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BOX SCORE
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 GAME FLOW
BOSTON (AP) -- The Boston Celtics were a mixture of good and bad
Friday night, which was good enough to hand the Atlanta Hawks their
seventh consecutive road loss.
Boston fell behind 49-42 at halftime, making a mere 14 shots
from the field. But it was a different story in the second half as
the Celtics, the NBA leaders in 3-point accuracy, made eight of
them to defeat Atlanta 106-99.
"In the first half we played offense in a phone booth," said
Celtics head coach Rick Pitino. "I told the guys at halftime, if
you dedicate yourselves to the press the entire game we will win."
Paul Pierce scored 25 points and Antoine Walker added 22.
"We were like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde," said Pierce. "We knew
we played bad in the first half and just wanted to turn it
around."
The Hawks extended their road losing streak to 21 games over the
past two seasons.
"Every game this year we have played poorly in one quarter,"
said Atlanta head coach Lon Kruger. "Tonight it was the third and
we dug ourselves a hole we couldn't get out of."
The Celtics made 10 of 21 shots from 3-point range.
They were 2-of-10 on 3-pointers in the first half but improved
to 8-of-11 in the second half.
"The 3-point shot is a great weapon when you use it properly
like we did in the second half," said Pitino.
Jim Jackson scored 20 points, Jason Terry added 15 and Matt
Maloney 13 for Atlanta.
"We've dug ourselves a hole, no doubt about it," said Jackson.
"It's frustrating to play well for three quarters and poorly for
one and lose. We've been doing that a lot this year."
Boston took control of the game with a 9-0 run to start the
fourth quarter, including a steal of an inbounds pass by Rick
Brunson and a layup for an 83-71 lead with 9:40 left.
Pierce's 3-pointer 40 seconds later gave the Celtics a 86-73
lead.
The Celtics took their biggest lead of the night, 102-86, when
Walker dropped in his third 3-pointer of the night with 3:20 left
in the game.
Maloney's 3-pointer triggered a 7-4 Hawks surge at the start of
the third quarter, and they took a 56-46 lead on DeMarr Johnson's
jump shot with 9:14 left in the period. Bryant Stith made three
3-pointers in the quarter as Boston came back and took its first
lead of the night, 65-64.
The Celtics trailed 49-42 at halftime as they made only 14 of 48
shots fom the field.
Game notes
The Celtics have a four-game win streak in the series. ...
The Hawks last win on the road came against Seattle on February 25,
2000. ... The 1975-76 Hawks lost 22 consecutive on the road and
dropped 29 straight over two seasons. ... The Celtics are fourth in
the NBA in steals and fourth in steals per turnover ratio. ...
Johnson, Atlanta's first round pick, sixth overall, made his first
start of the season.
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NBA Scoreboard
Atlanta Clubhouse
Boston Clubhouse
RECAPS
Golden State 92
Indiana 90
Philadelphia 94
Miami 73
Boston 106
Atlanta 99
Detroit 96
Charlotte 89
Minnesota 99
San Antonio 94
Milwaukee 89
Cleveland 76
New York 90
Phoenix 85
Dallas 99
Seattle 95
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