The Boston Celtics won every quarter but the fourth which eventually led to their 105-86 blowout over the Utah Jazz yesterday at the TD Garden.  Each block of time was competitive aside from the start of the second half, where the C’s took over to stretch the point advantage by 20. Rajon Rondo notched a double-double for Boston. His best play of the night was when he sprinted the entire length of the court for a layup at the buzzer to end the third.

“It was just our ‘Get out of the way’ play,” said Rondo. “Rasheed (Wallace) came up and set a great pick and left me one-on-one with a big.” Sheed himself along with Marquis Daniels produced a solid 22 points combined off the bench. Kevin Garnett scored 18 with four rebounds and two steals.

Rival PG Deron Williams netted 13 points with seven rebounds and four assists. He seemed very displeased with his team and their lack of effort following the loss. “Right now, we’re soft,” he said. “There’s no way around it. We have to toughen up.”

The Celtics are scheduled to take on the Atlanta Hawks on Friday, November 13th in Boston. Celtics tickets are now available!

After three quarters of basketball yesterday at the American Airlines Center, Dirk Nowitzki was just 5-for-14 from the field with his team down by 15.  The Dallas Mavericks then rallied for 44 fourth quarter points to defeat the Utah Jazz 96-85. Nowitzki set a franchise record with 29 points himself in the final frame.

“It was an ugly game,” said Nowitzki. “We couldn’t get anything going for three quarters. We were slow. We were looking for a spark offensively and I was able to do that tonight.” Dirk finished with a total stat line of 40 points, 11 rebounds, five assists, two steals, and five blocks.

Utah’s defensive specialist Carlos Boozer was tied up on the bench with five fouls when Nowitzki went to work on the rest of the squad. Jason Kidd supplied 19 points for the Mavs, including the dagger from downtown to seal the game in the final minutes.  Dallas will next host the Toronto Raptors and Houston Rockets on November 7th and 10th. The Jazz have a pair of home games themselves on the 5th and 7th against the San Antonio Spurs and Sacramento Kings.

Atlanta Hawks 81, Miami Heat 71.

Azaza Pachulia dominated the glass for the Hawks with 18 rebounds, helping Atlanta regain their home court advantage with a 81-71 win over the Miami Heat.  The Hawks scoring was basically split between Bibby, Johnson, and Smith scoring 15, 14, and 13.  Atlanta coach Mike Woodson stated that Pachulia was the crucial factor to the win.  “Zaza was huge throughout the whole game,” said Woodson. “I mean, 18 rebounds, 12 points for us, and we needed all that tonight to survive.”  Dwayne Wade scored 22 for the Heat and Jermaine O’Neal contributed 20, but Miami was never ahead and only shot 38 percent.

Denver Nuggets 121, New Orleans Hornets 63.

Carmelo Anthony led the Nuggets with 26 points and was taken out in the fourth quarter due to the 58 point blow out over the New Orleans Hornets.  The victory matched the biggest lopsided contest in NBA playoff history, which came in 1956 when the Minneapolis Lakers beat the St. Louis Hawks 133-75.  The Hornets will need their All-Star point guard Chris Paul to step up in order for them to stay in the series.  The Nuggets held Paul to just 4 points and 6 assists.  Denver leads the series 3-1.

Los Angeles Lakers 107, Utah Jazz 96.

Kobe Bryant led the Lakers to finish the series in 5 games with 31 points against the Utah Jazz last night at the Staples Center.  The Lakers were in control the whole game, winning every quarter in scoring aside from the fourth.  Utah made a run at the end cutting the 20-point deficit to just six with 3:15 remaining.  From there Lamar Odom came up with two clutch finishes after LA kicked in its defense to officially decide the series.  “We out did them,” said Lakers head coach Phil Jackson. “I thought it was a disappointment to them but they played hard; they played together and you have to give them credit.  I thank them for giving us a run and a good, hard series.”

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Los Angeles Lakers 113, Utah Jazz 100.

Trevor Ariza scored a playoff career high 21 to get the Lakers going Sunday night in LA.  Kobe Bryant and Paul Gasol added the bulk of their scoring with 24 and 20.  LA was in control the whole game, putting up 62 points in the first half alone.  Utah kept the pressure on, outscoring them in the second half but it was never enough.  “They kept knocking on the door and we just never let them in,” said Bryant. The Lakers have the series lead 1-0 with another game to play at the Staples Center before heading to Utah.

Philadelphia 76ers 100, Orlando Magic 98

The #6 seeded sixers stunned the Magic in Orlando in game 1 with Andre Iguodala netting the game winner with 2.2 seconds left.  Iguodala played a great overall game scoring 20 points with eight rebounds and eight assists.  “We won one more game than people thought we would win,” Iguodala said. “I was pretty amped up.”  Dwight Howard had 18 points, seven rebounds and two blocks in the first half, leading to his total of 31 points and 16 rebounds for the Magic. Despite his efforts, Orlando could not hang on to their 18 point lead in the fourth as the sixers rallied back to notch the upset.

Atlanta Hawks 90, Miami Heat 64

The Atlanta Hawks held the Heat to just 25 points in the second half as they cruised to an overwhelming double digit lead.  Josh Smith scored 23 points including a few show time fast-break jams for Atlanta.  Dwayne Wade led the Heat in scoring with 19, but it wasn’t enough to keep his squad in the game.  The Hawks will keep their home court advantage for game 2 before traveling to Miami.

Denver Nuggets 113, New Orleans Hornets 84

Chauncey Billups led the Nuggets to blow by the Hornets Sunday night with 36 points, hitting eight of nine from three. Chris Paul controlled the New Orleans offense with 21 points and 11 assists despite their losing efforts.  The Hornets will have to steal a game at Denver to have any sort of chance to advance past this series.
Game two will be played this Wednesday at 8:30 pm at the Pepsi Center.

San Antonio Spurs 105, Dallas Mavericks 84

Tony Parker led in scoring with 13 points, contributing 19 in the first quarter to help San Antonio get revenge over the Mavericks from game 1. Dallas couldn’t find an answer to Parker all last night, trying numerous different defensive strategies to slow him down.  “You want to make sure I’m in attack mode every single play,” Parker said. “Even if it’s not to score, to penetrate for my teammates or make great cuts.”  The Spurs tied the series 1-1 with the win as they head to Dallas for game 3.

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In the middle of the Boston Celtics‘ Thursday night contest against the Utah Jazz, they not only lost an 11 point lead, but also Kevin Garnett. Garnett came down awkwardly on his right knee after a layup, and did not return for the rest of the game. The Celtics, in the midst of a 19-turnover game, could not hang on to their lead and fell back behind the Jazz, despite stellar play and a double double for Kendrick Perkins. Aside from the injury, the Celtics were hampered by sloppy offensive play. The C’s had a total of 19 turnovers, and missed almost a third of their free throws.

“I think our defense was great and gave us a chance to win the game,” Doc Rivers tolds the AP’s Doug Alden. “It really came down to free throws by us and turnovers. We make our free throws, we win the game. And we if we don’t turn the ball over, we win the game.” The Celtics will try to get back on track against the  Phoenix Suns on Sunday.

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