Paul Pierce had 30 points and 10 rebounds and Antoine Walker added 18 and 10 as the Celtics snapped a eight-game losing streak to Charlotte and moved into a tie for first place in the Atlantic Divison with a 106-97 victory.
 Eric Williams was one of six Celts in double figures at the Hive. Garrett W. Ellwood NBAE/Getty Images |
The Celtics have not had a share of first place this late since the end of the 1991-92 season.
"We're trying to get to the point of the old Celtics teams," Pierce said. "We want to get to the days where when you talk about the Celtics, you talk about one of top teams in the league. As far as tradition, we need to be on top and everybody's been waiting for the Boston Celtics to rise again. We got the guys it takes to win here and winning is starting to get contagious."
The Celtics squandered a 13-point lead in the fourth quarter as the Hornets rallied behind David Wesley, who scored 15 of his 24 points in the period. The former Celtic scored 10 points in a 14-3 run that moved Charlotte within 93-91 with 5:42 left.
"Wesley is tough," Boston coach Jim O'Brien said. "You guard him well and sometimes it doesn't matter."
"I started getting the ball up better, that got me going," he said. "I came off some good screens and I was able to get the ball up when I shot. Prior to that it seemed like I was shooting the ball on the way down. I just got into a rhythm in the fourth quarter."
Wesley sparked the spurt with a pair of 3-pointers and capped it with a layup and two free throws. He traded jumpers with Walker and Eric Williams and Boston was clinging to a 97-95 lead with 4:09 left when the Hornets went cold.
Wesley was held scoreless and Charlotte made only a pair of free throws thereafter.
"They were able to make it a closer game down the stretch, but it was our team defense that won the game for us," O'Brien said.
"We didn't have the energy that we should have," Charlotte coach Paul Silas said. "(Energy) is what got us back in the game. You have to give Boston credit. They made big plays when they needed it and we didn't."
Vitaly Potapenko made a clutch layup off an excellent pass from Kenny Anderson to make it 100-95 with 92 seconds left. Walker and Pierce combined to make six free throws in the final 41 seconds and Boston defeated Charlotte for the first time since November 5, 1999.
Williams and Anderson finished with 12 points apiece and rookie Joe Johnson added 11 for the Celtics, who had not won in Charlotte since March 30, 1999.
Potapenko collected 10 points and 10 rebounds for his second double-double of the season and fellow reserve Erick Strickland chipped in nine points.
"We've been fighting like warriors," Williams said. "We've got a good team that is in sync. Everybody knows what they've got to do on this team. Antoine and Paul do most of the scoring; the rest of us just fill in the blanks."
Baron Davis had 18 points and seven assists for Charlotte. Lee Nailon added 15 points and P.J. Brown collected seven and 10 rebounds.
Boston took its first double-digit lead courtesy of a 17-7 run midway through the first quarter. Pierce scored the first six of the burst and Williams added the final five, capping it with a 3-pointer to make it 31-19 with 2:17 left.
Charlotte got back in it with eight straight points in the second period. Davis capped the run with three straight layups, the last which brought the Hornets within 41-40.
Charlotte took a 51-49 led into the half after Wesley drained a long jumper with three seconds left.
The Hornets had a 56-55 lead less than two minutes into the second half before Boston reeled off 10 straight points. Johnson scored five during the spurt and the Celtics had control until Wesley led Charlotte's comeback.