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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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GAME FLOW
BOSTON (AP) – There's still a little passion left in the
Celtics-Lakers rivalry, and Shaquille O'Neal knows it as well as
anyone.
|  | | The Lakers' Devean George bowls over Vitaly Potapenko in the first quarter Friday. |
O'Neal endured chants of "Beat L.A." to sink 15 of 23 free
throws Friday night, scoring 39 points to lead Los Angeles to a
100-96 victory. Then, he added a friendly taunt to the Boston fans
who grew up on Bird vs. Magic and Russell vs. Chamberlain.
"I've been working with Bob Cousy on my free throws," O'Neal
said, a claim that would get the Celtics Hall of Famer banished
from Boston if it had any truth whatsoever. "He taught me
everything I know."
Boston cut a 26-point first-half deficit to one before Horace
Grant hit a shot clock-beating turnaround jumper with eight seconds
left in the game to secure the victory.
O'Neal added 14 rebounds as the Lakers beat Boston for the
fourth consecutive time and improved to 3-0 on their road trip.
"Shaq was at the top of his game tonight," Celtics forward
Antoine Walker said. "He was hitting everything -- including his
foul shots."
Brian Shaw had 10 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists, and Rick
Fox, another former Celtic, had 19 points, six rebounds and eight
assists.
Paul Pierce scored 30 and Antoine Walker had 21 for Boston,
which has lost four of its last five games to fall 1 1/2 games behind
Indiana in the race for the final playoff spot in the Eastern
Conference. The Pacers beat the Chicago Bulls 100-93 on Friday
night.
The Lakers and Celtics have played each other in the NBA Finals
10 times, with Boston winning the first eight and Los Angeles the
last two. But with the Celtics missing the playoffs each year since
1995, there haven't been too many important games between them
lately.
But now the Lakers are in third place in the Western Conference,
within one game of Sacramento in the race for first place in the
Pacific Division, and the Celtics are once again in the playoff
hunt.
"Whenever a team has something to shoot for, they're aggressive
each and every night," Grant said. "We knew they were going to
make a run. We just didn't know it would be that good."
The Celtics trailed 52-26 in the first half and 79-58 heading
into the fourth quarter. They waited until the final five minutes
to make their move, cutting the deficit to 93-87 with 3:15 left on
two 3-pointers apiece by Walker and Walter McCarty.
McCarty hit another 3 to make it 95-91 with 53.7 left, then
Derek Fisher was called for a charge to give the Celtics the ball
back.
Pierce made a layup and converted a three-point play to make it
95-94 with 48 seconds left. Fox and Pierce each hit two free throws
before the Lakers ran the game clock down to single digits and
Grant hit from about 10 feet out on the right side.
Pierce had one final chance to win it, but Fisher stole the
ball. Pierce grabbed Fisher, ripping his jersey, but the Laker hit
one of two free throws with 3.2 seconds left to clinch the victory.
"We knew Walker and Pierce were are going to get hot. We didn't
count on McCarty coming in there with three 3s," Lakers coach Phil
Jackson said. "But they found a combination that worked pretty
well for them."
The Lakers are 6-2 in the eight games Kobe Bryant has missed
with a sore left foot.
The Lakers had a 9-0 run in the first quarter to take a 15-6
lead. They extended the lead to 52-26 with 1:52 left in the half by
scoring 10 consecutive points and 21 out of 26.
Game notes
Randy Brown was taken off the court on a stretcher after
injuring his hip in the third quarter. ... Pierce tied his
career-high with 42 points last time the Celtics played Los
Angeles. ... Bryant missed his eighth game out of the last nine.
... The last time Boston beat the Lakers was on Dec. 28, 1997, in
Los Angeles. ... The Celtics were 3-for-17 from the field at one
point in the first quarter. The Lakers shot 81 percent (13-for-16)
in the second quarter. ... The crowd of 18,624 was Boston's sixth
sellout of the year and third in a row. ... Pierce was 7-for-14
from the line.
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ALSO SEE
NBA Scoreboard
LA Lakers Clubhouse
Boston Clubhouse
Rider reportedly 'pouty' about three-minute outing vs. Celtics
Celtics' Brown injures hip, leaves game on stretcher
RECAPS
Philadelphia 96
Cleveland 88
LA Lakers 100
Boston 96
Miami 81
Charlotte 76
Toronto 108
Orlando 100
Indiana 100
Chicago 93
Minnesota 101
Phoenix 88
Sacramento 118
Vancouver 90
Portland 122
Golden State 91
LA Clippers 113
Milwaukee 110
AUDIO/VIDEO
 Shaquille O'Neal owns the seconds quarter against the Celtics.
avi: 1116 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
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