BOSTON – Paul Pierce had 30 points, 12 rebounds and eight assists before sitting out most of the fourth quarter on Friday night and the Boston Celtics coasted to their 13th consecutive victory over Cleveland, beating the Cavaliers 107-82.
Boston held LeBron James to 19 points on 7-for-19 shooting. But he was still the high scorer on a team that has five former Celtics – a result of two trades in the past six months as the struggling franchise tries to rebuild around the top pick in last year’s draft.
Tony Battie had 10 points and 13 rebounds in the first game between the teams since the Dec. 15 trade that sent him to Cleveland with Eric Williams and Kedrick Brown for Ricky Davis, Chris Mihm and Michael Stewart.
On Thursday, Davis criticized Cleveland, calling the team and the city “the black hole.”
“It was terrible over there. The organization. No system. The town. Everything. The GM. All of it is kind of backward. It’s good to be in a winning organization.”
that has a system and knows what’s going on,” he told reporters. “(Boston is) a step up in everything … class, coaches, owners, GMs, players, winning, tradition, everything.”
The Celtics used a 14-2 run in the first quarter to turn an 11-10 deficit into a 24-13 lead. Cleveland came within six points in the second and seven points in the third. The Celtics led 63-53 before scoring eight consecutive points to put the game away.
Notes: Pierce was fined $7,500 by the NBA for throwing and kicking a basketball into the stands against Orlando on Wednesday. … Celtics F Brandon Hunter made his NBA debut. He scored his first basket in the final two minutes. … Celtics F Vin Baker served the second game of his three-game suspension for violating the aftercare program he agreed to after going into alcohol rehab last season. … Battie was called for a technical foul in the third for swinging from the rim after a dunk.
AP-ES-01-09-04 2209EST
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