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BOX SCORE
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 GAME FLOW
BOSTON (AP) -- The Boston Celtics may be looking down at the
Clippers in the standings, but they can already see the future
taking shape in Los Angeles.
"They're going to go places if they stick together," Celtics
coach Rick Pitino said Sunday after Boston scraped out a 96-87
victory over the Clippers. "This is going to be a heck of a
basketball team someday."
Paul Pierce scored 25 points and Antoine Walker had 17 with 14
rebounds to snap Boston's two-game losing streak.
Lamar Odom scored 19 and Quentin Richardson had 13 with 11
boards for Los Angeles, which cut a 19-point deficit to six in the
final minutes. But the Clippers were plagued by 21 turnovers and
bad shooting, with Odom and Richardson making just 11 of 34 shots
to contribute to the team's 37 percent performance.
"I don't mind guys trying too hard. We can get that
corrected," coach Alvin Gentry said. "With a young team, when you
get down, sometimes everybody is trying to do it himself."
The victory pulled Boston (8-9) to within a game of .500 and
dropped the Clippers to 5-13 and last place in the Western
Conference. But it is Los Angeles that seems to have bright future in
Odom (age 21), Corey Magette (21) and rookies Richardson
(20), Darius Miles (19) and Keyon Dooling (20).
"They are a lot of young guys who are hungry and trying to make
an impression on the league," Pierce said. "They have a lot of
potential and they're going to be a very good team."
The Celtics blew the game open with a 24-10 run in the second
quarter to turn a two-point lead into a 54-38 advantage just before
the half. Boston led by as many as 19 points in the third before
Los Angeles chipped it away to 12 with a 7-0 run and nine of the
last 11 points in the quarter.
Odom scored seven consecutive points for the Clippers in the
fourth as they cut the deficit to nine on his 3-pointer that made
it 75-66 with 9:08 left. With 3:10 left, Darius Miles dunked on a
breakaway to cut Boston's lead to 83-77.
But Pierce hit a 3-pointer at the other end and, trading free
throws for the final three minutes, the Clippers couldn't get
within six.
Odom, who had seven rebounds and four assists, was also called
for a technical foul for taunting the Celtics bench with 9:51 left
in the game after making a basket that left him 3-for-14 from the
field and his team trailing by 14 points.
Game notes
The Celtics' Eric Williams connected with Randy Brown on an
alley-oop with four minutes left in the second period and one
second left on the shot clock ... The Celtics placed guard Chris
Herren on the injured list with bone spurs in his right shoulder
and activated Adrian Griffin to take his place on the roster. ...
Celtics coach Rick Pitino changed his suit at halftime. ... The
Clippers shot just 30 percent in the first quarter and 34 percent
in the first half.
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NBA Scoreboard
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RECAPS
Boston 96
LA Clippers 87
Milwaukee 92
Indiana 80
San Antonio 97
Vancouver 79
Detroit 93
Washington 87
Phoenix 84
Portland 79
Seattle 118
Golden State 102
LA Lakers 99
Dallas 97
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