Sports

Saturday, Nov. 07, 2009

Celtics rebound with victory over winless New Jersey

Rajon Rondo and Paul Pierce each scored 16 points, and the Boston Celtics bounced back from their first loss of the season to beat the winless New Jersey Nets 86-76 on Saturday night

Ray Allen came alive after three dismal quarters to score eight of his 12 points in the fourth quarter for the Celtics (7-1), who lost 110-103 to Phoenix on Friday night, allowing 20 more points than in any previous game.

Their defense was back Saturday — and it needed to be, because the Celtics couldn’t shoot for most of the night. Boston finished with 20 steals, five by Rondo, scoring 19 points off New Jersey’s 24 turnovers.

Kevin Garnett shot 3 of 13 but added nine points and 13 rebounds to help the Celtics beat the Nets for the 10th straight time.

Brook Lopez, the only regular starter available, scored 23 points, and Rafer Alston had 20 for the Nets (0-7).

The Nets likely ran out of gas in the fourth quarter while playing with only eight players. Starting forward Chris Douglas-Roberts tested positive for swine flu and Courtney Lee has a strained left groin, leaving the Nets with the NBA minimum amount of players to start a game.

Hawks 125, Nuggets 100: Jamal Crawford scored 25 points, and Josh Smith had 22 points, nine rebounds, six blocked shots and seven assists for Atlanta.

Joe Johnson added 21 points and Marvin Williams had 14 for the Hawks.

Carmelo Anthony had 30 points for Denver, and Chauncey Billups added 25. The Nuggets lost their second straight after winning their first five. Anthony was 7 of 21 from the field and 15 of 18 from the line.

The Hawks scored the first 10 points of the second half to make it 70-50. Denver never got closer than 12 points — at 90-78 less than a minute into the final quarter.

The Hawks shot 52 percent, hitting 45 of 87 shots, including 8 of 19 3s. Bibby was 3 of 4 from 3-point range.

Bulls 93, Bobcats 90: John Salmons scored 27 points, Joakim Noah added a career-high 21 points and had 16 rebounds, and the Chicago Bulls beat the Charlotte Bobcats for their third straight win.

The Bulls had a 16-0 run in the third and fourth quarters that turned a nine-point deficit into a seven-point lead at 77-70. They hung on despite some shaky foul shooting, with Charlotte’s Flip Murray missing two 3-pointers in the closing seconds.

Boris Diaw led Charlotte with 20 points.

Iverson leaves Grizzlies: Disgruntled Memphis guard Allen Iverson returned to his home in Atlanta after receiving permission to leave the team to attend to personal business.

Team owner Michael Heisley gave the four-time NBA scoring leader permission to skip the Grizzlies’ game Saturday night against the Los Angeles Clippers following a 114-98 loss to the Lakers the night before.