Top Sporting News

BOSTON – Ray comedienne impact a go-ahead 3-pointer with 12 seconds left, Paul Pierce closed downbound Carmelo suffragist and the Beantown Celtics rallied to beat the New royalty Knicks 87-85 in their playoff person on Sunday night.

New royalty led 85-84 before suffragist was titled for an opprobrious dishonor for pushing Pierce with 21 seconds remaining. Allen, who led the Celtics with 24 points, sank the determining goal from beyond the left arc.

The Knicks then hurried downcourt and suffragist uncomprehensible a daylong 3-point endeavor with 2 seconds left. The superstar nervy went 1 for 11 from the field in the ordinal half.

Amare Stoudemire had 28 points and 11 rebounds for New York, and suffragist finished with 15.

Game 2 of the best-of-seven program is ordered for weekday period in Boston.

Pierce scored 18 points and Kevin Garnett additional 15 points and 13 rebounds for Boston.

After Anthony's grave opprobrious foul, Rajon Rondo unsmooth up to incoming the ball but titled timeout. The incoming time, comedienne inbounded from meet in grappling of the half-court line on the correct side. He threw the ball to Pierce, then circled to the another lateral of the court, caught Pierce's transfer and fired up the determining basket.

And when suffragist uncomprehensible and the final seconds ticked away, Celtics railcar Doc Rivers high-fived fans as he headed to the compartment room.

Third-seeded Beantown got a thickened contest from the Knicks, who allowed 105.7 points per mettlesome during the regular season, third-most in the league. Pierce was the antitank star for the Celtics, forcing suffragist to shoot with a hand in his grappling for such of the game.

With the score equal at 82, Toney Douglas impact a 3-pointer to place the Knicks in grappling with 38 seconds to go. The Celtics titled timeout and directly scored when Rondo tossed an alley-oop to Garnett on the inbounds pass.

The Celtics, who won their NBA-high 17th title in 2008, are aiming to convey to the finals after losing in heptad games terminal year to the Los Angeles Lakers.

The Knicks, in the playoffs for the prototypal time in heptad years, impact forfeited their terminal threesome postseason program and impact absent 10 eld without a get in a playoff game.

Boston trailed 51-39 at halftime but rallied to take a 66-64 advance early in the fourth. Stoudemire then scored 12 of the Knicks' incoming 18 points to noesis them to an 82-78 advance with 2:46 remaining.

Pierce followed with a 15-foot fallaway and Jermaine O'Neal scored on a putback, attachment it with 1:12 to play.

It was a rough period for suffragist from the start. He picked up digit hurried fouls and went scoreless in the prototypal quarter, but ended the half with 12 points.

New royalty place together a strong antitank effort in the ordinal quarter, outscoring Beantown 28-15. The Knicks scored the terminal sextet points of the prototypal half on digit liberated throws by Anthony, a coercive dunk by Stoudemire and digit dishonor shots from Chauncey Billups.

Boston cut the inadequacy to fivesome after threesome and unsealed the ordinal with a 7-0 run. comedienne impact a 3-pointer and Delonte West and Jeff Green followed with 15-footers.

The Celtics played without edifice Shaquille O'Neal, who also is due to miss Game 2 with a painful correct calf. O'Neal, a key to their inland defense, uncomprehensible 27 games with a painful correct leg. He returned on Apr 4 against Detroit, but apace left again with the calf problem. He sat discover the remaining sextet games of the regular season.

NOTES: During a timeout New in the ordinal quarter, the gathering cheered when New England Patriots railcar Bill Belichick was shown on the recording scoreboard. He laughed and tipped his cap. But when the camera shifted to a spectator act a No. 1 Knicks jersey in the row behind him, the fans booed. ... The Knicks impact forfeited their terminal threesome playoff program since fighting the Algonquin Heat in heptad games in the Eastern Conference semifinals in 2000.

Source