In a game that stayed close from start to finish, the Boston Celtics knocked off the young Memphis Grizzlies in overtime, 116-110. Boston scored the first seven points of the extra period, as Glen Davis hit a fadeaway jump shot in the lane, Ray Allen buried a three-pointer from the right wing, and Rajon Rondo hit a fadeaway as the shot clock was about to expire with 2:07 to play. Two Kevin Garnett free throws (off of a Flagrant-1 foul on Zach Randolph), followed by two Allen free throws helped seal things with under a minute left.
Overcoming a rough shooting night (1-6 from the field through three quarters) with three clutch shots in the fourth quarter, Allen buried a three-pointer from the right corner, tying the game at 92 with 4:43 to play. Paul Pierce knocked down a three-pointer of his own with 3:56 to play, giving Boston a 95-92 edge, and Allen added another jump shot from the right wing with 55 seconds left, putting Boston up 99-95. Two Rudy Gay baskets tied things at 99 with 7.3 seconds left, and Pierce did not get his potential-game winner off before the buzzer (it didn't go in anyway).
- The Celtics finished this difficult four-game road trip with a very respectable 3-1 record.
- Shaquille O'Neal had one of his best offensive nights thus far with 18 points. He benefited from some nice interior passes from his teammates, as many of his points came on dunks.
- The four other starters joined Shaq in double figures in scoring as Pierce dropped 28, Allen finished with 15 (13 points in the fourth quarter and overtime), Garnett scored 18 (and added nine rebounds), and Rondo added 11, to go along with 17 assists.
- Nate Robinson had a solid night for the second game in a row, as he put in 15 points tonight. He's really seemed to look more for his own offense these last two games, but his passing hasn't been too shabby, either.
- Old friend Tony Allen took the court for Memphis tonight and had a pretty good game: 11 points, four rebounds, three assists, three steals, and two turnovers. He did many of the things we came to expect out of TA: He played some nice defense at times, he converted a few layups in traffic, made some free throws, made some sketchy passes. Typical TA.
- The Celtics, definitely deserving of some rest, won't play again until Wednesday, when they take on the Washington Wizards at 7:30pm. They'll welcome back Delonte West, as tonight's game was the final game of his 10-game suspension.