Tuesday, November 30, 2004
Celtics 117, Magic 101
ORLANDO, Fla. -- Doc Rivers got his team back on track while gaining a measure of revenge on his old squad, and Boston snapped a four-game losing streak.
The Magic fired Rivers a year ago, after four-plus seasons, when the team stumbled out to a 1-10 start. Rivers, the NBA's coach of the year in 2001, had a 171-168 record with three trips to the playoffs.
Paul Pierce scored 24 points, leading seven players in double figures, as the Celtics enjoyed their best offensive performance of the season. Marcus Banks added a season-high 20 off the bench for Boston, which shot 47 percent and made 26 of 31 free throws.
Hedo Turkoglu scored 17 points and Kelvin Cato had his first double-double with 14 points and 12 rebounds for the Magic. Steve Francis and Grant Hill, who entered the game combining for better than 40 points, collectively shot 10-of-30 for 25.
Nuggets 76, Hornets 67
DENVER -- Earl Boykins scored 22 points to help Denver overcome the absence of Carmelo Anthony.
The Nuggets won for the sixth time in seven games, but struggled mightily against the Hornets, who came into the final stop of a five-game road trip with the league's worst record and without Jamaal Magloire, Baron Davis, Rodney Rogers and Jamal Mashburn.
Lee Nailon scored 16 points for the Hornets, who missed 13 of 17 shots in the fourth quarter and went scoreless for seven minutes down the stretch, a period that saw their one-point lead turn into an eight-point deficit.
David West ended the drought with a layup at the 1:08 mark. The bucket helped the Hornets avoid matching the lowest point total in their 16-year history.
Associated Press