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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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GAME FLOW
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) -- Whatever happens to Milt Palacio in
his NBA career, the little-used Boston Celtics guard is always
going to be known for one heave against the hapless New Jersey
Nets.
|  | | Milt Palacio attempts to drive around Johnny Newman during the first quarter Thursday night. |
Palacio hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer while falling down to give
the Celtics an astonishing 112-111 victory over New Jersey on
Thursday night in a game the Nets gave away.
"That's what I miss so much about college basketball, the
incredible finishes like Kentucky-Duke," said Celtics coach Rick
Pitino. "When it looks like there is not way you can win, you pull
it out."
This one was in the miracle category.
Palacio's only basket of the game and first 3-pointer of the
season came after the Nets botched an inbounds pass at halfcourt
with 1.8 seconds left.
New Jersey's Lucious Harris had trouble finding an open teammate
and he threw the ball toward center Aaron Williams near the
midcourt jump ball area.
"I thought I saw him open," a teary-eyed Harris said.
The ball tipped off Williams' hands and Palacio grabbed it while
heading toward the basket. He took one bounce, seemed to trip over
Stephon Marbury's foot and then launched an off-balance shot from
about 30 feet away.
It hit nothing but net, sending the Celtics into a
championship-style celebration and sending the shocked Nets to
their sixth straight loss.
"I was guarding Stephon and someone tipped the ball and it came
right to me," said Palacio, who had scored just 18 points in nine
games after being signed as a free agent on Dec. 6.
Palacio thought about passing the ball to Paul Pierce but
decided against it knowing the buzzer was about to go off.
"I said you only have enough time to shot it," Palacio said.
"To be honest, I didn't see it go in because I was falling down.
When I got up Paul Pierce was charging at me so I figured we had
won."
Marbury stood with his hands on his head on the court and New
Jersey rookie coach Byron Scott bent over and put in hands on his
knees.
"I just didn't believe it went in," said Scott, who said
Harris made a mistake not throwing the ball toward the Nets basket.
"Personally I didn't believe he threw it and secondly I didn't
believe he had it in his hands and threw it up there and it went
in. I was shocked on both accounts."
Until the improbable ending, the Nets and Marbury had done
everything right in hopes of ending their losing streak.
Marbury finished with 27 points and was spectacular on both ends
of the court down the stretch. Williams added 20 for New Jersey.
Pierce had 22 of his 25 points in the second half for Boston,
while Antoine Walker had 23 points and 11 rebounds, and Kenny
Anderson scored 20.
After Sherman Douglas hit two free throws with 12.8 seconds to
play to give New Jersey a 110-106 lead, Walker hit a 3-pointer with
1.8 seconds left to get Boston within a point.
With no timeouts left, Walker fouled Kenyon Martin away from the
ball, giving the Nets a free throw and the ball.
Marbury hit the free throw for a 111-109 lead and all the Nets
had to do was inbound the ball.
They couldn't, which is par for their 9-20 season.
"This just goes to show that you have to play the full 48
minutes in this league and it's never over till it's over,"
Anderson said. "But I'll tell you the truth. I thought it was
over. They must be destroyed. They're really struggling."
Game
notes
Celtics guard Randy Brown sat out with a sprained ankle.
... Guard Kendall Gill (knee) and backup center Jim McIlvaine
(back) didn't play for New Jersey. ... Boston activated backup
center Mark Blount before the game and placed rookie forward Jerome
Moiso on the injured list. ... Williams got a surprising basket in
the third quarter when his alley-oop pass went in. ... Nets forward
Stephen Jackson got an early technical foul for hanging on the rim
after a dunk. ... The Nets, who had not shot 40 percent in their
five-game losing streak, made 51.9 percent from the field Thursday.
The Celtics shot 52.1 percent.
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ALSO SEE
NBA Scoreboard
Boston Clubhouse
New Jersey Clubhouse
RECAPS
Milwaukee 107
Cleveland 89
Boston 112
New Jersey 111
Orlando 102
Detroit 96
Dallas 105
LA Clippers 96
Minnesota 88
Atlanta 81
Portland 103
Utah 102
Chicago 105
San Antonio 104
Toronto 94
Denver 93
LA Lakers 115
Phoenix 78
Sacramento 91
Charlotte 87
FROM
ATHLETESDIRECT
Antoine Walker Official Site
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