Boston hangs on in battle of NBA’s elite
Thursday, January 06, 2011
Rajon Rondo finished with his 11th career triple-double and Ray Allen scored 31 points as Boston held on – barely – for a wild 105-103 win over San Antonio in a battle of the NBA’s top two teams at the TD Garden.
Leading by seven points with 66 seconds remaining, the Celtics appeared headed to a relatively stress-free win, but the Spurs pulled to within a basket and had a chance to tie the game on their final possession. Paul Pierce blocked Manu Ginobili’s jumper in the closing seconds to preserve the win.
Boston improved to 27-7 despite not having Kevin Garnett in the lineup due to a calf injury while the Spurs dropped to 29-6 and lost back-to-back games for the first time this season (the Knicks beat them on Tuesday night in New York).
Rondo finished with 22 assists, 12 points and 10 rebounds and Glen Davis scored 23 points – one shy of his career high – in place of Garnett. The game went back and forth for most of the night, with Boston leading by as many as seven points in the third quarter before San Antonio battled back to tie the score.
With the game even at 96 apiece, Marquis Daniels scored the go-ahead lay-up on a feed from Pierce. Allen’s 3-pointer on the following possession made it 101-96 and Rondo scored on a floater over Tim Duncan with 1:06 to go to give Boston what seemed like an insurmountable 103-96 cushion.
A 3-pointer by Ginobili and a driving lay-up by Tony Parker kept the Spurs alive. They pulled to within two points on a pair of free throws by Richard Jefferson and got a huge break on the ensuing possession when Allen missed two shots from the free-throw line. Pierce’s block cut the Spurs’ rally short.
Boston has now won three consecutive games since Rondo returned to the lineup on Jan. 2 in Toronto. They’ll host the Raptors in a rematch Friday night at 7:30.
Follow us on Pinterest Google + Facebook Twitter See It Read It