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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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 GAME FLOW
BOSTON (AP) -- Charles Barkley, dressed all in black, sat on the Houston bench watching his ex-teammates fall behind by 25 points.
Then he enjoyed the comeback that needed a finishing touch.
But he couldn't provide it.
In their first game since a knee injury ended Barkley's career
two days earlier, the Rockets tied the game with 4:42 left but lost
to the Boston Celtics 100-96 Friday night.
"They could have quit. That made me feel good," Barkley said.
"They could have quit after the first quarter."
The Celtics tied an NBA record with 11 steals in that period as
they charged to a 32-16 lead. It was 52-27, then 62-45 at halftime.
The comeback intensified in the third quarter when Boston made
4-of-17 shots and let the lead dwindle to 77-67.
"We should have won," said Cuttino Mobley, who came off the
bench to score 23 points. "They came out hard in the beginning and
we were a little shook up. Seeing that Charles wasn't out there,
they double-teamed" point guard Steve Francis.
The game wasn't decided until the final seconds after a layup by
Francis cut the lead to 98-96 with 4.9 seconds left. But Adrian
Griffin ended the scoring with two free throws with 3.7 seconds to
play.
"Kind of tough," Griffin said, "but we pulled it out at the
end."
The win was Boston's third in four games, while Houston lost for
the second straight time -- the first at Philadelphia when Barkley
was hurt in the first quarter -- after winning three in a row.
"We were spectacular in the first quarter, we were good in the
second quarter and, as usual, with our young basketball team, we
lost our memory of what got us the lead," Boston coach Rick Pitino
said. "Ball reversal is the key to offensive basketball and we're
just not comprehending that enough."
In the second half, Mobley worked to draw the double team that
usually goes to Barkley and found teammates for good shots with six
assists.
"We just got some momentum," Houston's Bryce Drew said. "They
missed some shots. We hit some shots and we just got back in it."
The Rockets trailed 89-80 with 7:10 remaining before Shandon
Anderson scored five straight points and Thomas Hamilton scored the
next four.
Then the Celtics went ahead to stay on a 3-pointer by Paul
Pierce, who had 19 points, and a 15-footer by Kenny Anderson, who
led them with 20.
But the Rockets weren't done as Mobley hit a layup and a
12-footer, cutting the lead to 94-93. He had a chance to give
Houston its first lead since 2-1 but missed a layup and a tip-in
with 43 seconds to go.
"I went to tip it in and they (the Celtics) were grabbing me,"
Mobley said, "but that's just basketball. You can't worry about
that."
Anderson then made two free throws and Carlos Rogers made one
for Houston. Two free throws by Adrian Griffin put Boston ahead
98-94 with 11 seconds remaining.
Barkley, who was honored at halftime, received several standing
ovations. One sign in the crowd read, "Thanks for the memories
Charles."
The Rockets missed him early as the Celtics took control when
Kenny Anderson's 22-footer gave them a 3-2 lead. That began a 17-3
run in which Pierce had seven points and Anderson six as the
Celtics took a 20-5 lead.
Boston led by 13 to 18 points for the rest of the quarter and
took its biggest lead of the game, 52-27, on Pierce's driving layup
with 5:44 left in the second quarter.
The Rockets cut the 17-point halftime deficit to 10 after the
third quarter even though they committed 24 turnovers to that
point. Houston kept chipping away, but Kenny Anderson's fastbreak
layup put the Celtics ahead 89-80.
Game notes
Francis had eight turnovers and Boston's Antoine Walker had
seven. ... Houston's five starters -- Kelvin Cato, Rogers, Walt
Williams, Francis and Shandon Anderson -- were not with the team last season. ... Walker, who had been struggling with his shooting,
made 7-of-12 shots. ... At a halftime ceremony, Barkley received
two framed gifts -- a piece of the Celtics' parquet floor and a
photo of him and former Celtic Larry Bird jockeying for position
under the basket. ... Boston is 38-8 at home against Houston but
just 2-2 since it moved from Boston Garden to the FleetCenter.
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ALSO SEE
NBA Scoreboard
Houston Clubhouse
Boston Clubhouse
Boston crowd gives Barkley a fond farewell
RECAPS
Boston 100
Houston 96
Indiana 136
Cleveland 88
Milwaukee 107
Toronto 91
Golden State 107
Atlanta 99
Charlotte 106
Denver 99
Detroit 107
LA Clippers 83
New York 85
Philadelphia 78
Chicago 71
New Jersey 69
Utah 101
Seattle 83
Miami 107
Sacramento 97
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