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Thursday, Mar. 22 7:30pm ET
Boston hits 14 3-pointers to gain on Pacers

RECAP | BOX SCORE | GAME FLOW

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) – Another Milt Palacio moment – along with another dominating performance by the duo of Paul Pierce and Antoine Walker – ruined the night for the New Jersey Nets.

Jerome Moiso
Antoine Walker, who scored 29 points, prepares to receive a pass from Jerome Moiso, left.

Pierce scored a career-high 44 points, Walker added 29 and the Celtics made a season-high 14 3-pointers in defeating the Nets 113-98 Thursday night in a game in which New Jersey rookie Kenyon Martin fractured his right leg.

Palacio, who beat the Nets with an off-balance, 40-foot 3-pointer at the buzzer in their last meeting, kneed Martin in the back of his calf midway through the third quarter. The collision caused a non-displaced fracture of Martin's fibula.

The bone was the same one Martin broke around this time last year while playing for the University of Cincinnati. The location of the injury was different and it will not require surgery, Nets spokesman Aaron Harris said.

Martin had 22 points on 10-of-16 shooting in 28 minutes.

"We're falling like flies," Nets coach Byron Scott said.

The Celtics (30-38) are going the opposite way. In winning their third straight road game, they moved within a half-game of idle Indiana (30-37) in the race for the eighth and final playoff berth in the Eastern Conference.

"You have to realize what is at stake for us," Pierce said. "It's the last 14 games of the season. There is no tomorrow. You have to finish strong. It's up to me and the rest of these guys to turn up our play now."

Keith Van Horn added 19 and Stephon Marbury had 17 points and 11 assists in returning from a hip injury that forced him to miss two games.

The Celtics broke the game open in a 35-point third quarter, during which they hit five 3-pointers.

New Jersey, which trailed 60-53 at the half, got within 62-59 on a drive by Marbury.

Pierce, who has six 40-point games this season including three in his last five games, then ignited a quarter-closing 33-10 spurt with a 3-pointer. He had 14 points in the quarter, which was capped with Walker hitting a pair of showboating 3-pointers.

"It doesn't matter to me, scoring big," said Pierce, who hit 15 of 26 shots. "I'm just trying to play as hard as I can and win. If I am going, I am capable of putting up huge numbers. But I just want to win."

"Paul is a tough guard for most teams," Celtics coach Jim O'Brien said. "The fact that he is willing to pass the basketball and the fact you have two superstars who can pass the basketball at all times, it makes for a tough tandem, and Paul has been putting up some big numbers for us lately."

Game notes
The Celtics previous high for 3-pointers was 13, which they accomplished twice. Pierce's previous high was 42, which he reached in back-to-back games against the Lakers and Phoenix on March 13 and 15. Walker and Pierce have now combined for 60 or more points 11 times. ... Boston is 18-16 since Jim O'Brien replaced Rick Pitino. ... New Jersey committed 23 turnovers to Boston's nine.

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Nets rookie Martin breaks right leg for second time


RECAPS
San Antonio 115
Atlanta 101

Cleveland 109
Vancouver 95

Boston 113
New Jersey 98

Portland 101
Utah 99

Phoenix 91
Seattle 88

LA Clippers 97
Houston 92

Sacramento 103
Detroit 98


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