Monday, December 15th)
*** NBA Game Summary - Philadelphia at Boston ***
Final Score: Boston 100, Philadelphia 83
Boston, MA (TSN) - Ron Mercer scored 20 points off the
bench and the Celtics forced 29 Philadelphia turnovers,
as
Boston trounced the 76ers, 100-83, at the FleetCenter.
Boston has won both meetings with the Sixers this season
and nine of the last 12 contests in the series.
The Sixers, who played without Allen Iverson, have dropped
four of their last five.
The 76ers were still in the game midway
through the third
quarter. Doug Overton, who started for the suspended Iverson,
nailed a jumper to pull Philadelphia within 52-49 with 6:22
remaining in the stanza. Boston's Tyus Edney converted
a steal
into a layup to begin a 15-1 spurt. Edney's layup with just 1:39
to play in the frame capped the run, giving the Celtics
a 67-50
advantage.
Another Edney basket 40 seconds later gave Boston
its biggest
lead of the game, at 73-52 with 53 seconds left in the quarter.
Philadelphia would never get closer than 14 points in the
final
quarter.
Boston held a two-point lead at halftime, 41-39. Antoine
Walker
had 11 of his 17 points in the first half.
Philadelphia managed to
connect on only 32.4 percent of its shots over the first 24 minutes.
Jerry Stackhouse paced the Sixers with 25 points.
The Celtics recorded 32 points on the 29 Philadelphia turnovers.
Game Notes
----------
Iverson was suspended by head coach Larry Brown for
one
game because of an unspecified violation
of team rules..
.Mercer was originally in the Celtic starting lineup, but was
replaced by Bruce Bowen at the last minute...Walker
hauled
in eight boards for Boston, while Walter McCarty added 12 points
...Tim Thomas scored 14 points off the Sixer bench...Philadelphia
shot just 36.4 percent for the game, while the Celtics hit 44 percent
from the floor...Boston has won three of its last four games.
12/15 21:58:50 ET
