WORCESTER, Mass. — The NBA preseason game between the New Jersey Nets andBoston Celtics was canceled after one half Friday night because of damp courtconditions at the DCU Center.

Boston led 36-33 at halftime when the game was called because ofcondensation forming from ice beneath the floor. The 25-year-old city-ownedfacility is home to the AHL’s Worcester Sharks, an affiliate of the San JoseSharks.

“The players felt like they were risking injury by playing on the court,”said Danny Ainge, the Celtics director of basketball operations. “They didn’tfeel like they could get any footing and they were slipping and sliding, so itwas pretty unanimous among the players and the officials and the coaches thatthe game should be called.”

He said the dampness was noticed earlier in the day, when the outsidetemperature reached 71 degrees, but it seemed to improve before game time.

“It was slippery this morning,” Nets coach Lawrence Frank said. “Bothteams wanted to play, but you have to use caution. As people got in thebuilding, it got warmer and warmer, so we didn’t feel comfortable going on.”

Ray Allen sparked a 13-0 first-quarter run with consecutive 3-pointers asBoston took a 21-8 lead. New Jersey’s Gamin Jones scored nine in the secondquarter.

“It was pretty slick, we talked about it before the game and we knew thatit would be hard to play with that element,” Celtics forward Kevin Garnett said

An official met with both teams at halftime, and Celtics coach Doc Riverssaid they all agreed to cancel the game.

“It was the perfect storm, in a bad way,” Rivers said. “Who would havethought the temperature would reach 70 degrees in late October?”

Celtics management hurriedly arranged an autograph session for thedisappointed fans in the crowd of 10,600, but ended it after about 20 minutesbecause of security concerns.

“People get excited,” Garnett said. “We did what we could do. … Theygot some autographs, they got some conversation and we all got out of theresafe.”

The offseason acquisitions of Garnett and Allen have generated excitementamong the fans of a team that hasn’t won an NBA title since 1986.

“I think what happened was we tried to make a quick plan to try to signautographs for fans, but when the fans tried to line up quickly, there wasn’treally enough room and they had to spill onto the court,” Celtics spokesmanJeff Twiss said.

Because of the surge of people, the team ended the session for safetyreasons, he said, but there was no disorder.

“We thought the fans were terrific. They were as understanding as theycould be. But Mother Nature threw us a curveball,” Twiss said. “The fans weredisappointed. We’re disappointed because we couldn’t finish the game.”

John LeHair, director of marketing for the DCU center, declined immediatecomment Friday night.

The Celtics pledged either a full refund or 50 percent discount on a ticketif fans requested it.

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