ssession. That put the Pistons up by 2

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NEW YORK -- The New York Knicks are heading to Boston, then perhaps finally back to the second round. The once-mighty Celtics dont seem capable of stopping them. Carmelo Anthony scored 34 points, Sixth Man of the Year J.R. Smith added 19, and New York opened a 2-0 lead over Boston with another dominant second half in an 87-71 victory on Tuesday night. Raymond Felton added 16 points for the Knicks, who used a 27-4 run spanning halftime to blow it open and move halfway to their first series victory since the 2000 Eastern Conference semifinals. This is their first 2-0 lead since sweeping Toronto in the first round that year. "For us, we know what type of team we are," Anthony said. "We know when we really buckle down on the defensive end, its been hard for teams." Its been brutally difficult for Boston. Paul Pierce scored 18 points for the Celtics, who will host Game 3 on Friday in their first home game since the Boston Marathon bombings. They will have to be much sharper to avoid their first opening-round elimination since 2005, before they became one of the NBAs power teams again. "We have to figure out the offensive side of the ball and not be so stagnated," Bostons Kevin Garnett said. "Figure out ways to score more often." Garnett had 12 points and 11 rebounds, but battled foul trouble and spent too much time walking back to the bench with a raucous Madison Square Garden crowd finally experiencing playoff success again hounding him every step of the way. Plagued by turnovers in Game 1, when they managed eight points in the decisive fourth quarter, the Celtics watched it all fall apart 12 minutes earlier this time. They managed only 23 points after halftime, two fewer than in their 85-78 loss Saturday. "I thought we attacked them in the first half, but they hung in there," Celtics coach Doc Rivers said. "They didnt let us throw a knockout punch and I thought in the second half they turned that on us and they threw a knockout punch. Several." Anthony followed his 36-point opener by making 8 of 13 shots in the second half to finish 11 of 24 for the game. He had said the Knicks needed to treat the game as a "must-win," aware of the difficulty of winning in Boston on Friday with the emotional boost the Celtics will get from finally being home. They showed that mentality after halftime, outscoring Boston 32-11 in the third quarter. "I think guys know whats at stake. We dont have to talk about it," veteran forward Kenyon Martin said. "Guys know what its about right now and its about winning a championship." Iman Shumpert drilled two 3-pointers to open the third and tie it before Pierce scored to give Boston its last lead at 50-48. The Knicks scored 18 of the next 20 points, with the Celtics getting just two free throws from Jeff Green over the next 5-plus minutes. Anthonys jumper with 4:25 remaining in the third capped the run before Garnett finally gave Boston its second basket of the quarter 10 seconds later The Celtics missed 10 of their first 11 shots of the third while getting outscored 24-4 to open the period. "I thought in that third quarter we were as good as weve been all year in terms of ball movement and pushing it and making shots," Knicks coach Mike Woodson said. The Celtics vowed to get Garnett more involved after he shot 4 of 12 while scoring eight points in the opener. But that plan was quickly wrecked when he picked up two fouls in the first 3 minutes, 20 seconds. The Celtics shook it off and led 20-15 when Jason Terry made a 3-pointer with 1:57 left for his first basket of the series. But the Knicks scored 11 straight to end the period. Smith, recognized before the game for the award he won Monday, kept the celebration going with five points in the final 6.8 seconds, hitting a 36-footer at the buzzer with Celtics all over him to make it 26-20. The Celtics quickly settled down again, ripping off an 11-0 run to take a 31-27 lead on another 3-pointer by Terry. The lead later grew to eight when Pierce made a jumper, then fired a lob pass that travelled about three-quarters of the court to a streaking Green. They led 48-39, gave up the last three points of the half -- and probably never realized they gave away momentum for good with it. "We made a good run in the first half, we played our style of basketball," Terry said. "But in the second half we definitely got away from what gave us success." Notes: Amare Stoudemire still hopes to return from right knee surgery for the second round if the Knicks advance. He hopes to be running full speed soon so he can see how the knee responds to the additional work. ... NBA TVs analysts have made their post-season awards picks, and former Knicks coach and president Isiah Thomas chose Woodson, his friend and former Indiana University teammate. "Thats good, but I mean, again, Im not in this for Coach of the Year, Im in to try to see if we can get this team to the championship round to try to win a title," Woodson said. "If that happens, it happens, but Im not sitting here holding my breath about a Coach of the Year award." Woodson added that he and Thomas are friends and talk all the time. nfl jerseys cheap . A-Rod is also disqualified from any post-season play. So at the tender age of 38, he will miss all of next season. As a result of missing the coming season, hes also out $25 million (which coincidentally is my hourly rate). nfl jerseys wholesale . 1. Royals RHP Luke Hochevar, who beat the Blue Jays Thursday, has a 5.25 ERA despite a 1.30 WHIP. The ERA is eight-worst among qualfied major league starters, while his WHIP ranks 57th, right in the same range as Gio Gonzalez (2. http://www.nfljerseyschinaplay.com/. The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity Thursday because the team hasnt announced its plans.AUBURN HILLS, Mich. -- The Detroit Pistons are still one of the worst fourth-quarter teams in the NBA. Friday, they found a solution to the problem. Detroit dominated Brooklyn for two-and-a-half quarters, building a 29-point lead, then held on for dear life as the Nets cut the lead to single digits in the waning moments. Pistons coach Maurice Cheeks said after the game that he thinks his team has developed a mental block when it comes to holding leads down the stretch. "You can get one of those," he said. "Fortunately, we had a huge lead tonight, but that is still something we really need to work on. I think we need to win a couple games in the fourth quarter and find some confidence." Brooklyn trailed 96-63 heading into the fourth, but Detroits offence stalled yet again. Jason Kidd didnt play his starters at all in the final period, but Jason Terry hit a pair of 3-pointers and Mason Plumlee got open for three dunks to get the Nets within 102-92 with 1:57 to go. "We could not get a rebound or a stop, so I was trying to find guys who can play," Kidd said. "The guys who were out there playing continued to execute and we finally got some stops." Rodney Stuckey hit a 17-foot baseline jumper on Detroits next possession, then hit a pair of free throws to stave off a complete collapse. "We were bleeding at that point, so we really needed those points," Cheeks said. "We stopped pushing the ball in the fourth, and they started making shots, so that made it even harder to run." Brandon Jennings made a run at a rare quadruple double, and could have had a regular triple-double if he had managed a single second-half assist. He finished with 26 points, 10 rebounds, nine assists and eight turnovers. Andre Drummond added 16 points and 22 rebounds, even hitting two free throws with 36.5 seconds to go after missing his first six attempts. Josh Smith had with 23 points, eight rebounds, seven assists and four blocks before leaving the game with 4:39 to play. Cheeks said Smith twisted his ankle, but the team wasnt sure of the severity. The Nets were resting Kevin Garnett, and the starting lineup struggled badly, combining for just 442 points.dddddddddddd Terry led the team with 18, all in the second half, while Plumlee also got his 10 points after halftime. Joe Johnson added 16 as the one bright spot among Brooklyns starters. "We knew what we had to do against them -- rebound and get back in transition defence," Nets point guard Deron Williams said. "We just werent ready to play tonight. Our energy wasnt there, our effort wasnt there and they seemed to have another gear than we did." With Garnett on the bench, the Nets had no answer for Detroit inside. When the Pistons werent feeding Drummond, Smith and Greg Monroe in the post, Stuckey and Jennings were driving to the basket with ease. Brooklyns struggles peaked early in the second quarter when Smith was swooping in for a fast-break dunk and Mirza Teletovic swiped at the ball, but caught Smith in the face. Teletovic was given a flagrant foul, giving Smith two chances to make one free throw to complete the three-point play. He made it on the second try and Detroit kept the ball because of the flagrant foul. Chauncey Billups, playing for the first time since Jan. 10, sent a behind-the-back pass to set up Drummond for an easy dunk and a five-point possession. That put the Pistons up by 20, and they were ahead 67-44 at the intermission. The Nets, who were outshot 62 per cent to 31 per cent in the half, didnt get much better in the third quarter, with a series of turnovers leading to Detroit fast breaks. At that point, the Pistons seemed in complete control, but that just isnt the way they play. "Once a team cuts it to 20, that should get your attention," Billups said. "Thats when you should kick back into a more focused gear." NOTES: The Pistons announced before the game that reserve forward Josh Harrellson will be sidelined until after the All-Star break with a slight tear of his left meniscus. ... Kidd was the last NBA player to reach double figures in points, assists, rebounds and turnovers in the same game, doing it for Phoenix in 2000. ... Will Bynum did not play after getting into an argument with Cheeks during Detroits last game. Cheeks said he simply wanted to get Billups back into the rotation. ' ' '