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Bobcats top Celtics

Nov 14, 2013 - 4:20 AM Boston, MA (SportsNetwork.com) - Al Jefferson poured in a team-high 22 points to go with 11 rebounds and three steals to lead the Charlotte Bobcats to a 89-83 win over the Boston Celtics on Wednesday.

Gerald Henderson finished with 13 points, nine rebounds and five assists and Jeff Taylor added 12 points off the bench for the Bobcats, who had dropped their last two games entering the contest.

"We started yesterday in practice and continued this morning through shootaround. I didn't know if we'd win, but I think I told these guys before the game I thought we would play well because we had the right attitude, and I thought we played with that," said Bobcats head coach Steve Clifford. "Things didn't go our way, there were some tough breaks, and guys just kept going through it."

Jeff Green scored 19 points and Jordan Crawford added 16 points and six assists for the Celtics, snapping a four-game winning streak.

"They were just quicker to the basketball all night, in every which way. I thought they did a great job right out of the gate establishing a tone of the way the game was going to be played and it was hard for us to manage that as we moved forward," said Celtics head coach Brad Stevens.

Charlotte raced out to an 18-8 lead midway through the first quarter and never looked back.

The Celtics pulled within four, 22-18, following a Kris Humphries free throw, but a three-point play from Ramon Sessions and a Taylor slam helped the Bobcats take a 27-21 lead after the first 12 minutes.

Charlotte extended it lead to as many as 16 just four minutes into the second and owned a 51-43 lead at the break despite shooting just 28 percent (7- for-25) from the field throughout the frame.

The Bobcats' lead swelled to double digits once again after Henderson's jumper at the 8:11 mark, but the Celtics rallied to pull within three, 67-64, following a Courtney Lee jumper. The Bobcats scored the final four points of the quarter for a 71-64 lead heading into the final period.

Boston traded shots with the Charlotte until Crawford's three-point play with 32 seconds left made it a two-point game, but The Bobcats clamped down and scored the final four points of the contest to seal the win.

Game Notes

Charlotte shot just 36.6 percent (30-for-82) from the field but went 26-for-30 (86.7 percent) from the free throw line ... Bobcats point guard Kemba Walker netted just three points on a dismal 1-for-3 shooting from the floor ... Gerald Wallace and Lee finished with 10 points apiece and rookie Kelly Olynyk pulled down 11 rebounds for the Celtics ... Boston shot 37.7 percent (29- for-77) from the field.