Brown paces Celtics

PORTLAND – Dee Brown scored 17 of his team-high 24 points in the final 9:41 of the game to lead the Boston Celtics to a 117-113 victory over the Atlanta Hawks in NBA preseason action at the Cumberland County Civic Center Thursday night.

Brown literally took over the game in the final five minutes. His poke-check steal of Atlanta guard Rumeal Robinson from behind resulted in an easy breakaway slam for himself (thanks to a feed from Ken Battle), tying the game at 103 with 4:40 to play.

Brown then intercepted a Ronnie Coleman pass, dribbled up court, and fed Rick Fox for a three-pointer from the top of the key that gave Boston a 106-103 edge and brought the capacity crowd of 7,810 to its feet.

With the Celts leading 108-105, Brown buried a three-pointer from the left wing after working the two-man game with Xavier McDaniel (16 points). The bomb put Boston up 111-105.

The Hawks got back to within two (111-109), but Fox tipped in a miss, Battle made a steal in the frontcourt, and Brown drove the lane for a layup to ice it.

Boston improved to 2-1 in preseason play.

Atlanta, which got 33 points from Dominque Wilkins, slipped to 2-2.

“That’s my game, I get going from my defense,” is how Brown, the 6-foot-2 third-year guard, assessed his performance, which featured six steals. “Maine fans know basketball. They know when you’re playing hard (defense). Once we turned it up in the fourth quarter they got into it. We started getting points off our defense.”

Reggie Lewis, who scored 15 points but sat out crunch time nursing a sore knee, said Brown’s performance was good to see.

“Dee showed he can take over a game when he has to,” said Lewis, the newly elected Celtics captain. “That takes the pressure off me.”

Atlanta Coach Bob Weiss came away impressed with Boston’s halfcourt trap, which Celtics Coach Chris Ford instituted in the fourth period. The press created eight Atlanta turnovers, which translated to 10 Boston points.

“They executed very well,” said Weiss. “Their halfcourt trap hurt us. We didn’t react well.”

Atlanta led 85-80 with 1:10 left in the third period. In addition to Wilkins, the Hawks got a strong effort from guard Stacey Augmon (21 points). They simply couldn’t handle the Celtics’ pressure.

Boston took a 59-58 lead into the locker room at intermission after the kind of first half only someone obsessed with the NBA or a Celtics-starved fan from Maine could love.

The starting unit of Lewis, Kevin Gamble, Robert Parish, Sherman Douglas and McDaniel broke hot from the tap. Boston led 12-4 after three minutes, 16-6 after five minutes, and 26-12 after seven.

Gamble buried his first four perimeter shots. Parish scored six on a couple of inside feeds from Douglas for layins and two free throws. Lewis added six, and McDaniel tossed in an 18-footer and laid in a lead pass from Douglas.

What was impressive was the Hawks’ difficulty in matching the unit. McDaniel at 6-7 found himself being defended by the 7-foot Willis. McDaniel made the big man pay by stripping him once, producing two points on the other end, and consistently beating him down the floor.

Ford began mixing and matching units, but the Celts still led by 14 with 6:43 left in the half (49-35). At that point, Ford stumbled on a unit that didn’t click – Brown and Douglas in the backcourt, Fox, the 6-6 Battle, and the Chief up front.

Fox ended up guarding Wilkins, and the Atlanta All-Star responded by torching him for 12 of his 20 first-half points over the final 5:21 of the period.

Wilkins and Augmon (13 points) fueled the 12-2 burst that pulled the Hawks within 53-51 with 2:10 to play.

At that juncture, Brown took a backdoor alley-oop from Douglas and slammed it home to wake the crowd back up.

Augmon hit a 3-point play.

McDaniel swished a 15-footer.

Wilkins scored from the paint.

McDaniel answered with a spin move finger roll.

And Blair Rasmussen closed the half by rebounding a Wilkins miss.

The teams combined for 21 turnovers. Both teams shot 56 percent from the floor, attesting as much to the lack of defensive continuity (and intensity) as great offense.