Celtics defeats Wizards 104-95 in NBA preseason exhibition

Associated Press, Boston

Paul Pierce scored 31 and Antoine Walker had 13 with nine assists as the Celtics beat Washington 104-95, giving the Wizards just one win in three exhibition games played by Michael Jordan.

Jerry Stackhouse scored 36 and Jordan scored 14 points on 5- for-13 shooting with four assists in 23 minutes Friday night before leaving to a standing ovation with 1:23 left and the game out of reach.

The Celtics finished the preseason 4-4 and Washington fell to 5-3.

Elsewhere, Atlanta beat New Orleans 90-69; Milwaukee beat Cleveland 104-94; Minnesota trounced Indiana 111-76; San Antonio defeated Philadelphia 103-82; Phoenix beat Golden State 87-79; and Sacramento finished over the Lakers 93-88; as the teams wrapped up their preseason play.

Regular season games begin next week.

As is the plan for the regular season, Jordan did not start so that the Wizards can conserve his energy. The crowd began cheering as soon as Jordan got up to check in with 4:30 left in the first quarter, and flashbulbs went off and the crowd rose when he entered.

He made his first basket with 46.7 seconds left in the first to give Washington a 25-24 lead. Early in the second, he swatted a shot by Vin Baker.

But it wasn't until he checked in with 6:01 left in the game that he really started controlling the Washington offense. He hit a jumper with 5:08 left to cut Boston's lead to 90-85.

But Pierce hit a jumper at the other end, then Jordan fouled Tony Battie, and he sank both free throws to make it 96-85. Jordan went to the line at the other end and missed both free throws, and that was Washington's last chance to close the gap.

In Los Angeles, a brawl between the Lakers' Rick Fox and the Kings' Doug Christie marked the exhibition finale as Sacramento beat Los Angeles 93-88.

Fox and Christie fought in the tunnel leading to the locker room after they were ejected in the first quarter. Neither player appeared seriously hurt.

Bobby Jackson scored 16 points for the Kings (6-2) and Scot Pollard had 14 points and 10 rebounds. Kobe Bryant led the Lakers (3-5) with 23 and Derek Fisher added 14.

Jackson's 3-point field goal with 8:44 left tied it 81-81, and Sacramento took the lead for good when Pollard sank a hook with 5:07 left.

In East Rutherford, New Jersey, Richard Jefferson scored 23 points and wowed the home fans with two dunks on lob passes from Jason Kidd as the Nets completed a 6-1 preseason with a 106-77 rout of the New York Knicks.

Aaron Williams added nine of his 15 points during a 21-4 second-quarter run, and Kidd had nine points, six assists and three steals for the Eastern Conference champions.

Shandon Anderson had 18 points to lead the Knicks (4-4), who had swingman Latrell Sprewell on the bench in street clothes for the first time in the preseason. Sprewell was allowed to rejoin the team after being banished for most of camp.

Sprewell, whose failure to report a broken hand led to $437,000 in fines and lost salary from a one-game suspension, is not expected to be ready to play for about another two weeks.

In Phoenix, Shawn Marion scored 19 points, including 11 during a decisive 20-3 run in the first quarter, and rookie Amare Stoudemire had another impressive performance to lead the Suns to an 87-79 victory over the Golden State Warriors.

Marion also finished with 15 rebounds. Dan Langhi added 14 points and 16 rebounds for the Suns (5-3), and Joe Johnson scored 15 points.

Gilbert Arenas topped the Warriors (3-5) with 28 points, but he also had 10 turnovers. Jason Richardson had 15 points and Adonal Foyle had 15 rebounds.

The heralded Stoudemire, the only high school player chosen in this year's draft, made his first start and finished with 19 points, including an alley-oop slam on a dazzling pass from Marion. Stoudemire also made all nine of his free throws.

In San Antonio, Tim Duncan had 17 points and 17 rebounds, leading the Spurs to a 103-82 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers.

Tony Parker added 17 points for the Spurs (5-3) while Malik Rose had 12, Stephen Jackson 11 and David Robinson 11. Steve Kerr, 3-for-3 from the 3-point line, scored 11.

Allen Iverson had 26 points for the 76ers (3-5), including 16 in the first half.

In Los Angeles, rookie center Dan Gadzuric scored 19 points and pulled down nine rebounds to lead the Milwaukee Bucks to a 104-95 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Michael Redd and Tim Thomas added 16 points each for the Bucks (4-3).

Darius Miles led the Cavaliers (2-5) with 33 points and 11 rebounds. Ricky Davis had 17 points and Jumaine Jones scored 16.