RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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 GAME FLOW
BOSTON (AP) -- Shareef Abdur-Rahim had no competition on the
boards Sunday. Not from benched teammate Bryant Reeves, and
certainly not from the Boston Celtics.
|  | | Vancouver guard Mike Bibby (10) gets banged around by Boston's Walter McCarty, but the Grizzlies came out the winners 98-87. |
With Reeves sitting out for the first time this season,
Abdur-Rahim scored 27 points and added 21 rebounds, helping
Vancouver beat the Celtics 98-87. The Grizzlies outrebounded Boston
54-36 overall.
"I think rebounding's about effort," Abdur-Rahim said. "It's
a matter of who wants the ball more. You always think you want it
more than them, but the tell-all is who gets the ball."
The victory followed seven consecutive defeats for the Grizzlies,
four of them by four points or less.
"It's huge to get a win," said Vancouver coach Sidney Lowe,
who sat Reeves in favor of a smaller lineup against Boston's press.
"We've been close a number of times, just searching and searching
for that one."
Paul Pierce scored 27 points and Antoine Walker had 18 for
Boston, which had won two consecutive since coach Rick Pitino
challenged them to play better defense, saying Wednesday, "There
won't be a next year for me" if the team doesn't improve.
"We lost because they took us to the woodshed on the glass,"
Pitino said Sunday.
The announced attendance of 11,551 -- there also appeared to be
thousands of no-shows -- was the smallest to see a Celtics game
since Larry Bird's third game in the NBA, when 7,335 turned out to
see Boston play Cleveland on Oct. 17, 1979.
Some in the crowd jokingly opened umbrellas when water dripped
from the ceiling onto the floor near the Celtics' basket, causing a
four-minute delay with 6:40 left in the fourth quarter. Ballboys
wiped the floor at every opportunity to keep it dry.
Mike Bibby had 13 points and 12 assists despite picking up two
fouls in the first two minutes and sitting out the rest of the
first quarter.
"He was a little upset," Lowe said. "He came back with the
edge, feeling like he was going to take control of the game, which
is what he did."
Abdur-Rahim had 19 points and nine rebounds in the first half,
then was scoreless in the second until Boston had cut a 15-point
deficit to two, 86-84, on Pierce's steal and basket with 4:30 left.
Abdur-Rahim hit a fadeaway jumper from the foul line with 2:41
left for his first points of the second half, making it 90-85.
After Pierce sank two free throws, Abdur-Rahim matched them.
Grant Long hit a pull-up jumper, then Abdur-Rahim added two more
free throws. He made the final basket with 31 seconds left, sealing
Vancouver's first victory since Nov. 8.
The Grizzlies scored only 16 points in the first quarter and
trailed by 11 when it ended. But they scored the first eight points
of the second quarter to spur a 21-5 run and take a 37-32 lead with
7:01 left in the first half.
Trailing by three, Boston scored 11 consecutive points to take a
47-39 lead with 2:54 left in the half. But Kevin Edwards hit a pair
of 3-pointers in the final 40 seconds, helping cut Vancouver's
deficit to 55-53 at the half.
In the third, Vancouver mounted a 14-2 run to take a nine-point
lead with 2:42 left, and scored the last six points of the quarter
to make it 80-67.
Game notes
Lowe was nailed with a technical late in the first half for
arguing with the officials. ... Reeves, who scored a
franchise-record 41 points in the FleetCenter in 1998 -- the most
ever for a Celtics opponent -- did not start for the first time this
season, and he did not play. ... During their losing streak, the
Grizzlies lost by four, three (twice) and one point. ... Boston's
Tony Battie played despite being listed as doubtful with a leg
bruise.
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NBA Scoreboard
Vancouver Clubhouse
Boston Clubhouse
RECAPS
Vancouver 98
Boston 87
Toronto 101
Chicago 89
Utah 94
Detroit 79
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