Knicks and Celtics Trade Baskets and a Few Barbs

 

By HOWARD BECK

Published: November 18, 2008

BOSTON — During a tense evening on the parquet, the Knicks flirted with humiliation, the Boston Celtics preened and nearly everyone walked away with anger in their eyes and malice in their mouths.

Nothing much was settled here Tuesday, except that the Celtics — five months removed from their championship celebration — remain a potent force and the Knicks remain a work in progress.

The Knicks fell behind early and, despite a late rally, lost, 110-101. But it was what happened between the baskets that seemed to leave the greatest impression, and the promise of a tension-filled reunion next month. Between drives through the lane, the Celtics (10-2) gloated over their championship run, or so the Knicks said.

According to some of the Celtics, it was the Knicks (6-5) who were guilty of starting the verbal warfare.

In any case, they all seemed mildly annoyed afterward, particularly Quentin Richardson, who has a history of run-ins with Paul Pierce, Boston’s All-Star forward.

Then Richardson launched into a rant about the Celtics’ bravado, the implied lack of respect that came with it and the possible consequences.

Those sentiments were relayed to the Celtics in their locker room, where Kendrick Perkins flipped the script.

It seemed that everyone had skipped the pregame sermon which was titled, according to flyers posted in the locker room, “How to Handle Your Haters.” The dialogue will continue when the Knicks return to Boston on Dec. 21.

Taunts and accusations aside, the Knicks perhaps regained a little respect with a hard-fought fourth quarter. A year ago, the Knicks disintegrated on this same court, in a 104-59 rout. This time, they kept the game in reach, a task made easier by the absence of Kevin Garnett, who was serving a one-game suspension.

Pierce, guarded by Richardson, started slowly but scored 11 points in the fourth quarter to finish with 22. Leon Powe (14 points) and Kendrick Perkins (16 points) took turns pounding the Knicks inside, leading the Celtics to 50 points in the paint.

But the Knicks clamped down in the fourth quarter, when Coach Mike D’Antoni used Malik Rose and David Lee in the frontcourt, a move that nearly turned the game around. The Knicks used an 11-2 run to cut the deficit to 6 points, then stayed within single digits the rest of the way.

Wilson Chandler scored twice in the paint and Chris Duhon hit a 3-pointer as they knocked the Celtics lead down to 103-99 with 2 minutes 6 seconds left. But Chandler, who led the Knicks with 23 points, missed a layup in traffic down the stretch, and Richardson missed a 3-pointer and a layup as the rally died. Brian Scalabrine hit a 3-pointer from the corner to make it 107-99 and seal the victory.

D’Antoni had spent most of the night in states of rage, and earned his first technical foul of the season for screaming profanities as the referee Ed Malloy as the third quarter ended. But the late rally seemed to soothe his nerves.

“The last 16 minutes, I thought we upped our intensity to where we had to have it the whole game,” D’Antoni said. “And really, I’m kind of energized right now, because we can do that. We took it up, I thought we played harder than they did the last 16 minutes. I see some good stuff. We just got to build on it.”

Duhon had another solid night for the Knicks, with 15 points and 5 assists. Zach Randolph was out of sync early but finished with 18 points, 8 rebounds and a chip on his shoulder.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/19/sports/basketball/19knicks.html?em