Final
Gomes, Celtics top Knicks for third straight win
Nov 19, 2006 - 3:49 AM NEW YORK (Ticker) -- Ryan Gomes continues to be overlooked and he likes it that way.Gomes recorded a double-double and Paul Pierce scored 39 points as the Boston Celtics used numerous runs to post a wild 122-118 victory over the New York Knicks for their third straight win.
Wally Szczerbiak added 20 points for the Celtics, who shot 43 percent (33-of-77) from the field and were 50-of-63 from the foul line in winning their third straight game.
Despite the victory, Boston had spells of porous defense, poor shooting and unforced turnovers. However, coach Doc Rivers said he will use it as a learning tool.
"That was a crazy game, right?" Rivers said. "They were trying to find ways to keep it interesting at the end and obviously we got a film of mistakes that we can show our guys.
"But at the end of the day we won the game and I got to use a joke that I've had saved up for some time. The website is back up - www.threeinarow.com, it's about time, it's been down for a whole year."
A Connecticut native, Gomes was not recruited by Hall of Fame Huskies coach Jim Calhoun and ended up an All-American at Providence. However, despite his college success, Gomes was just a second-round draft pick.
"(Ryan) Gomes is a great scorer. He's always in the right place," Pierce said. "He drives to the hole, he's regularly available and he cleans things on the offensive glass. That's (Ryan) Gomes.
"He's a guy who doesn't really demand the ball, but he's a guy who can get the job done. He finds the holes, and even though he's only 6-7 he can get rebounds too. He comes up big every night."
On Saturday, the 24-year-old forward scored 22 points and grabbed 14 rebounds, scoring eight points in a 21-2 third-quarter run.
"Not a pretty game. There was a lot of fouls being called. That means both teams were attacking," Gomes said. "We both came off back-to-backs. We played at home (Friday), they played at Miami.
"We came out and it was a hard-fought game. It didn't seem like both teams had a game the night before but when you look at the stat sheet and fouls and you could see a lot of guys were worn down."
Pierce was 10-of-23 from the floor and 18-of-22 from the line.
Trailing, 85-65, with 3 1/2 minutes left in the third quarter, the Knicks fought back and took a brief 101-100 lead with 4:22 remaining in the game on Stephon Marbury's second-effort layup.
Jamal Crawford scored 37 points for New York, which shot just 40 percent (34-of-86) and had its two-game winning streak snapped.
"They got out and we got behind," Knicks coach Isiah Thomas said. "We just never got back into the game. When we did get back into the game, we just couldn't seem to get a break."
With the game slipping away in the fourth quarter, Thomas was ejected after arguing a foul call with 2:15 remaining in the game. However, the New York coach and team president focused on the Knicks' inability to neutralize the Celtics' quicker players.
"We're at home and it speaks for itself," Thomas said. "Boston was a lot better at playing small than we were. They were just better than we were and you have to give them credit."
New York went on a 10-0 spurt to start the game, but the Celtics responded with a 16-1 outburst. In the final period, the Knicks used a 20-5 run to cut their deficit to 90-85 with 11:03 remaining.
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