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Pierce scored 19 points, Kevin Garnett added 13 with 12 rebounds, and Allen broke out of a seven-quarter scoring drought with 16 points to help the Boston Celtics beat the Cavaliers 89-73 on Thursday night and take a 2-0 lead in the Eastern Conference semifinals.
One game after going 2-for-18 from the field and missing his last six shots, including a layup to tie the game with 8.5 seconds left, James missed his first three tries and finished with 21 points on 6-for-24 shooting.
This time it was contagious: The Cavaliers shot 35.6 percent in the game, hitting just 11.8 percent in the second quarter as Boston turned an eight-point deficit into a nine-point lead.
Game 3 is Saturday night in Cleveland. The Cavaliers will need their crowd to pull them out of their funk because the Celtics are 6-0 in the playoffs in Boston, and they would have the homecourt advantage through the NBA finals.
James – who was serenaded by the fans with a chant of “Over-rated!”– could benefit most of all. He went 3-for-8 from the field in the first quarter but went 1-for-11 over the second and third when Boston took control.
From early in the second quarter to early in the third, a span of 13:41, Boston outscored Cleveland 36-10.
Zydrunas Ilgauskas had 19 points for the Cavaliers.
Cleveland reserve Anderson Varejao had 10 rebounds in 32 minutes after forward Ben Wallace went to the locker room just 3:40 into the game due to dizziness. He sat on the bench for the second quarter and took some shots during halftime warmups, but did not return to the game.
Pierce (2-for-14 in Game 1) and Allen (0-for-4) snapped out of whatever ailed them. Pierce did it right away, with seven points in the first quarter, but Allen took a little more time.
The third member of Boston’s Big Three hadn’t scored since hitting a 3-pointer with 8:48 left in the third quarter of Game 7 against Atlanta. Boston finished off the Hawks with just seven points from the Allen, who shot 3-for-12 in the first-round finale.
All-NBA team announced
NEW YORK – Kobe Bryant added another honor Thursday to go with his MVP award, becoming the only unanimous selection to the All-NBA team.
The Lakers star was voted to the first team for the third straight season and sixth time in his career. He led Los Angeles to the best record in the Western Conference and was presented with the MVP trophy Wednesday before helping the Lakers to a 120-110 victory over Utah in Game 2 of the conference semifinals.
Joining Bryant on the first team were New Orleans guard Chris Paul, who was three votes shy of being a unanimous pick, along with Boston’s Kevin Garnett, Cleveland’s LeBron James and Orlando center Dwight Howard.
Garnett was a first-team pick for the fourth time and James made his second appearance. Paul and Howard were first-timers.
Voting was done by a panel of 127 sports writers and broadcasters, with points being awarded on a 5-3-1 basis.
Amare Stoudemire and Steve Nash of Phoenix were voted to the second team along with San Antonio’s Tim Duncan, Utah guard Deron Williams and Dallas forward Dirk Nowitzki. The third team consisted of Houston’s Yao Ming and Tracy McGrady, plus Utah’s Carlos Boozer, Boston’s Paul Pierce and the Spurs’ Manu Ginobili, the league’s top sixth man.
Knicks looking at D'Antoni
Mark Jackson, the apparent front-runner, has been put on the back burner while Donnie Walsh looks into the prospects of a more experienced candidate, such as Mike D’Antoni.
Jackson, despite no prior experience, had Walsh intrigued enough to consider him a top candidate for the Knicks’ coaching vacancy. The two met last month in Phoenix and a person with knowledge of the situation told Newsday that the Knicks’president did not come away from the interview as convinced about Jackson as he had hoped to be.
Remember that Walsh told the story that in 1997, after Larry Brown left the Pacers, his search for a replacement began and ended with Larry Bird, who had no prior coaching experience. But Walsh said he came away from his interview with Bird impressed enough to offer him the job without interviewing anyone else.
That doesn’t mean Jackson, 43, who is currently working as an NBA analyst for ABC/ESPN, won’t wind up with the job. In fact, the anticipated availability of Bernie Bickerstaff – who is reportedly leaving the Charlotte Bobcats’ front office – helps Jackson’s cause because Bickerstaff would likely be his choice as a top assistant. Walsh is known to hold Bickerstaff in high regard as a basketball man.
There were reports on Thursday that Walsh was prepared to make a “staggering” contract offer, as ESPN.com described it, to D’Antoni and another that said D’Antoni’s agent, Warren LeGarie, was expecting to meet with Walsh in New York. Both proved to be fiction, which has been a byproduct of the rampant speculation that has dominated the search since Avery Johnson was fired by Dallas and D’Antoni was given permission by Phoenix to talk to other teams.
Walsh did not meet with LeGarie, who flew from Greece to San Francisco through New York, and there were no contract offers made or negotiated.
Billups unsure if he can go
ORLANDO, Fla. – Chauncey Billups said Thursday he was still sore, a night after he was forced to leave the Pistons’ loss to Orlando in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference semifinals because of a strained right hamstring.
The All-Star guard said he isn’t sure if he will be ready to play in Game 4 on Saturday in Orlando. The Magic’s 111-86 victory Wednesday cut the Pistons’ lead to 2-1.
“Just going to take it one day at a time and see what happens,”Billups said. “But it’s feeling sore, kind of similar to last night.”
Nets promote Vandeweghe
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. –The New Jersey Nets have a new general manager.
Kiki Vandeweghe (VAN-duh-way) was promoted to the position Thursday, less than six months after being hired as a special assistant to team president Rod Thorn.
Compiled from Advocate wire reports
NBAPLayoff schedule
QUARTERFINALS
(Best-of-7)
Wednesday’s Scores
Orlando 111, Detroit 86, Detroit leads series 2-1
L.A. Lakers 120, Utah 110, L.A. Lakers lead series 2-0
Thursday’s Scores
Boston 89, Cleveland 73, Boston leads series 2-0
New Orleans at San Antonio, late
Today’s Game
L.A. Lakers at Utah, 8 p.m.
Saturday’s Games
Detroit at Orlando, 4 p.m.
Boston at Cleveland, 7 p.m.
Sunday’s Games
L.A. Lakers at Utah, 2:30 p.m.
New Orleans at San Antonio, 7 p.m.