Ray Allen had 22 points and six assists and Shaquille O’Neal added 13 points and nine rebounds as the host Boston Celtics extended their winning streak to 14 games with an 84-80 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers on Wednesday.
Kevin Garnett had 12 points and seven boards and foul-plagued Paul Pierce added 11 points for Boston, which notched its second narrow win in a week over Philadelphia and improved to 13-1 at home.
The Celtics fell behind in the fourth quarter but came back to knot it at 74-74 when Garnett drained a long jumper with 4:03 to play. The Sixers responded with a basket on their next possession, but Garnett hit two free throws and Pierce drained two more to give the lead back to Boston at 78-76 with 2:55 on the clock.
Pierce’s jumper with 1:36 to play made it a two-possession game, and Philadelphia squandered two chances to tie it in the final minute. After Garnett blocked a drive by Andre Iguodala, Allen’s two free throws with 5.6 seconds left sealed the win.
Elton Brand collected 16 points and 12 rebounds and Jrue Holiday scored 15 points for the Sixers, who have dropped two of the first three on their eight-game road trip.
Philadelphia | Boston | |
Elton Brand 16 | Scoring | Ray Allen 22 |
Jrue Holiday 5 | Assists | Ray Allen 6 |
Elton Brand 12 | Rebounds | Shaquille O'Neal 9 |
Elton Brand 6 | Free Throws Made | Ray Allen 5 |
Andre Iguodala 2 | Steals | Kevin Garnett 2 |
Tony Battie 4 | Blocks | Shaquille O'Neal 2 |
Team | Points | FG% | 3PM-3PA | FTM-FTA | Assists | Rebounds | Blocks | Steals | Turnovers |
Philadelphia | 80 | 43.1 | 2-10 | 22-31 | 14 | 40 | 5 | 4 | 13 |
Boston | 84 | 38.8 | 6-20 | 16-21 | 19 | 43 | 4 | 8 | 10 |