By Scott Spangler
New York has been dominant on the glass, generating a ton more shots, but could only muster 32 percent from the floor. This left the Celtics trailing by only one point heading into the locker room, 45-44.
Word coming down now, Amare Stoudemire may be out for the rest of the night with back spasms. With PG Chauncey Billups already sidelined, this puts just about the entire load on Carmelo Anthony’s shoulders.
Early in the second half now, and Anthony is beginning to heat up, now with 24 pts on 9 of 20 shooting – he has also managed to haul in 13 boards.
The problem for New York now would be slowing down Celtic PG Rajon Rondo. He seems more than willing to take up Mike D’Antoni’s invite for some “shooting practice.” So far, 22 points, 9 of 14 from the field.
With just under 3 minutes left in the third, we have a six-point Boston advantage.