Jersey Friday night. Game notesLaron Profit was activated to replace Richmond. ... Boston has three former Wizards on its roster (Calbert Cheaney, Pervis Ellison and Doug Overton). ... There was speculation that Michael Jordan would be in attendance, but he did not show. | ALSO SEE NBA Scoreboard Boston Clubhouse Washington Clubhouse Wizards' Richmond to miss two weeks with broken rib
RECAPS Boston 105 Washington 101
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