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Celtics hold off Warriors

Mar 5, 2011 - 4:42 AM Boston, MA (Sports Network) - Paul Pierce and Ray Allen both scored 27 points and the Boston Celtics held off Golden State, 107-103, for their fourth straight win.

Jeff Green had his best game since joining the Celtics last week, as he posted 21 points on 8-of-11 shooting off the bench. Rajon Rondo contributed 16 assists and five steals for Boston, a winner in seven of its last eight contests.

Monta Ellis totaled 41 points for the Warriors, losers in five of their last six contests. David Lee tallied 26 points and 12 rebounds for Golden State, which came within one late in the fourth quarter after facing an 18-point deficit in the third.

Pierce was instrumental in helping Boston hold off Golden State's charge. Ellis canned consecutive three-pointers, capping eight straight points for the visitors and pulling the Warriors within 100-99 with 3 1/2 minutes left. Pierce then drained a jumper from the left side and hit the subsequent foul shot to give Boston some breathing room.

Golden State suffered down the stretch, committing six turnovers in the final quarter, including a big one from Stephen Curry.

"You can't turn it over, especially not in crunch time, you can't turn the ball over because this team is going to capitalize," Warriors coach Keith Smart said. "We got two, three guys who are going to capitalize on those things. And they got a great little point guard who's going to understand the flow of the game. But we're a young team and we're growing, and hopefully one day, we'll be in that position where our big three and big four can help us close games the way this team here does."

A dunk from Dorell Wright had the Warriors within 103-101, and after Rondo missed a jumper, Golden State had a chance to tie. Curry dribbled along the left baseline, but his bounce pass toward the lane went awry, and Pierce converted a layup at the other end with 1 1/2 minutes left.

A jam from Lee with 37.1 seconds left again had the margin at two, but Golden State failed to get a rebound after Kevin Garnett's jumper kicked off the heel of the rim. Allen, instead, raced in to corral the ball, was fouled and drained both from the charity stripe with 12 seconds left to seal the win.

Lee scored 14 in the opening quarter, but Allen's 10 helped the hosts to a 32-27 edge after 12 minutes. It was 64-53 at the half and Boston attained its largest lead at 79-61 on a Pierce layup midway through the third. The Warriors trimmed the difference to 88-81 heading to the fourth.

"We thought we had the game in hand, even when it was close, you could still see it," Celtics coach Doc Rivers said. "We won the game so you take the win. The only thing I told our team after the game was that when we have a lead, our starters have to come out and really play the same way. Because they're putting a lot of pressure on that second group who...they don't know many plays. If you can give them a cushion, it would be nice. And I didn't think we did that in the third quarter."

Game Notes

Celtics guard Von Wafer departed in the first half with strained right calf muscle...Ellis has recorded 40 or more points four times this season...The home team has won eight of the last nine meetings...Boston's Glen Davis (strained patella, left knee) didn't play...Nenad Krstic had 11 points for Boston, while Wright netted 11 for Golden State.