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BOSTON —Rajon Rondo has made dozens of last-second dashes to the basket. Steve Johnson Jersey . This time, he went in
the opposite direction. The Celtics point guard ran into the backcourt, grabbing
the inbounds pass in stride, avoiding a foul and dribbling out the final 3.4
seconds to clinch Bostons 92-91 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers on Saturday
night in the opener of their Eastern Conference semifinal series. “I feel like I
could out-quick him. Thats what I did,” Rondo said. “We knew they had a foul to
give. I told Doc (Rivers) to get me the ball and I could use my speed.” Rondo
had 17 assists, 13 points and 12 rebounds for his eighth career playoff
triple-double. He had six points, five assists and four rebounds in the fourth
quarter, when the Celtics went on a 23-7 run to turn a double-digit deficit into
a six-point lead with 78 seconds to play. “Hes an amazing player. He really is,”
Sixers coach Doug Collins said. “He takes that ball wherever he wants to take it
on the floor.” Kevin Garnett scored 29 points—his most in the regular- or
post-season this year—and added 11 rebounds to help Boston maintain
home-court advantage in the best-of-seven, second-round series. Game 2 is Monday
night in Boston before the series shifts to Philadelphia for Games 3 and 4. “If
youve watched us all season, were not going to drop our heads,” Collins said.
“We live to come back and fight just as hard in Game 2, at least as long as Im
the coach.” Andre Iguodala scored 19 points and Evan Turner had 16 with 10
rebounds for Philadelphia, which advanced to the second round for the first time
since 2003 by beating East No. 1 seed Chicago. But Turner couldnt catch Rondo in
the final seconds when Philadelphia had a foul to give. “Rondo just leaps out.
Thats the last thing on your mind: him going into our side of the court,”
Iguodala said. “You could have a turnover down there. Its a gamble, but its a
good play. ... We could have done a better job scoping it out.” The Sixers led
77-67 with 11 minutes to play before Boston scored 23 of the next 30 points,
with Rondo making a jumper to cut it to 80-79, then another two minutes later to
give Boston an 83-82 lead with 3:47 to play. After Spencer Hawes basket from the
right baseline put the Sixers up 84-83, Rondo drove to the basket and, with his
path blocked, turned and handed the ball to Garnett. He banked one in and drew
the foul to give Boston a two-point lead, then added another jumper. After
misses by Turner and Lou Williams, Paul Pierce hit a fall-away jumper with 78
seconds left to make it a six-point lead—the Celtics biggest of the night.
Boston still led by five when Jrue Holiday made a jumper, then Rondo fouled him
with 3.4 seconds left and he made both foul shots. Boston inbounded the ball
from between the benches, and Rondo sprinted back into the backcourt and outran
Turner to the wrong basket as the time expired. Pierce, who had a sprained MCL
in his left knee, scored 14 points on 3-for-11 shooting. Rondo was only 6 for 15
from the floor, but he was 3 for 6 in the fourth quarter, adding five rebounds
and four assists. Hawes scored 13 of his 15 points in the second half. Both
teams advanced by winning their first-round series in six games: Boston beat
Atlanta, and Philadelphia eliminated the Bulls to become the fifth No. 8 seed to
eliminate a No. 1. They got only one day off before beginning the second round
in Boston, where the Celtics earned their only victory against the Sixers this
year. The Sixers scored the first seven points of the game and led by 10 at the
end of the first quarter, when Boston shot 30 per cent. It was 45-32 when Boston
scored 10 of the last 12 points in the half, with Rondo picking up four assists
and a steal in the final 3 minutes before the break. A little more than two
minutes into the third, Avery Bradley outraced Rondo to a long rebound and took
it in, splitting defenders Iguodala and Holiday for the reverse layup that made
it 48-47—Bostons first lead of the game. Philadelphia quickly retook the lead
and extended it to eight points. Notes: Garnett scored eight points on 4-for-6
shooting in the first quarter and was the only Celtics starter to make a basket
in the first. ... Ray Allen, who was 1 for 7 from the floor in Game 6 of the
Atlanta series while struggling with bone spurs in his right ankle, was 3 for 5
in 14 minutes in the first half on Saturday. ... Celtics co-owner Steve Pagliuca
ventured over to the media section to say hello to former player
Brian Scalabrine, who was working for Comcast SportsNet. ... The Celtics were
2-for-18 from 3-point range. ... Philadelphia won the two games at home,
including a 32-point victory on March 7. None of the three regular-season
meetings between the teams was close. Steve Johnson Youth Jersey . —Miami
Dolphins coach Joe Philbin says the decision to release six-time Pro Bowl
receiver Chad Johnson wasnt based on any single incident and wasnt made to send
a message. C.J. Spiller Womens Jersey . —
Mariano Rivera sat on a chair in the corner of the visitors clubhouse at
Kauffman Stadium, his right knee tightly wrapped Friday night and crutches
resting against a nearby locker. http://www.buffalobillsjerseyonsale.com/fred-jackson-jerseys
. —What Tom Moore saw this week was oh, so familiar. Ryan Fitzpatrick Jersey . Ross has been out
since fouling a ball off his foot Friday night against Philadelphia. An X-ray
showed no breaks, but an MRI on Monday revealed a small fracture. Mario Williams Womens Jersey . Not
surprisingly, they didnt recover. RedHawks centrefielder Nic Jackson had a
double, a home run and five runs batted in while third baseman Ryan Stovall had
two singles, a home and three RBI, as the RedHawks pounded eight Goldeyes
pitchers for 16 runs on 13 hits (along with nine walks) as the ‘Hawks won their
third straight from the Fish and took the four-game series in Winnipeg,
three-games-to-one.TEMPE, Ariz. —Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kevin Kolb said
he was able to practise “a little bit” on Wednesday after tests evaluating the
concussion he sustained early in Sundays victory over San Francisco. “The
symptoms are down,” he said. “Its just a matter of making sure they are down
long enough to where I can get out there and then be in full-speed action. Thats
the key right now. Its a touchy subject, and we want to make sure that we err on
the right side.” Unlike the situation with the Cleveland Browns and their
quarterback, Colt McCoy, the Cardinals benched Kolb after he took a knee to the
head on Arizonas third offensive play against the 49ers. He immediately went to
the locker-room for evaluation and it was determined he should not return to the
game. “I dont know how they handled it in Cleveland,” Arizona coach Ken
Whisenhunt said. “All I can speak about is the way our guys did it and they did
a great job with it. ... The number one thing is, if there is ever a doubt, you
err to the side of caution and thats the way we are going to proceed.” Kolb said
he plans to practise more as the week goes on in hopes of being able to play
Sunday against the Browns. He said the football culture is better at dealing
with concussions than it used to be. “I think that there are so many studies
coming out now that prove long-term effects and things like that,” Kolb said.
“Obviously, our health is number one, especially when it comes to your brain. I
want to be out there as much as anybody, but its just something you dont push.”
This is Kolbs second concussion in as many seasons. He was sidelined with one
after he started last seasonns opener for Philadelphia and wound up losing the
starting job to his replacement, Michael Vick. Fred Jackson Womens Jersey. That eventually
led to the trade that brought Kolb to Arizona. Under the NFLs revised rules,
Kolb was required to see a doctor not affiliated with the Cardinals to have his
condition independently evaluated. He said he did so on Tuesday and that the
visit “went good.” Kolb said some of the symptoms of a concussion dont begin to
show up for him until the adrenaline of the football game begins to fade. “When
your adrenaline is going, when you are in the game, it covers up,” he said. “It
tends to cover up some of the symptoms. As you start calming down, during or
after the game, then, from my experience, a lot of things start to rush on you;
the vision, the sensitivity to light and noise, and all those things.” Kolb was
making just his second start after being sidelined for six games with a right
turf toe and bruise to the side of that same foot. The previous week, he had
come on strong in the second half to help Arizona beat Dallas in overtime. “Its
beyond frustrating, just because we played a good second half there against the
Cowboys and had a good week at practice,” he said. “We were ready to go out
there and do what we ended up doing, which is great for our team. I wish I could
have been a part of it, but they did a great job again of picking right up and
rolling along.” John Skelton relieved Kolb last Sunday and threw three touchdown
passes as the Cardinals rallied to beat the 49ers 21-19. Arizona has won three
in a row and five of six. A victory Sunday would even the Cardinals season
record at 7-7 with two games to play. ’ ’ ’
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