Recap: Boston vs. Atlanta
Sports Network | November 12, 2008
Boston, MA (Sports Network) - Paul Pierce hit a fade-away jumper with 0.5 seconds to play and scored 34 points, including 23 in the second half, leading the Boston Celtics to a 103-102 victory over the Hawks, handing Atlanta its first loss of the season.
Down 99-97 with under a minute to go, a defensive stop gave Atlanta a chance to tie. Joe Johnson hit a floating jump shot over Pierce to tie the game at 99 with 29.4 seconds to play. Pierce drove to the basket on the next possession and was fouled by Johnson with 21.1 seconds on the clock.
Pierce hit both free throws, but Johnson drove to the basket and dished it to Marvin Williams, who hit a three-pointer from the corner with 7.4 seconds left to give the Hawks a 102-101 lead.
But Pierce took a pass and hit a fade-away jumper from just inside the three- point line with 0.5 seconds left. A desperation pass for the Hawks was unsuccessful, sealing the win for the Celtics.
The game marked the first time the two teams met since the first round of the 2007-08 playoffs, when the Celtics outlasted the Hawks in seven games, a series in which the home team took every contest. Boston eventually won the NBA title over the Lakers in six games.
Pierce shot 8-of-14 from the floor and 15-of-16 from the free throw line to lead Boston, which has won six in a row. Kevin Garnett added 25 points and 12 rebounds, while Ray Allen had 17 points despite shooting 1-of-9 from beyond the arc.
Johnson had a team-high 28 points and seven assists for the Hawks, who were off to their best start since winning the first 11 games of the 1997-98 season. Mike Bibby added 16 points, and Williams had 14 points in Atlanta's first defeat in seven games this season.
Eddie House and Maurice Evans traded three-pointers to start the fourth, and Pierce hit a couple free throws to give Boston an 81-80 lead in the first couple minutes. Johnson's three with 9:38 to go gave Atlanta a two-point edge, but Boston scored the next six points to go back up 86-83.
Allen had two chances on wide-open three pointers to put the Celtics up six but missed on both attempts. Evans came back with a long distance shot with 5:27 left to tie the game at 88.
Garnett hit a jumper and followed with an emphatic dunk to give Boston its biggest lead at 92-88 with 3:32 to go. Bibby hit a couple free throws to climb to within two, and Rajon Rondo and Johnson each hit a three to make it a 96-95 Celtics lead with just under two minutes to go.
Pierce followed with a drive past Evans for a layup and a three-point play with the free throw, restoring a four-point advantage with 1:37 left. An offensive goaltending call against Al Horford negated a possible basket on the Hawks next possession, but Johnson sank two free throws to make it 99-97 with 1:01 left.
Thanks to Flip Murray's nine first-quarter points off the bench, the Hawks held a seven-point advantage after the opening period. Murray started the second with an old fashioned three-point play to open a 10-point lead, as Atlanta started the quarter on a 13-4 run.
Johnson's basket with seven minutes left in the half gave the Hawks a commanding 44-28 advantage, but the Celtics came roaring back. Allen's three sparked a 22-6 burst that tied the game at 50. Allen had eight points during the run, and Pierce had seven to send the game into the break tied, 51-51.
The teams went back-and-forth in the third quarter, as there were 10 ties and 12 lead changes. Pierce scored 12, while Garnett contributed 10 to lead the Celtics; Johnson had 10, and Bibby scored eight to pace the Hawks, who led 77-76 going into the final quarter.
Boston swept the season series, 3-0, between the two clubs last season...Johnson shot 9-of-23 from the field...No Atlanta player had more than five rebounds, and the Celtics outrebounded the Hawks, 43-32...Rondo had 10 assists.
