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Monday, Jan. 29 7:00pm ET
Celts' post first three-game win streak

RECAP | BOX SCORE | GAME FLOW

BOSTON (AP) -- Antoine Walker recovered from his miserable first half. Jerry Stackhouse didn't.

Walker scored 21 of his 27 points in the second half -- 16 in the third quarter alone -- to help Boston rally from a 16-point deficit and beat the Detroit Pistons 99-87 Monday night.

Paul Pierce
Paul Pierce, top, helps up teammate Eric Williams, who was on the receiving end of a Pistons' offensive foul.

Paul Pierce scored 14 of his 28 points in the fourth as the Celtics extended their winning streak to a season-high three games.

"He (Walker) is our leader," Celtics coach Jim O'Brien said. "No one believed we'd win the game but Antoine Walker and Paul Pierce. They kept saying, 'Let's keep playing and see where it takes us.' Antoine had a super second half -- especially from a leadership standpoint."

Stackhouse, the NBA's leading scorer with a 30-point average coming into the night, picked up his third foul with 6:53 left in the first quarter and didn't play the rest of the half. He finished with just 12 points on 6-for-17 shooting -- his second-lowest output of the season.

Stackhouse seemed to blame the officiating, but held his tongue when asked to elaborate.

"I haven't committed three fouls in the first quarter in my whole life," he said. "It was just personal. That's all I can say."

But the officials couldn't be blamed for the three separate technical foul shots that he missed, or his airball that missed the basket by two feet.

"I didn't really get into a rhythm," said Stackhouse, who was 0-for-3 from the line. "My thing is hitting free throws. I didn't even hit free throws tonight."

Detroit led 70-54 late in the third before Boston scored 12 of the last 14 points in the quarter. The Celtics then scored 12 of the first 14 points in the fourth, tying the game on a 3-pointer by Pierce and taking their first lead of the game when Walker forced a goaltending call before Pierce hit another jumper to make it 78-74 with 8:24 left.

"Good players are not going to miss shots all night," Pistons forward Michael Curry said. "We gave them life and they started making shots."

Walker, who shot just 2-for-12 in the first half, hit six 3-pointers in all and also had nine assists before he left to a standing ovation when he was ejected for his second technical foul with 48 seconds left in the game.

Chucky Atkins scored 20 points and Ben Wallace had 10 rebounds for Detroit, which has lost 14 of its last 17 games and has not won consecutive games since Christmas.

The Pistons posted a 13-2 run to take a 17-6 lead, and led by as many as 16 in the first quarter.

Game notes
The Celtics signed Milt Palacio, a surprising contributor to the Boston Celtics' injury-strapped point guard position, for the rest of the season. His second and final 10-day contract was set to expire Monday. By keeping him, the Celtics must pay him $198,000. ... Former Celtic Dana Barros was greeted warmly when he came into the game late in the first quarter. ... Kenny Anderson returned after missing seven games with a strained right ankle. He had one point and three assists in 21 minutes. ... Stackhouse has led the Pistons in scoring for 39 of the team's 43 games. His lowest total is 11, on Dec. 5 against Vancouver. ... Boston picked up three technicals in the third, but Stackhouse missed all three foul shots. ... Detroit was called for five illegal defenses.
ALSO SEE
NBA Scoreboard

Detroit Clubhouse

Boston Clubhouse


RECAPS
Boston 99
Detroit 87

Washington 95
Cleveland 89

Phoenix 95
Atlanta 82

Minnesota 99
Milwaukee 96

Utah 97
Denver 91

Vancouver 97
New Jersey 86

Charlotte 93
Golden State 85

San Antonio 96
LA Clippers 67

FROM
ATHLETESDIRECT

Antoine Walker Official Site

Jerry Stackhouse Official Site


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