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Friday, Jan. 28 7:00pm ET
Anderson, Celtics swipe a victory | |||||
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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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 GAME FLOW
BOSTON (AP) -- Kenny Anderson has made plenty of game-winning shots in his basketball lifetime but doesn't once remember sealing a victory with a steal. "I probably haven't," he said after knocking the ball away from Jason Kidd with 5.9 seconds left on Friday night to preserve Boston's 91-88 victory over the Phoenix Suns. "I was just trying to stay in front of him. Harass him. No easy passes," said Anderson, who had three steals on the night, double his season average. "I can move my feet with the best of them. But it's just the desire to want to do it (play pressure defense), night-in and night-out." Tony Battie made a jumper from the lane with 15.9 seconds left to give Boston an 89-88 lead. After a couple of timeouts, Kidd brought the ball down the floor, but Anderson tipped away a pass and scrambled for the loose ball. "He was gambling," Kidd said. "He figured we were going to the left side and jumped out and got his hand on it. It was a good play." Anderson was fouled with 4.5 seconds left, giving Boston the ball out of bounds. Adrian Griffin was fouled on the inbound pass and he sank both free throws to make it 91-88. After a desperation inbound pass, Rex Chapman hurled a shot over the backboard with 0.2 seconds left. "That was a great play by Kenny. I love to see steals with the game on the line," Celtics coach Rick Pitino said. "It shows he's not afraid to make a play with the game on the line." Cliff Robinson scored 37 points for Phoenix, but he had only one basket in the fourth quarter. Penny Hardaway added 18 for the Suns and Kidd had 14 assists and 12 rebounds but only two points. Paul Pierce scored 31 and Antoine Walker added 24 for Boston, which has won four consecutive home games and is 16-6 at home, 4-17 on the road. The fourth quarter started sloppy but came to an exciting conclusion. Neither team scored for the first 2:56 of the third, when Pierce hit a 3-pointer to give Boston a 78-74 lead. There was no more scoring until Hardaway hit a 3-pointer at the 7:01 mark. But the teams traded leads throughout the final minutes. Phoenix tied it 84 when Robinson hit a 3-pointer with 3:40 left, then took the lead on Tom Gugliotta's basket at the 3:04 mark. Pierce gave Boston the lead with a 3-point play, leaning around Robinson to draw a foul and hitting a short jumper to make it 87-86 with 2:39 left. That's the way it stayed until Chapman sank a basket from the free throw line to make it 88-87. Robinson, who on Jan. 16 became the oldest player in NBA history to score 50 points for the first time, had 18 points at the half and 16 more in the third quarter alone. The Celtics had an 8-0 run to take a 31-21 lead early in the second period. Boston led 47-35 when the Suns scored 11 of the next 13 points to make it a 49-46 Celtics lead at the half. Game notesCeltics forward Pervis Ellison was scratched from the game with a calf strain. ... Suns coach Scott Skiles was called for a technical in the second quarter for jawing with the referee. ... With 3:13 left in the game, the Celtics lined up six men before referee Terry Durham yelled, "You've got six guys on the floor." | ALSO SEE NBA Scoreboard Phoenix Clubhouse Boston Clubhouse RECAPS Boston 91 Phoenix 88
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