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BOSTON, Massachusetts: Kevin Garnett scored 28 points to power the
Boston Celtics past Cleveland76-72 here Tuesday in the opener of
their National Basketball Association second-round playoff series.
Rajon Rondo added 15 points and Sam Cassell scored 13 points, 10 of
them in the fourth quarter as the Celtics, the NBA’s winningest
team at 66-16, shut down NBA scoring champion LeBron James, who went
2-of-18 from the field.
“We’re trying to make him work as much as we
can,” Garnett said. “For the most part it’s team defense.
That’s how to win.”
Cleveland’s “King” James managed only 12
points, including 8-of-10 from the free throw line, with nine
rebounds, nine assists and 10 turnovers. Lithuanian Zydrunaas
Ilgauskas scored 22 points and grabbed 12 rebounds to lead
Cleveland.
The Celtics made it clear that they would
smother James and force his teammates to beat them, if they could.
“The one thing he tried to do was attack the
rim,” Brown said of James. “When he did, he didn’t get the
calls. One thing about LeBron—he very seldom has a game like this.
He’ll bounce back and play a terrific game in game two.”
While the Celtics blanketed James defensively,
they also struggled to score themselves. Ray Allen played his first
scoreless NBA game since his 1997 rookie season while Paul Pierce
managed only four points on 2-of-14 shooting.
But Garnett, hungry for his first NBA title,
scored down the stretch to hold off the stubborn Cavaliers and
improve Boston to 5-0 at home in the playoffs after they were pushed
to seven games in round one by lowly Atlanta.
Garnett hit a jumper with 72 seconds to play to
equalize at 70-70 and Cassell sank two free throws with 52.8 seconds
remaining to put Boston ahead, only to have Ilgauskas tip-in a James
miss to level the game once more.
Garnett answered with a drive to the hoop and a
layin with 21.4 seconds to play to put Boston ahead for good. James
drove to the hoop but missed a layup and James Posey grabbed the
rebound, then hit two free throws to produce the final margin.
James took a desperation 3-pointer but missed
and the Celtics ran out the final seconds.
-- AFP
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