and tips." Countering Quick will be Carey Price – who

BOSTON - After the Celtics watched promising rookie Marcus Smart go down with a frightening injury, Jeff Green preserved their victory with the biggest rebound of the night.Bostons lead was down to one when Avery Bradley missed a jumper with about 6 seconds remaining, plenty of time for the short-handed Pacers to take it the other way for a potential game-winner. All that was in Indianas way was Green, perfectly positioned in the lane to pluck the ball out of the air, draw a foul and sink two free throws that sealed a 101-98 win Friday night.That was a great play, Boston coach Brad Stevens said. He kept his position off of a cut, which allowed him to get the offence rebound.Green finished with 15 points and seven rebounds, and Jared Sullinger led Bostons fourth-quarter push by scoring 11 of his 17 points in the final period.It was Bostons first victory since beating Brooklyn in the season opener, but the celebration was tempered by Smarts injury.Smart was carted to the locker room after crashing to the floor on a hard foul as he drove to the basket with 11:07 left. Smart never got up and his teammates gathered around as medical personnel attended to the injury. Boston fans chanted Smarts name and gave the guard a standing ovation as he was taken off on a gurney with his left leg elevated.It was very difficult. You hate to see a teammate go down, especially when hes playing well, Green said. That game was for him. We had to win it for him.Stevens said he was waiting on X-rays to see whether Smart sprained his ankle or broke it. After taking the speedy Oklahoma State guard with the sixth overall pick in the draft, the Celtics were collectively hoping it was a sprain.You think about how he feels. Your team is clearly affected by it because they care about him, which is a good sign, Stevens said. And then you have to go play and thats hard.Kelly Olynyk scored 12 points and Bradley had 11 for Boston.The Pacers (1-5) dressed only 10 players and used nine of them while losing their fifth straight, matching Indianas worst start since opening 1-5 in 1996-97.Roy Hibbert had 22 points and 11 rebounds for the Pacers. Chris Copeland scored 17, Donald Sloan added 15 and Luis Scola finished with 11 points and eight rebounds.In the past we were able to close out games. Weve just got to learn how to do that again with a whole new group of people, Hibbert said. You kind of take that for granted sometimes — to be able to have closers out there. But I believe in this group of guys. We have to turn it around.Despite the depleted lineup, Indiana rallied from a 13-point deficit in the first half and held a 75-73 lead after three quarters. Boston opened the next period with a 9-2 run and made 10 of its first 14 shots in the fourth, taking the lead for good at 79-77 on Sullingers jumper.The Pacers stayed within range down the stretch and had a chance to pull ahead after Rajon Rondo missed a putback attempt with Boston up 97-96. Sloan drove for a layup that missed and Bradley pulled down the rebound with 19 seconds to play.After a timeout, Bradley missed his jumper but Green was there for the clutch rebound.___TIP-INSPacers: Indiana has six players out with injuries. C.J. Miles became the latest one when he was scratched before the game because of a migraine. Miles, Rodney Stuckey (sore left foot) and David West (sprained right ankle) were all on the active roster but not available to play.Celtics: After committing 28 turnovers Wednesday in a loss to Toronto, the Celtics were considerably better at protecting the ball. Boston had no turnovers in the first quarter, three in the first half and 12 in the game.___CENTURY MARKThe Celtics topped 100 points for the first time since beating Brooklyn 121-105 in their opener. Boston also had its best defensive game, holding an opponent under 100 points for the first time. The Celtics had allowed at least 104 points in their first four games.___PESKY PACERSBoston took a 55-42 lead with 2:50 left in the second quarter, but Indiana closed the half on a 10-0 run and scored the first seven points of the third period to take a 59-57 lead. Indiana led 75-73 entering the fourth, but could not hold off the Celtics down the stretch.___UP NEXTPacers: At home against Washington on Saturday night.Celtics: At the Chicago Bulls on Saturday night. Hakeem Butler Cardinals Jersey . And former Maple Leafs coach Ron Wilson certainly knows his pain. "Its pretty hard to coach there without allowing some of these things to kind of affect you," Wilson told TSN Hockey Insider Pierre LeBrun in his ESPN. David Johnson Jersey . Viewers in the Canadiens region can watch the game on TSN Habs at 7:30pm et/8:30pm at. http://www.nflcardinalsrookiestore.com/Cardinals-Andy-Isabella-Jersey/ . Even if he is shooting 38 per cent from the field overall this season, the Utah Jazz rookie always feels like his final shot is going in. Byron Murphy Jersey . LOUIS -- Known for his game-managing and defensive skills, Yadier Molina made another statement with his bat. Larry Fitzgerald Jersey . Toronto has lost six of its last eight games but is coming off Thursdays 7-3 victory at Kansas City. Juan Francisco and Colby Rasmus both went deep for the Blue Jays, who are second in the American League with 34 home runs on the season.SOCHI, Russia – If not quite the underdog, Drew Doughty believes, at the very least, that the Canadians are being overlooked, doubted and probably even overly dissected heading into Fridays semifinal matchup with the Americans. "I think a lot of people are counting us out," said Doughty. "If everyone wants to count us out, were going to use that as motivation." Doughty wouldnt go quite so far as to label Team Canada as the underdog, but its clear that the overwhelming degree of scrutiny has some members of the squad feeling as though theyve been doubted just a little too much. "We dont see ourselves as the underdog," Doughty said, the defender leading the Canadians with four goals. "I think both teams are really evenly matched. I dont know who Id give the upper hand to at this point. Im obviously more confident in my team than I am in theirs..." Like the Americans, Canada has yet to lose in these Olympics, but unlike their rivals to the south, they failed to exactly dominate in victory, scratching out close wins over the Norwegians (3-1), Finns (2-1 overtime) and Latvians (2-1), the last of which saw the two teams tied for most of the first 53 minutes of regulation. Head coach Mike Babcock has stressed that his team simply improves each and every day of the two-week tournament, pointing to Wednesdays struggle with the Latvians as a needed bit of adversity. Its evident, however, that the best of this Canadian team has yet to emerge. Whether it will in time for the 2010 gold medal game rematch remains in question. "Yeah were close," said Jonathan Toews after the quarterfinal win over Latvia, "not quite there yet though. Next game." Scoring concerns up front remain the most pressing issue. The Canadian forward contingent has combined for just six goals - or one more than Phil Kessel has all by himself here in Sochi - despite an overwhelming level of offensive talent. Wednesdays quarterfinal could be construed as a step in the right direction. Though they snuck just two by Kristers Gudlevskis, they managed nearly 60 shots and had numerous opportunities. Sidney Crosby, who had a breakaway in the opening minute, remains the most notable Canadian forward yet to score, but hes joined by Jonathan Toews, Corey Perry, Rick Nash, Patrick Marleau, Chris Kunitz, Martin St. Louis, Matt Duchene, and Patrice Bergeron – essentially everyone but Jeff Carter, Jamie Benn, Ryan Getzlaf and Patrick Sharp. Symmetry appears to finally be forming though. Unlike the previous four games, which saw thhe lines differ just about every night, Babcock will keep his forward combinations intact for the tilt against the Americans – save for the injured John Tavares (leg) – hopeful that theyll translate into actual production with elimination on the line.dddddddddddd "You can talk scoring chances till youre blue in the face, who cares? The score is on the board, and so weve just got to find a way to keep doing what were doing," said Babcock. "I think we like the fact that were getting a lot of chances in and around the net," said Crosby, who remains alongside Kunitz and Bergeron. "We trust theyre going to go in a little bit more if we keep getting those. I think we just try to stay the course and make sure that we focus on burying those." Theyll have to do so against the seemingly unflappable Jonathan Quick. A rock for the L.A. Kings in the postseason – he has a .940 save percentage combined in the past two springs – Quick has stopped 72 of 77 shots in three starts for Team USA, fronted by an offence thats managed 20 goals in four games. "When he gets hot, when he makes some big saves early, he seems to become unbeatable, said Doughty, who captured the Cup with Quick in 2012. "And thats why weve got to get one early on him. The only way were going to score on him is weve got to get pucks up high and weve got to get screens in front and tips." Countering Quick will be Carey Price – who has stopped 48 of 51 shots – and a stiff defensive Canadian unit thats yielded just two even-strength goals all tournament and average of fewer than 19 shots against. If theres been an obvious strength to Canadas game on the bigger Olympic ice, its been the ability to defend and defend by controlling the possession of the puck. Continuing that against an American attack fronted by Kessel, who leads the tournament with eight points, will be a new and far more difficult challenge. Crosby was among the group of Canadian players who took in the Americans classic tilt with Russia in the preliminary round and was struck, above all else, with just how fast they were as a group. He and his teammates believe theyre ready for such a fight though even if others arent quite so sure. "At this point whether we beat three favourites or zero, nobodys going to really think about that or talk about that if we get the result we want [Friday] and win the game," he said. "Our groups real confident," Babcock added. "We like what weve done. We like how our team is. We think were set up good right now. And that, to me, is the most important thing." ' ' '