Boston incites New York early and ends up paying for it as its seven-game winning streak is snapped.

01:00 AM EST on Thursday, March 24, 2005

BY DAN HICKLING
Special to the Journal

NEW YORK -- For every runaway bandwagon, there's always a screeching halt waiting just around the bend.

The Boston Celtics' recent impressive roll was rudely interrupted last night when they were handed an ugly, sometimes contentious, beating by the New York Knickerbockers, 107-82, before 19,763 at Madison Square Garden.

The Celtics had been gunning for their eighth straight win -- and their 12th in 13 starts -- a run that has seen them transform themselves from also-rans to champions-apparent in the NBA's Atlantic Division.

Instead, they suffered just their

second defeat in the Antoine Walker II Era, and to a team scrapping just to keep its slim playoff hopes alive.

"They played a little over their heads tonight," said Walker. "But we've got to be prepared for that. When you play a team in a different situation than you, they're going to play a little harder. You've got to give them a lot of credit."

The Celtics' big guns fired blanks almost all night, with Paul Pierce the worst offender.

Pierce netted just five points, and attempted just five shots all night.

"I'll take the blame for this one," said the Celtic captain. "I didn't give us the best chance of winning."

There was plenty of blame to spread around.

Walker accounted for a team-high 13 points, the only Celtic to reach double figures, but hit on just 5 of 20 attempts from the floor in the process.

New York, by contrast, had six scorers with 10 or more points, topped by Jamal Crawford with 21.

In fact the Celtic starting five was outscored by their understudies, 44-38.

"I thought we ignited them (the Knicks)," said Celtics coach Doc Rivers, referring to the numerous verbal barbs the teams traded in the early minutes. "We came out running our mouths and acted like a low-class basketball team. We didn't show them any respect. I thought the first two minutes, our guys were ready to play. This is a team excited about a winning streak not acting like a winning team."

That was evident in the first half, which found the Celts searching in vain for even a semblance of rhythm, especially at the offensive end.

The matter was made tougher after both Pierce and Raef LaFrentz picked up two first-quarter fouls and had to sit for long stretches.

"That hurts our ball club when I am not out there on the floor being productive for the team," said Pierce.

Add to that Walker's 1-for-8 showing from the field, and what began as a 10-4 Boston lead quickly dissolved into a 31-22 deficit.

Matters showed signs of improvement early in the second quarter when rookie Al Jefferson dropped in five points to help Boston creep back to within two, 35-33.

But New York immediately took off on an explosive 19-1 jaunt, rolling up a 20-point lead, 54-34, with 3:47 to play in the half.

That span was punctuated by a Crawford's gaudy, underhanded toss off the backboard and ensuing jam, which would have drawn high marks in a slam-dunk competition.

"They played harder than us," said Rivers. "They wanted the game more. They absolutely outplayed us and outcoached us, and they deserved to win the game. You could see they knew how important this game was."

Boston chipped away, and by halftime had managed to come back to within a dozen, 56-44.

The Celts then closed to within nine points, 70-61, with 2:27 to play in the third quarter.

But they were unable to muster any momentum, and by the end of the quarter New York had build its lead back to 17, signalling the beginning of garbage time and the end of the Celtics' winning streak.

"They took it to us," said LaFrentz. "We just didn't respond."