Pierce Helps Celtics Catch Knicks, Then Win in Overtime BOSTON - During his days as a Harvard student, Jeremy Lin had neither the means nor the connections to attend a Celtics game. His entry on Sunday was a given, although little else was assured as he tried to navigate Boston's formidable defense. Lin's first trip back to Boston as a certified star started poorly and ended badly, with a 115-111 overtime loss and another hard lesson in N.B.A. dynamics. Lin scored 14 points, but he made just 6 of 16 shots, turned the ball over six times and was suffocated for most of the afternoon by Rajon Rondo and an aggressive Celtics defense. Paul Pierce scored 34 points for Boston (19-17), but it was Ray Allen who put the game away with a 3-pointer and a layup in overtime, when Lin was 1 for 7 from the field. Carmelo Anthony had 25 points for the Knicks (18-19), but he missed all four of his attempts in overtime and finished 8 for 21 from the field. In addition to hounding Lin, Rondo had a triple-double, with 18 points, 20 assists and 17 rebounds. Steve Novak and Iman Shumpert each had 14 points for the Knicks. After overcoming a 15-point deficit, the Knicks took a 103-100 lead with 18.1 seconds left in regulation. Pierce, as he has done so many times in his career, delivered the critical shot, rising over Shumpert for a 3-pointer that tied the game with 4.9 seconds left. Anthony missed a 17-footer at the buzzer, sending the game into overtime. Lin's afternoon was generally abysmal, more reminiscent of his last trip here - on Feb. 3, before he morphed into a global star - than anything that had happened since. He briefly rediscovered his touch in the final minutes of the fourth quarter, scoring 6 straight points as the Knicks cut the deficit to 96-95. Anthony took over from there, scoring on two driving layups and a hanging 15-foot jumper, giving the Knicks a 101-100 lead with 35.4 seconds left. The Celtics intentionally fouled Steve Novak, who hit two free throws. The Knicks, plagued all afternoon by turnovers, let a double-digit lead slip away, then fell behind by 15 in the third quarter, when Pierce scored 15 points in a 29-9 Celtics run. Anthony picked up his fourth foul early in that run and spent the next 10 minutes on the bench. Tyson Chandler also sat for most of the second half, after a hard fall on his injured left wrist. The game got chippy along the way, as J. R. Smith and Ray Allen got technical fouls for jawing at each other and Shumpert got a technical for taunting after dunking on Kevin Garnett. The Knicks" week will get no easier. They left Boston for Dallas, where they will face the defending champion Mavericks on Tuesday, followed by games in San Antonio and Milwaukee. Though he starred nearby at Harvard, Lin was the least popular Knick in the building. He was booed every time he touched the ball in the first half - the first audible indication of a backlash to his instant stardom. Early in his breakout streak, Lin was wildly cheered in road games in Washington and Toronto. Pockets of Lin fans cheered him Sunday, including his former coach Tommy Amaker and the Harvard president, Drew Gilpin Faust. On the Knicks" last trip here, on Feb. 3, Lin was still an anonymous bench player and his team was generally a mess. They lost that night, for the 11th time in 13 games, dropping them to 8-15. How much had changed since then? "Everything," Coach Mike D'Antoni said, and he was not just referring to the emergence of Lin and Novak, or the additions of Smith and Baron Davis. Probably the biggest thing is the mind-set - where we are, with trying to become a good team, is just night and day. We were searching frantically. I think now we've found it. Now we just got to improve it. Before we hadn't even found it. So everything's changed. With Anthony and Stoudemire both clicking early, the Knicks put together runs of 12-0 and 10-0 in the first half and built a 12-point lead. They had a 56-51 edge at halftime, despite an alarming 14 turnovers. Lin is not the same player now that he was when he played six mistake-riddled minutes in Boston a month ago. But his first half Sunday looked a lot like his first half that day. He made just 1 of 4 shots, had twice as many turnovers (four) as assists and took a hard blow to the nose from Avery Bradley. Bill Walker will have surgery on his left elbow on Monday and is expected to miss four to six weeks, possibly wiping out the rest of the regular season. He could be available for the playoffs. Walker was a rotation player for the first 30 games of the season, but he had been squeezed out by the additions of J. R. Smith and Baron Davis and the emergence of Steve Novak. "It'd have been tough," Mike D'Antoni said of finding a role for Walker. But for sure if he's hurt and not playing well, then there's no way. ... Tyson Chandler is wearing a protective brace on his injured left wrist, which continues to bother him, two weeks after falling on it. "I think it's something that he's going to have to live with for a month, two months," D'Antoni said. ... The Knicks plan to recall Jerome Jordan from the D-League on Saturday, after their four-game trip. Jordan was sent to the Knicks" affiliate in Erie, Penn., on Friday. ...The Knicks" last victory here was on Nov. 24, 2006, behind 22 points from Steve Francis and 21 points and 10 rebounds from Eddy Curry. The following summer, Boston acquired Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen. "They've been the best, and they're smart," D'Antoni said, adding, "We've been young and dumb and we haven't done it."