SPORTS
Celtics increase playoff lead
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Friday, April 26, 2002
BOSTON (REUTERS) — Allen Iverson shook off the rust, but he couldn’t shake off Paul Pierce.
Pierce had 25 points and 10 rebounds, hitting the go-ahead three-pointer with 1:36 left Thursday night to lead the Boston Celtics to a 93-85 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers and send the defending Eastern Conference champions to the brink of elimination.
The Celtics took a 2-0 lead in the best-of-five series despite 29 points from Iverson, who missed the final 14 games of the regular season and struggled in the playoff opener. Game 3 is in Philadelphia Sunday.
Philadelphia led 81-77 with 3:21 left to play when Tony Battie hit a basket and Pierce followed with a jumper — just his second basket of the half — to tie it. Pierce, who had 11 points in the fourth quarter, followed with a three-pointer from the right side to give Boston an 84-81 lead it never relinquished.
Antoine Walker had 24 points and 10 rebounds for the Celtics.
Walter McCarty, a regular-season role-player who erupted for 16 points in the series opener, came on from there. He was three of four from the line, added a big rebound and a key steal in the final minutes and had 10 points in all to help hold the Sixers back.
Derrick Coleman had 13 points and 13 rebounds, and Dikembe Mutombo had 10 points and 11 rebounds for Philadelphia. Aaron McKie added 16 in a reserve role, including 10 in a row during a 12-0 run that gave the Sixers a 75-71 lead with 7:11 left to play.
It was 71-63 when Iverson hit a pair of free throws; then McKie made a three-pointer, two free throws and a fast-break layup before converting a three-point play. But Boston answered with a 10-0 run of its own.
Iverson, the reigning NBA MVP, missed the end of the regular season after breaking his left hand in a game at Boston March 22. He returned for Game 1 Sunday and scored 20 points, but 15 of them were in the first quarter.
Iverson essentially missed practice Wednesday because of a cold. However, he showed no signs of either the injury or the illness Thursday, playing 43 minutes and shooting 11 for 30 from the field and adding four rebounds and seven assists.
Walker has had some hand problems of his own, going on the injured list for the final game of the regular season because of a sprained left thumb. The hand was not taped up for the first time since then.
The Celtics led by as many as seven in the first quarter as Pierce, Walker and Iverson each had eight points. Philadelphia came back to tie it in the second, 35-35, before Boston opened up a 10-point lead with 13 seconds left on Eric Williams’ three-pointer.
Coleman’s tip-in at the end of the half made it 48-40.
