"My gas was high," Garnett said. "You play the best in the league, you can't go in with low gas. You have to go in with high octane. I fed off this building. These fans in here were like the spark plug. That was it. I didn't think about nothing I was doing.
"I had open shots. I took them at times. When I thought I hesitated, I missed them. In the fourth quarter, I went for it."
Said Celtics forward James Posey: "Everybody jumped on his back and he carried us to a win."
Garnett made 11 of 15 shots and had 9 rebounds, 3 assists, and 3 blocks in 35 minutes. The 6-foot-11-inch, 220-pounder also played a role in limiting Yao Ming (7-6, 310 pounds) to 2 points on 1-for-3 shooting and two rebounds in the fourth quarter.
"Yao Ming definitely didn't want to come out and guard [Garnett], and we took advantage of the matchup," said Pierce, who had 19 points, 6 rebounds, and 7 assists.
Said Houston coach Rick Adelman: "I've com peted against Garnett many times. I know what kind of player he is. I know what kind of impact he can have on a team."
Boston finished the first quarter with a 30-16 lead after shooting 53.2 percent. The Celtics went into halftime with a 53-42 advantage after leading by as many as 20 points. Yao had only 6 points on 2-of-11 shooting through two quarters.
"I hurt the team by shooting only 2 of 11 on field goals," said Yao, who finished with 19 points on 7-of-20 shooting and 13 rebounds.
Yao, however, scored 11 points on 4-of-6 shooting in the third quarter as Houston trimmed its deficit to 76-68.
The Rockets opened the fourth quarter with an 11-2 run to take a 79-78 lead on a 3-point play by Rafer Alston. It was Houston's first lead since 7-6. By the 8:30 mark of the fourth quarter, Celtics centers Kendrick Perkins and Scot Pollard (season-high 10 points) had fouled out. From that point, Garnett had to defend Yao. But Yao also had to guard Garnett.
