|
|
 |
 |
|
| |
Wednesday, Mar. 15 7:00pm ET
Boston has won five of six | |||||
|
| ||||||
RECAP
|
BOX SCORE
|
 GAME FLOW
BOSTON (AP) -- Paul Pierce has always enjoyed run-and-gun basketball, and he got his wish in the second half. After Boston struggled to a two-point halftime lead, the Celtics scored 41 points in the third quarter, including nine from reserve Doug Overton and eight from Antoine Walker, to send the Golden State Warriors to their eighth straight loss, 121-104 Wednesday night. "It was a lot of fun, because I like to get up and down the court and we did that," Pierce said. "We didn't have a good first half and didn't rebound well, but I knew we were going to come out a different team in the second half." Antoine Walker finished with 25 points and Pierce added 19 as the Celtics kept their playoff hopes alive. Boston, which has won five of six, is 2½ games behind Orlando for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. "We're going to have to do it on the road and we're a tremendous home team," said coach Rick Pitino, whose team plays nine of its next 11 away from the FleetCenter. Boston has won five straight at home since Pitino lashed out at reporters and fans for "negativity." The Celtics, 6-25 on the road this season, begin a three-game road trip Friday at Atlanta. "This is going to be our key to decide whether we go to the playoffs," Pierce added. "Starting Friday is the big test for us and we haven't been doing it on the road all year long, but somehow we have to pull it out. It's gut-check time for us." Donyell Marshall put Golden State ahead 55-52 before Boston went on a 15-5 run that started with Overton's 3-pointer and was capped by a pair of Tony Battie free throws. Boston connected on all 15 of its free throws in the period. The two teams took a combined 102 foul shots. "I looked at my watch and that was a long game," said Golden State coach Garry St. Jean, "especially when they got it going in the third quarter. They defended well and ran the floor well." Eric Williams made a pair of free throws and a long jumper for an 89-69 lead with 1:02 remaining in the third. Neither team led by more than three points in the first quarter. Golden State took a 35-27 lead with 9:14 left in the second quarter on an Adonal Foyle layup. But the Celtics went into halftime with a 51-49 advantage after a Danny Fortson layup with 20 seconds left. Larry Hughes led the Warriors with 32 points. Vonteego Cummings tied his career high with 21 points. Golden State announced that swingman Chris Mills (right ankle) and forward Terry Cummings (rotator cuff) will miss the rest of the season. "We've been playing like that since the first day of training camp, so we can't use that as an excuse any more," Marshall said. "Every team has injuries, maybe not to the extent that we have, but it's no excuse." Fortson finished with 12 points and a game-high 13 rebounds. Game notesFortson rejoined the team after missing Sunday's loss at Detroit to attend a funeral. ... Warriors center Erick Dampier and Celtics center Vitaly Potapenko exchanged words early after Dampier was holding Potapenko's arm. ... Boston has won seven of the last eight games against Golden State. ... The 41-point second quarter for the Celtics was their second-highest output in any quarter this season behind a 42-point quarter against Milwaukee. | ALSO SEE NBA Scoreboard Golden State Clubhouse Boston Clubhouse RECAPS Boston 121 Golden State 104
  | |||||