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Celtics, KG survive late against Rockets
Boston 97, Houston 93
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Damien Pierce
Rockets.com Staff Writer
BOSTON -- Before Kevin Garnett could reach Boston's bench after swishing another clutch basket in the fourth quarter, Paul Pierce raced down the floor and hopped on the back of his teammate.
Garnett didn't seem to mind the extra weight. After all, he had already carried a considerable load to beat the Rockets.
Behind an impressive fourth quarter performance from Garnett, the Celtics survived a furious comeback from the Rockets and picked up their seventh consecutive win with a thrilling 97-93 victory Wednesday night at a raucus TD Banknorth Garden.
Garnett scored 11 of his game-high 26 points in the final seven minutes and made a couple of key defensive stops in the waning moments. Despite blowing what was once a 20-point advantage in the first half, the Celtics (27-3) became only the sixth team in NBA history to have only three losses in their first 30 games.
The fourth-quarter surge from Garnett kept the Rockets from bagging what easily would have been their most impressive win of the season. Houston (15-17) instead leaves Boston with its second straight setback.
"It's like the size of the trout you caught at the lake in the summer," Rockets forward Shane Battier said. "It was huge. If you brought it home, everyone would be amazed. But it got away."
Garnett is the one that made this one elusive.
Behind a big second-half from Bonzi Wells and Rafer Alston, the Rockets wiped away Boston's 20-point advantage in the first half and actually seized an 84-81 lead with over seven minutes remaining in the fourth quarter. That's when Garnett tossed the Celtics on his back.
The All-Star power forward swished a short turnaround jumper that began a 6-0 run by the Celtics. Paul Pierce followed that shot by coralling a loose ball and tossing it ahead to Ray Allen for a fast-break layup that helped the Celtics regain the lead. After Yao Ming missed a hook shot, Garnett snatched the rebound and made a jumper near the free-throw as the shot-clock expired for an 87-84 lead.
Battier sank a three-pointer to knot the game at 87-87, but the Celtics didn't let get Houston any closer to becoming only the second team to beat them at home. Rajon Rondo scored on an easy layup after stopping Houston's defense in place with a fake behind-the-back pass that put Boston up for good. Garnett then took care of the rest, hitting back-to-back jumpers and adding a free throw that pushed Boston's lead to 94-89.
Following Yao's dunk and a Houston timeout, Garnett put the finishing touches on his performance by burying a jumper with 22.2 seconds left.
That was the game.
"When you play against the best in the league, you can't go in with low gas, you've got to have a lot of high octane,'' Garnett said. "I fed off this building, these fans are the spark plug and I just plugged in and didn't even think what I was doing."
Garnett's antics upstaged what had been a heck of a rally from the Rockets.
Before the first quarter was finished, the Rockets looked like they were well on their way to a forgettable night in New England. Boston needed only 11 minutes to build a 30-16 lead and held Yao in check by limiting the center to 2-of-10 shooting in the period, forcing the Rockets big man to settle for jumpers.
Eventually, the Celtics stretched their advantage to 40-20. But after all of their struggles, the Rockets finally got rolling. Wells provided a lift with 25 points off the bench and Yao regained his form in the third quarter by attacking the basket. He finished with 19 points and 13 rebounds.
Houston, which trailed Boston by eight points going into the fourth, erased the Celtics' lead three minutes into the final period.
"We stayed together and kept fighting," Alston said "We know we have what it takes to compete with anybody in this league. Now, we just have to look at the some of the little things we didn't do late. We didn't rebound the ball during the course of our comeback. But we really defended the ball well and shared the ball in the fourth quarter."
Garnett, though, shouldered the load when the Celtics needed him down the stretch.
"That's why he's K.G.," Wells said.
