Celtics edge Knicks in shootout

Wally Szczerbiak ended with 20 points and Sebastian Telfair had 19 points for the Celtics, who won their third straight game despite blowing a 20-point third-quarter lead.

Jamal Crawford scored 37 points for the Knicks, who had a two-game win streak halted. Nate Robinson added 20 points and Steve Francis had 17 points for New York, which was coming off a 24-point win over the defending NBA champion Heat on Friday night.

"We weren’t able to contain their guards off the dribble, that really hurt us," said Francis. "We struggled on one on one defense."

The Celtics turned a three-point halftime deficit into a 20-point lead just eight minutes into the third quarter.

Down 56-53 at the break, Boston quickly turned that into a 64-61 lead after a Telfair three-point play just 1:45 into the stanza. Then, after Francis made it 64-63 following a pair of free throws, Boston went on a 21-2 run to open up its largest lead of the game. Gomes scored six points during the run, which was capped by a Pierce three-pointer just before the four-minute mark of the quarter for an 85-65 cushion.

New York rallied to get within 87-78 after a pair of Robinson free throws in the final second, but Boston went into the fourth with an 88-78 advantage.

The Knicks continued to chip away and eventually took a brief lead late in the fourth quarter. With 4:20 left Stephon Marbury’s driving layup gave New York a 101-100 edge.

"We’re trying to find ways to keep it interesting at the end," said Celtics coach Doc Rivers. "At the end of the day, we won the game."

However, Telfair hit a bucket next time down the floor for Boston to give his team the lead for good and ignite 14-3 run that put the game away. Pierce, who had nine points during the run, had 19 points in the fourth quarter.

Marbury ended with just eight points for the Knicks.

The game was tied 24-24 after one quarter.

Game Notes

David Lee had 12 points and eight rebounds for New York...Boston went to the free throw line 63 times and the Knicks went 50 times...The Celtics finished 50-of-63, while the Knicks went 42-of-50...The New York bench outscored Boston’s 77-19.