Celtics hold on in surprising nail-biter

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Thursday, December 02, 2010

Mike Parente, GoLocalProv Sports Editor

In a tale of two halves, the Celtics were glad Ray Allen saved his best for the final act.

Allen’s 3-pointer in the closing seconds Wednesday gave Boston the breathing room it needed as it held on for a 99-95 win over Portland after nearly squandering a comfortable lead it worked so hard to obtain.

The Celtics trailed by five points late in the third quarter before storming back over the final 5 minutes, 11 seconds to open up a seven-point lead entering the fourth. Boston led by 16 points with 5:10 to play, but the Trail Blazers scored seven unanswered points in just over a minute to make the Celtics sweat in the closing seconds.

With Boston clinging to a one-point lead, Allen buried a three with 10.7 seconds remaining to finish Portland for good. Boston (14-4) held on for its fifth consecutive victory and remained top atop the Eastern Conference with Orlando.

Paul Pierce poured in 28 points on 9-of-11 shooting and Rajon Rondo controlled the offense with 10 assists. Kevin Garnett finished with 17 points and Shaquille O’Neal rebounded from an off night against Cleveland with 14 points and four rebounds. Glen Davis led the reserves with 16 points and seven rebounds.

Boston’s game-changing rally in the third began with Davis, who scored eight consecutive points down the stretch to help turn a 65-60 deficit into a 69-68 advantage. A 3-pointer by Pierce gave the Celtics the lead and they broke it open on baskets by Rondo and Garnett and another by Pierce, closing the quarter on a 9-2 run.

Back-to-back buckets by Garnett in the fourth gave Boston what seemed like an insurmountable 96-80 lead before Portland fought back. Andre Miller caught fire to pull the Trail Blazers to within eight. Portland cut its deficit to 96-95 on a driving layup by Brandon Roy before Allen’s 3-pointer sealed the win for Boston.

Wesley Matthews led Portland (8-10) with 23 points while Miller chipped in with 20. The Trail Blazers have lost five in a row. Boston will return to the floor Friday at home against Chicago.

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