Pierce Leads Celtics In Comeback Win Over Knicks

The Boston Celtics headed for the locker rooms at halftime trailing 51-37. Most teams would hang their heads. Most teams would accept defeat. Most teams would already be looking ahead to the next game.

But, as many of you well know, the Celtics are not most teams.

Boston outscored New York 57-35--including the last ten points of the game--and prevailed with a 96-86 victory. Paul Pierce closed the game out for the C's with 13 of his 21 points coming in the 4th quarter. The Celtics captain connected on 8-13 attempts from the field and all four of his shots from the charity stripe.

Kevin Garnett added 24 points on 10-15 shooting, 11 rebounds, and four steals while Rajon Rondo bounced back from a string of shaky performances with a double-double of his own. Rondo tallied 13 points and dished out 12 dimes.

Ray Allen chipped in with 15 including a reverse layup with 5:01 left in regulation that gave Boston it's first lead since late in the opening frame. As a team, Boston shot 46.5% from the field and 80.8% from the line in the impressive comeback win.

For New York, Carmelo Anthony, Chanucey Billups, and Amare Stoudemire provided a balanced scoring effort with 22, 21, and 16 respectively. Unfortunately for them, none of them shot over 50% like Pierce and Garnett.

The game definitely fueled a clearly developing rivalry. There was blood shed on both sides as Boston's Allen and Glen Davis, as well as New York's Carmelo Anthony took shots to the head. It appears none of the injuries are serious, but there was clearly an atmosphere during the game that stretched far past that of an ordinary regular season contest.

The Celts improve to 50-19 with the victory, while the Knicks fall to 35-35. Boston returns to action Wednesday night at 7:30 p.m. when Tony Allen and the Grizzlies pay a visit to the TD Banknorth Garden.