Celtics 101, Knicks 89
Kevin Garnett had 26 points and nine rebounds and Rajon Rondo had 21 points and 12 assists as the visiting Boston Celtics finished off a four-game sweep of the host New York Knicks with a 101-89 victory on Sunday.
Glen Davis and Ray Allen added 14 points apiece for third-seeded Boston, which led by as many as 23 points before New York rallied to within four points in the final quarter.
Carmelo Anthony had 32 points and nine rebounds and Amar’e Stoudemire had 19 points and 12 rebounds for the sixth-seeded Knicks.
Boston will face the winner of the Miami-Philadelphia series in the Eastern Conference semifinals.
Boston led 55-38 at halftime and was still in control with Davis’ basket providing a 74-54 lead midway through the third quarter. New York finished the quarter with an 18-8 run and eventually pulled to within 84-80 on a basket by Anthony Carter with 7:33 remaining.
Paul Pierce (13 points) and Rondo followed with back-to-back hoops and Boston pushed the lead back to 10 at 95-85 on Garnett’s basket with 4:11 to play.
New York shot just 23.4 percent from the field in the first half. Stoudemire, playing with a bad back, missed his first nine shots before scoring on a three-point play 36 seconds before halftime.
New York’s Chauncey Billups missed his third straight game with a knee injury suffered in Game 1.