JET Soars in Overtime as Celtics Hold On By a Thread, Win 97-90

If you wanted heart, you got it. Paul Pierce, Jeff Green, and Jason Terry combined for 73 points as they led the Boston Celtics to victory over the New York Knicks in a thrilling 97-90 overtime win. Jason Terry led the team in overtime, scoring Boston's final 9 points of the extra frame.

The Boston Celtics got off to an incredible start in the first half, holding the Knicks to only 35 first half points. They build a comfortable 20-point lead to start the second half but a ferocious run by Raymond Felton and the Knicks cut the lead to only 3-points heading into the fourth quarter.

With only 1:18 left to go in the game, the Knicks took their first lead of the game off of a pull-up Raymond Felton jumper. But Kevin Garnett tied the game on the other end with a wide-open jumper after a beautiful pick-and-pop with Paul Pierce.; that shot essentially sent the game to overtime, as both Carmelo Anthony and Paul Pierce weren't able to hit shots to win it.

In overtime, Jason Terry finally had the type of game that he has been promising. He scored 9 of his 18-points in extra time, leading the Celtics to victory. With only 1:32 to go and the game tied at 88, JET pulled up from three-point land to start his own run of 9 straight points. In addition to that three, he hit a beautiful jumper from the right baseline, two free throws and a layup to completely seal the game away.

Despite almost blowing the game in the third quarter, Boston lives to fight another day. Trailing 3-1 in the series, the C's will face off against the Knicks in Game 5 on Wednesday, May 1st.

Full Game Summary
Boston opened up the first quarter with some staunch defense...kind of like the season is on the line. They jumped to a quick 12-5 lead after a Paul Pierce three-pointer with 8:24 to go in the quarter. However, Boston was unable to capitalize on their opportunities and extend the lead much more. The Celtics got a little too cute towards the end of the quarter as the Knicks ended up cutting the Boston lead to 5.

An energy-infused 8-to-0 run propelled the Celtics to a 13-point lead by the 9:04 mark of the period. Jordan Crawford and Terrence Williams brought a high-tempo but a Jason Terry alley-oop pass to Kevin Garnett is what really brought the crowd off its feet. The Celtics continued to play remarkable defense throughout the quarter, maintaining their lead. Jeff Green had an incredible run of minutes starting at the 4-minute mark of the quarter. He scored 5-points in a minute to give the C's a 14-point lead.

With two minutes left in the first half, Paul Pierce turned back the clock, scoring 5 consecutive points. He hit a gorgeous fadeaway from the left wing to push the lead to 15; but after the Knicks' inbound, Bradley knocked the ball away to Terrence Williams, who wisely passed the ball to Pierce. In rhythm, Pierce drained a three-pointer from 27-feet to give Boston a 18 point lead. Terry closed the quarter with a runner in the lane, extending the lead to 19 as the Celtics led 54-35 at half.

Raymond Felton outscored the Boston Celtics 16-to-14 in the third quarter. That's all you really need to know but at the 9:25 mark Boston led by 20. A torrid Raymond Felton completely dominated the period, drilling three-pointers from all over the court. At the end of the period he hit a buzzer-beater, stealing all momentum going into the fourth quarter. Boston led 68-65 going into possibly their final period of the season.

The first five minutes of the fourth quarter was evenly matched until Iman Shumpert stripped Paul Pierce with 7:15 to go, stealing the ball and then laying it up to the game at 74. Boston managed to go on a 6-to-2 run as they led 80-76 with 4:56 to go. However, Brandon Bass fouled out of the game with 4:27 to go in the game with Carmelo Anthony at the line, who cut the lead to 3. After a couple of Pierce free throws, Shumpert hit his second three-pointer of the game to cut the lead back to 2. Pierce couldn't answer on the other end...but Carmelo Anthony did. He drove hard to the basket with no one there, tying the game at 82.

With the game tied at 82, the Knicks missed multiple shots in a row but Boston couldn't get a defensive rebound. With 1:50 to go, Carmelo drew a foul and went to the free throw line for a chance to give the Knicks the lead.

With 2:39 to go, Paul Pierce was defended well by Jason Kidd as he dished the ball to Kevin Garnett for a deep 21-foot jump shot from the right baseline. KG nailed it, giving the C's another 2-point lead. Anthony, who has gone cold late in the game, got to the line on the other end, hitting both free throws. Tied up 88-88.

He missed both.

But after a missed Jeff Green shot, Raymond Felton went down the court and did what he did in the third quarter...and pulled up for a shot to give the Knicks their first lead of the game. With 1:18 to go, the Knicks led 84-82.

After a timeout, Doc Rivers called a pick-and-pop play for Kevin Garnett. Pierce drew two defenders and passed it to an open Kevin Garnett, tying the game 84-84. On the other end, Carmelo Anthony's cold-streak continued as he bricked another shot from the wing. But Tyson Chandler tipped the ball out giving the Knicks another possession...Anthony missed again and the Celtics finally got possession with 18 seconds to go.

Jeff Green got the inbound pass and quickly got the ball to Paul Pierce, who was on a switch with Tyson Chandler. Pierce ran the clock down, dribbled to his left and took a 23-foot jumper...and missed. The Knicks grabbed the rebound and had 4-tenths of a second left on the clock for a play. Wilcox defended the inbound pass, knocking the ball out of bounds to send the game to overtime.

Boston won the tip to start overtime, getting the incredibly important extra possession. With 4:15 to go, Paul Pierce hit a jumper from the right wing to give the C's a 2-point lead. Raymond Felton scored his 27th point of the game, bodying Avery Bradley in the lane for a layup with 3:19 to go.

Two minutes later, Jason Terry hit a clutch three-pointer in transition. He pulled up on the left wing and sank it. Finally!

After a Carmelo Anthony jump shot, Jason Terry was isolated on the other end. He drove to his sweet spot, pulled up from the right baseline and sank another clutch shot, giving the Celtics a 3-point lead.

With 28.8 to go and down by 3, the Knicks called a timeout. Carmelo Anthony got the inbound pass and got a pretty solid look at a three-pointer but missed once again. Terry was fouled on the rebound and went to the line, hitting both free throws, giving the Celtics a 5-point lead.

Down 5, Anthony took a long three-pointer and missed once again. Appropriately, Jason Terry got the outlet pass and put an exclamation point on his overtime performance scoring his 8th and 9th overtime points.

Thanks to Jason Terry, Celtics win 97-90.

Here is a quarter-by-quarter recap with key points from the game. This is for those that are unable to watch the game or would like to review certain moments.

Quarter-by-Quarter Recap

First Quarter

• Avery Bradley made a terrific play at the 10:19 mark to tip away an alley-oop pass intended for Tyson Chandler.
• Boston causes a five-second violation at the 6:24 mark. Great defense.
• Celtics go up 14-5 at the 6:01 mark. 9-points is their largest lead of the series.
• Avery Bradley threw a terrible cross-court pass to Brandon bass at the 5:07 mark that sailed ten feet into the crowd.
• After some terrific Celtics defense, Paul Pierce made a hail-mary pass that was intercepted. In transition, Steve Novak drilled a wide-open three-pointer to cut the Celtics lead to 6.
• Brandon Bass is the unsung hero so far, making things incredibly difficult for Carmelo Anthony in the offensive end.
• For everything Brandon Bass did so well this quarter, he bit on a pump fake by Anthony and fouled him with 1.8 to go in the quarter. Melo banked home the shot and hit the free throw, cutting the Boston lead to five.
• Celtics lead 22-17 after the first but they missed a lot of opportunities early. They could easily have 30 at this point.
• This quarter Paul Pierce scored 7 points, but on 2-of-5 shooting. He seems to have a harder time than you would expect against the likes of Raymond Felton and Jason Kidd.
  

• Terrence Williams with some early minutes, coming into the game to start the second quarter with Jordan Crawford.
• Boston's hustle is admirable as Kevin Garnett got an offensive rebound off of missed free throw, though the team couldn't convert. One possession later, Crawford missed a layup but Green got the offensive rebound and the possession ended in a Terry to Garnett alley-oop.
• Carmelo Anthony is started to develop a rhythm without Brandon Bass defending him.
• Kevin Garnett picks up his third foul of the game at the 6:33 mark of the quarter...he also has a plus/minus of 13 in only 13 minutes of play. His impact can't be overstated.
• Iman Shumpert hustled and deflected the ball off Brandon Bass to give the Knicks another possession. Those are the types of plays the Celtics need to make in order to win this series.
• The Raymond Felton to Tyson Chandler alley-oop at the 5:16 mark is unstoppable to stop. No defense can stop that.
• After Chandler's dunk, Jeff Green turned back up the energy by going hard to the basket each and every possession. He got to the free throw line twice and quickly gave the Celtics a 14-point lead, the largest of the game.
• Vintage Paul Pierce appeared with less than 2 minutes in the half. He hit a nasty fadeaway from 18-feet at the 1:42 mark and then after a Bradley steal, he drained a 3-pointer from 27-feet to give the C's an 18 point lead. Huge momentum swing right here.
• A lot of fouls this game. KG, Green, and Bass have 3; Pierce has 2. For the Knicks, Anthony, Chandler, Prigioni, Kidd and Martin all of 2.
• At half, Paul Pierce is the star with 17 points on 6-of-9 shooting. Jeff Green has 15, shooting 5-of-11.
• Not enough can be said about the Kevin Garnett as the anchor of the defense as the Knicks are not allowed to breathe on offense. The lack of J.R. Smith as made a big difference this afternoon.
• Brandon Bass is also shutting down Carmelo Anthony, holding him to 16-points on 3-of-15 shooting.

• Tyson Chandler picks up his third foul, knocking Paul Pierce down as he drove to the basket.
• KG picks up his 4th foul with 22 minutes left in the game. Not good.
• Jeff Green hit a three from the corner to give Boston a 59-39 lead, the largest of the game.
• Both Jeff Green and Brandon Bass picked up their fourth fouls after KG got his. It's a four-fouls party at this point...Carmelo Anthony has three and might be joining soon.
• Boston was about to be called for a five-seconds violation when Bradley tried to knock the ball off of Prigioni, who stole the ball and was fouled hard by Jason Terry on the other end. With Boston in foul trouble, the Knicks are beginning to steal momentum.
• Carmelo Anthony has turned it on in the second half, shooting 3-of-5. He hit a trey at the 6:44 mark, cutting the lead to 12. Doc called a timeout to try and calm things down.
• Brandon Bass picked up his fifth foul at the 5:10 mark. Garnett substituted in for him, who has four. Knicks lead 10 at this point.
• After the Knicks cut the lead, the C's had two possessions in a row that would make Tommy Heinsohn incredibly happy. Paul Pierce and Jeff Green went hard to the basket both a respective dunk and swooping layup. Celtics up 14 with 4:26 to go.
• Raymond Felton scores five straight points after he sank a wide-open three-pointer with 2:57 to go. The lead is back to 10.
• Kevin Garnett just can't move quickly enough as Raymond Felton cuts the lead to 8 with an open layup.
• ...And Felton didn't stop. He hit a buzzer-beater three-pointer to cut the lead to 3. He outscored the Celtics all by himself, with 16-points in the quarter. The Knicks cut a 20-point deficit to 3 as they outscored Boston 30-to-14.

• A Carmelo Anthony layup cut the lead to 2 with 10:03 left to go in the game. Kevin Garnett basically showed him the way to the basket.
• Paul Pierce and Jason Terry made a few nice shots to bring the lead back to 5, with 8 minutes to go.
• Shumpert stole the ball from Pierce with 7:15 to go as he tied the game at 74.
• The Celtics got the lead back to 4, but with 5:20 to go, Anthony blew past Bass, who didn't want to pick up his sixth foul.
• Brandon Bass ended up picking his sixth foul with 4:27 to go in the game. Boston led by 4 at the time.
• Incredible defense by the Knicks with fewer than 3 minutes to go, forcing a last second shot by Jeff Green.
• The Celtics can't get a defensive rebound.
• Carmelo Anthony missed two free throws with 1:50 to go. That was a chance to give the Knicks their first lead of the game.
• But Raymond Felton answered the call with 1:15 to go, drilling an open jumper from the top of the key. Knicks get their first lead of the game.
  
• KG drained a jumper after nice pick-and-pop to tie the game.
• After a couple missed shots by Carmelo Anthony and Paul Pierce, the game went to overtime.

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