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Tuesday, Apr. 4 7:30pm ET
Mason had 27 points, Coleman added 25 | |||||
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 GAME FLOW
CHARLOTTE (AP) -- Anthony Mason and Derrick Coleman found a mismatch in the fourth quarter and made the Celtics pay. Mason and Coleman exploited their mismatch with the 6-foot-5 Adrian Griffin, scoring a combined 19 points in the fourth as the Hornets won their seventh straight Tuesday night in a 112-105 victory over Boston. "We wanted to go inside, and that's what really bailed us out at the end," said Hornets coach Paul Silas. "They had Griffin in there, and we wanted to exploit that. Whoever he was guarding we sent straight to the blocks." Mason had 27 points and 11 rebounds and Coleman had his own double-double of 25 points and 14 rebounds as Charlotte won its seventh straight game while shooting a season-high 57 percent. Charlotte, vying for home-court advantage in the first round of the playoffs, moved into a fourth-place tie in the Eastern Conference with Philadelphia (42-31). Kenny Anderson scored 23 points for the Celtics, who lost their eighth straight. Antoine Walker added 22 points and 10 assists. Coleman described the late-game strategy. "It's just simple basketball," Coleman said. "You come down and you look for mismatches. Sometimes they had a smaller guy on Mase (Mason). You get the ball to him, and either he makes a strong move or kicks it out for a jump shot. "Then when they switched and put him (Griffin) on me, I would just go down to the block and run the same play." Charlotte, which scored on 11 of its last 12 possessions, never trailed again after Mason's free throw broke a 96-96 tie with 4:38 left. Seven straight points from the line gave the Hornets a 103-98 advantage. A three-point play from Coleman with 1:23 left put Charlotte ahead 110-104, and Boston could manage only a free throw from Paul Pierce the rest of the way. "Our Achilles' heel is our interior defense," lamented Boston coach Rick Pitino. "It has to get better. Charlotte creates a lot of matchup problems for our team. Mason and Coleman can do so much when they get the ball, and we couldn't defend it." Eddie Robinson scored 10 points off the bench on 5-of-5 shooting in the second quarter to help Charlotte take a 54-53 lead into intermission. With Coleman and Elden Campbell each going to the bench with a fourth foul in the third quarter, Boston opened an 86-82 lead entering the final period. An 8-1 run began when Anderson made a free throw from a technical foul on Coleman, putting the Celtics ahead 67-61 with 7:22 left. The lead grew to 80-71 when Walker scored his eighth point of the period with 2:47 left. But Mason scored five points in the final 1:24 as the Hornets closed the quarter with an 11-6 run. "They slowed the game down and posted up about every time," Anderson said. "We had to make decisions on when to help and when to get back. In this league, you've got to defend. With Mason and Derrick Coleman and Campbell, you've got to help, and we did help some. But they got what they wanted." Boston shot 55 percent in the first half, but Charlotte wasn't far behind (54 percent). Four Hornets -- Eddie Jones with 14, Coleman with 12 and Robinson and Mason with 10 apiece -- reached double-figure scoring before halftime. Jones finished with 25 points and eight assists.
Game notes | ALSO SEE NBA Scoreboard Boston Clubhouse Charlotte Clubhouse RECAPS Washington 102 New Jersey 93
Charlotte 112 AUDIO/VIDEO   David Wesley and the Hornets are finding ways to win.wav: 56 k RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6 Anthony Mason thinks the Hornets must continue to work hard.wav: 68 k RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6   | |||||