BOSTON — The Boston Celtics opened up a 2-0 lead in their
playoff against Cleveland on Thursday while defending champion San Antonio
clawed its way back into the series with New Orleans after a 110-99 win.
Boston earned a comfortable 89-73 home win over the
Cavaliers, who now badly need victory in Saturday’s Game 3 in Cleveland (Sunday
in Manila) if they are to have any hope of halting the Celtics.
Paul Pierce, who scored 19 points, said that all season the
team had been looking to be dominant at home.
"When we get the crowd in the game and we are flowing and
our adrenaline is flowing... it’s tough to beat us here. We feed off everything
they bring us every night," he said.
"It was a total team effort and this is the way we want to
play each and every night. We kept our turnovers down, we rebounded the ball,
made the extra pass, and we got the job done defensively and that is true
Celtics basketball right there."
Boston’s Ray Allen, who had not scored in seven quarters,
came up with 16 points while Cleveland’s LeBron James scored 21.
The San Antonio Spurs could ill-afford a third defeat to the
Hornets and they had Argentine Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker to thank for the
win, both scoring 31 points.
New Orleans held a slight lead at halftime but the Spurs
surged forward desperately and the pressure paid off.
The Spurs will look to level the series in San Antonio on Sunday.
