Pierce's steal in final minute seals it

Updated: Dec 14, 2003, 11:32 am

CLEVELAND (AP) -- One on one when it counted most, Paul Pierce

stopped LeBron James cold.

Pierce scored a season-high 41 points and stole the ball from

James in the closing seconds to help the Boston Celtics win their

fifth straight game, 105-98 over the Cleveland Cavaliers on

Saturday night.

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James scored a season-high 37, but Cleveland's rookie star

missed a 3-pointer in the last two minutes and was stripped by

Pierce with 13.9 seconds to go and the Cavs down by four.

"He had it going all night," Pierce said. "So I wanted to

challenge him. It was me and him, and I had the opportunity at the

crucial moment in the game."

Boston has won 12 in a row over Cleveland.

Pierce, who scored 33 points in a win over Toronto on Friday

night, added nine rebounds and six assists -- his biggest a feed to

a wide-open Jiri Welsch, whose 3-pointer from the corner with 1:19

remaining made it 100-94.

"We were concentrating on Paul, Jiri hadn't made a shot all

night," James said. "He's a great shooter. He was bound to make

one."

After Carlos Boozer made two free throws for Cleveland, James,

who earlier this season became the youngest player in NBA history

to score 30 points, scored on a drive to make it 100-98.

A pair of free throws put the Celtics back up by four, and on

Cleveland's next possession, Pierce swiped the ball from James and

was fouled with 12.5 seconds left.

"He got me," James said. "I was trying to go around him, but

with his long arms, he just picked me."

Boston coach Jim O'Brien said Pierce asked to guard James down

the stretch."

"Paul wanted to play LeBron, and we let him do it," O'Brien

said. "We generally try not to have Paul on their top scorer until

late, and that's when we're willing to expend the energy of Paul

Pierce -- when the game is on the line."

Pierce, who went 16-of-18 from the foul line, made one of two

free throws and Boozer and James missed shots for Cleveland in the

final 10 seconds as the Cavaliers lost for the eighth time in 11

games.

Afterward, Pierce, who refused to leave in the final few minutes

with a calf injury, had high praise for James.

"He's a spectacular rookie," Pierce said. "I've never seen

anything like him in my six years."

Vin Baker added 16 points and Mike James had 13 and nine assists

for the Celtics, who were outrebounded 50-32 but grabbed five

offensive boards in the final five minutes.

Darius Miles had 24 points, and Boozer added 17 and 15 rebounds

for Cleveland, which couldn't find a way to stop -- or even slow

down -- Pierce.

"It seemed like every time he got the ball, he was either at

the free-throw line of making a tough shot," Boozer said. "The

guys that guarded him did a heck of a job, and every shot he took

was a tough shot. He's a great player and he made great shots."

For the second straight game, James drove to the basket without

hesitation. He went 16-of-18 from the line -- both team highs this

season -- and had just two turnovers in 45 minutes.

"He's figuring it out," Cavs coach Paul Silas said. "He's

attacking the hoop, making the contact and knocking down his free

throws. Before, he wasn't that comfortable going to the line. He

put on a good show tonight."

Pierce's 15 points in the third enabled the Celtics to take a

84-76 lead into the fourth.

Miles scored seven straight points to bring the Cavs within

69-66, but Pierce, using every move in his repertoire, scored 13 in

the final 4:58 of the period.

Although they rarely matched up against each other early on,

Pierce and James waged a little one-on-one scoring battle, getting

20 points apiece in the first half as the Celtics took a 59-48

halftime lead.Game notes
Pierce, who has 15 career 40-point games, is the only NBA

player leading his team in average, points and assists. ... Silas

has banned rap music in the Cavs' locker room right before games.

"I can't stand that stuff," Silas said. "Those guys need to

concentrate on the game." ... The Celtics placed F/C Raef LaFrentz

on the injured list with tendinitis in his right knee. This is the

second time LaFrentz has been sidelined this season. Boston

activated C Kendrick Perkins. ... The Cavs, whose 33-game road

losing is the third-longest in history, play at Indiana on Monday

night.