Boston halted the Milwaukee Bucks’ six-game winning streak on Thursday after a defensive change in the third quarter helped them to a 100-91 road win that tightened their grip on an Eastern Conference playoff spot.
Paul Pierce led the Celtics (25-21) with 25 points and was outstanding in the third quarter, when he scored 10 of Boston’s 18 points and helped hold Milwaukee to 13 points.
The game turned Boston’s way after they switched defensive strategies in the third quarter.
Photo: EPA
“We switched on everything, which we never do. I mean, we literally never do that,” Celtics coach Doc Rivers told reporters. “They were killing us in the first half. The way we looked at it, switching couldn’t have been any worse than what we normally do. That was a big change. It’s unusual for us to give in that quickly, but we thought we needed to do it and I thought it made a big difference defensively for us.”
Boston, who are seventh in the East and now four games ahead of the ninth-placed Bucks (21-25), carried the momentum into the fourth quarter and pushed their lead to 82-73, which they protected through the final eight minutes.
“Boston did a good job of taking us out of what we wanted to run,” Bucks center Drew Gooden said. “They defended the pick-and-roll exceptionally well with [Kevin] Garnett.”
Garnett scored 16 points and 10 rebounds and Rajon Rondo had 10 points and 14 assists for the Celtics.
Brandon Jennings led the Bucks with 19 points, Carlos Delfino added 16 and Ersan Ilyosova recorded a double-double with 12 points and 14 rebounds.
HORNETS 97, CLIPPERS 90
In New Orleans, Chris Kaman scored 20 points as the Hornets rallied for a 97-90 victory over the Los Angeles Clippers on Thursday, spoiling Chris Paul’s return to New Orleans.
The Clippers were held to 11 points in the fourth quarter as they shot four for 23 from the field. Los Angeles also missed their last 19 three-point attempts.
After trailing throughout the first three quarters, the Hornets went ahead with an 11-2 run at the start of the fourth and led the rest of the way.
Jarrett Jack and Jason Smith each scored 17 as New Orleans snapped a five-game home losing streak.
Blake Griffin had 21 points for Los Angeles, and Paul, who forced a trade from New Orleans before the season, added 16 points on 5-for-14 shooting.
ROCKETS 109, WARRIORS 83
In Houston, Texas, Goran Dragic had 17 points and nine assists, and rookie Chandler Parsons had 20 points and a career-high 11 rebounds to lead Houston.
Luis Scola scored 18 and Samuel Dalembert added 15 points and 10 rebounds for the Rockets, who dominated the Warriors inside, out-rebounding Golden State 48-31 and scoring 58 points in the paint.
Richard Jefferson scored 14 points and David Lee added 12 for the Warriors, who have lost five of their last six games.
PACERS 85, WIZARDS 83
In Washington, David West grabbed three offensive rebounds in the final 70 seconds, Darren Collison made a key steal of an inbounds pass, and Paul George’s three-pointer with one minute, one second to play gave Indiana their first lead of the game, completing a 22-point comeback.
Roy Hibbert scored 19 points, Danny Granger had 16, and West and George finished with 13 apiece for the Pacers, who recovered from an abysmal first half.
TRAIL BLAZERS 97, GRIZZLIES 93
In Portland, Oregon, Nicolas Batum had 24 points as new-look Portland held off Memphis.
Jamal Crawford had 17 points, including four clutch free throws in the final seconds for the Blazers, who snapped a two-game skid to even to 2-2 under interim head coach Kaleb Canales.
Marc Gasol’s layup narrowed it to 91-88 with 2:15 to go. Neither side could get a shot to fall as time wound down, but Wesley Matthews made free throws for Portland before Mike Conley’s three-pointer kept the Grizzlies close at 93-91.
Rudy Gay missed a three-pointer at the buzzer for Memphis.
JAZZ 103, KINGS 102
In Sacramento, California, Al Jefferson’s putback with 0.9 seconds remaining lifted Utah past Sacramento.
The Jazz went almost nine minutes without a basket in the fourth quarter and blew a 14-point second-half lead before Jefferson bailed them out with the game-winner to silence the crowd.
Jefferson finished with 26 points and seven rebounds, Derrick Favors added 12 points and 10 rebounds and Gordon Hayward scored 18 points for Utah, who remained one-half game behind Houston for eighth place in the Western Conference.
Tyreke Evans scored 11 of his 25 points in the fourth quarter for the Kings. Marcus Thornton added 22 points and 18 rebounds, but shot an airball on his three-point attempt at the buzzer.
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