Celtics Knicks recap

["Steve Chomicz" <ChomS@tiac.net>]

SPORTSTICKER NBA RECAP   	
  (NEW YORK-BOSTON)   	


Antoine Walker scored 23 points and Kenny Anderson added four of  
his 14 in a pivotal first-quarter run as the Boston Celtics 
raced to an early lead and cruised to an easy 102-92 victory 
over the suddenly reeling New York Knicks. 

The win was the third straight for Boston and second straight  
over New York after dropping the previous 21 games dating to 
January 10th, 1993.  Ron Mercer scored 21 points for Boston, 
which improved to 34-41 this season. 

"It was a great half of basketball for us," said Celtics coach  
Rick Pitino. "We were looking for that type of game because the 
Knicks had a tough ballgame last night.  We had to come out 
blazing both on offense as well as defense.  We were trying for 
a 55 or 60-point half and we wanted to play with a lot of 
energy. We did that for one half." 

Boston broke open a 6-6 game with a 19-3 run just under three  
minutes into the contest.  Anderson sparked the burst with a 
three-point play, and Mercer capped it with a three-pointer with 
2:04 to go in the quarter. 

"The guys were looking for people who were running down the  
floor and I just happened to get a few easy baskets," Mercer 
said. "It started off slowly, but when I got into a groove, I 
just started hitting my jumpers.  We made some big baskets tonight 
and we shut down their key players." 

Terry Cummings scored a season-high 23 points and Chris Mills  
added 14 for the Knicks, who have dropped four of their last 
five and fell 2 1/2 games behind Cleveland for sixth place in 
the Eastern Conference.  New York leads New Jersey by two games 
for the seventh playoff slot. 

"Over the last week, we've become a very fragile team," said  
Knicks coach Jeff Van Gundy. "Do we roll over and quit? We did 
it against Seattle, we did it against San Antonio, We did it 
against New Jersey last night and we did it again tonight. 
We're going to prepare for these final six game like no other 
team has ever prepared.   All were doing right now is making 
those people who said 'we couldn't win without Patrick (Ewing) 
look real smart." 

With the game tied 6-6 following a pair of free throws by the  
Knicks' John Starks, Anderson hit a layup and was fouled.  His 
free throw gave Boston a 9-6 advantage with 8:59 left.  Travis 
Knight followed with two free throws and between his first and 
second attempt, Larry Johnson was whistled for a technical. 
Anderson made the free throw for a 12-6 lead. 

Greg Minor also had a three-point play to push the Boston  
advantage to nine points with 7:59 left.  Starks broke the run 
with a dunk with 7:02 to go, but Walker hit a layup and 
three-pointer in a 15-second span to extend the Celtics lead to 
20-8. 

Minor hit a jumper with 2:46 left, but Allan Houston countered  
with a free throw before Mercer capped the run with his 
three-pointer. 

The Knicks got no closer than the final margin the rest of the  
way. 

New York's best chance to get back in the game came early in the  
fourth quarter.  Trailing 82-63, Johnson scored four straight 
points.  Terry Cummings hit a reverse layup with 9:45 left to 
cut the deficit to 82-69, but Anderson answered with a free 
throw for Boston. 

Terry Mills buried a three-pointer for New York to cut the  
deficit to 11 points with 9 1/2 minutes remaining, but Mercer 
sank a jumper and Walker buried a jumper to push the lead back 
to 15 with 6:46 to go. 

Cummings was 11-of-18 from the field and grabbed 11 rebounds but  
starting point guard Charlie Ward had just five points and five 
assists to go with five fouls and five turnovers. 

"If a coach has seen people quit, it's up to him to get them  
out," Cummings said. "Maybe someone in that situation needs to 
step back and take perspective on the situation.  If someone's 
quitting, they shouldn't be on the floor." 

Knight finished with 12 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists  
for the Celtics, who never trailed and led by as many as 28. 

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