NBA Game Summary - Atlanta at Boston

03.9.2005

Boston, MA (Basketball News) - Paul Pierce scored 27 points, including 16 in the fourth quarter, as Boston rallied to beat Atlanta, 95-91, at FleetCenter. Pierce also had 10 rebounds and Ricky Davis added 21 points in the win.

Antoine Walker had 15 and nine rebounds for the Celtics, who have won five of their last six games.

Tyronn Lue led the Hawks with 25 points. Al Harrington had 21 with 13 rebounds for Atlanta, which has lost 13 straight games.

Boston trailed throughout the game until Pierce’s jumper gave the Celtics their first lead, 85-83, with 3:54 to play. The game remained close the rest of the way.

With the score tied, Pierce made 1-of-2 from the line to give the Celtics an 88-87 edge with 52.3 seconds left. Walker then stole the ball from Harrington and fed Davis for a layup to stretch the lead to three with 30 seconds left.

Lue scored to cut the Celtics lead to one, but Pierce hit two from the line with 16.5 seconds left for a 92-89 advantage. The Hawks would not quit and Harrington scored with 12 seconds left to cut the Atlanta deficit to 92-91.

Pierce, who finished 11-of-13 from the line, dropped in two more free throws for a three-point lead with 10 seconds to go. Atlanta’s Tom Gugliotta missed from three-point range and Pierce hit 1-of-2 for the final margin with 3.7 seconds left.

The Celtics trimmed their deficit to 70-68 early in the final quarter after two free throws by Davis. Boston had not been as close since being behind 2-0 in the first quarter.

A three-pointer by Walker with 5:41 left tied the game at 79-79.

Lue hit the only three-pointer by either team in the first half and Atlanta went 11-of-13 from the free throw line to take a 52-46 lead into the break. Lue, who had 12 points at halftime to lead all scorers, had five in the early going as the Hawks scored the game’s first seven points and led until late in the fourth quarter.

Boston went 22-of-48 from the field in the opening half, but were 0-for-8 from three-point range and 2-of-5 from the line.

Atlanta has lost 23 straight on the road. The Hawks are 2-30 on the road this season...Obinna Ekezie had 10 points and 10 boards for the Hawks...Boston outrebounded the Hawks, 46-37...Boston has won four of its last five home games.

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