NBA: Celtics stay on course for record

Paul Pierce scored 37 points and Kevin Garnett added 23 to lead the Boston Celtics to a 104-96 NBA triumph on Thursday over the Seattle Supersonics.

The victory boosted Boston's NBA-best record to 24-3 and after just under one-third of their 82-game league schedule, the Celtics are on pace to challenge the NBA one-season record of 72-10 set by Chicago.

With the triumph, the Celtics matched their total number of victories from last season.

Garnett also grabbed 14 rebounds and blocked two shots but it was Pierce's season-high point total after starting 2-of-11 from the floor that gave the Celtics their third triumph in a row.

Pierce had three 3-point shots and 13 points in the third quarter but Boston still clung to only a 70-67 edge before reserve Eddie House scored seven points in a 21-10 Boston run that sealed the triumph.

Boston's Ray Allen returned to Seattle for the first time since a trade to the Celtics last season. A sellout crowd gave Allen a standing ovation but the All-Star guard went 4-of-13 from the field and scored only 10 points.

Rookie Kevin Durant led Seattle with 25 points. The Sonics fell to 8-21 with only Northwest division foe Minnesota at 4-23 below them in the entire league.

CAVALIERS 88, MAVERICKS 81

LeBron James scored 24 points, 15 of them in the first half, and added eight rebounds and seven assists to lead the Cleveland Cavaliers past Dallas 88-81 on Thursday.

A slam dunk by "King James" for the final points with 69 seconds to play punctuated the end of a run of 12 Mavericks triumphs in the past 14 meetings between the rivals from opposite conferences.

Center Zydrunas Ilgauskas added 18 points and 11 rebounds for the Cavaliers while German standout Dirk Nowitzki and Josh Howard each scored 19 points to pace Dallas.

While Nowitzki grabbed a season-high 20 rebounds, he made only 6-of-17 shots as both teams struggled to find shooting touch. Cleveland hit 32-of-88 for the game while Dallas sank 27-of-74, each managing only a 36 percent accuracy rate.

James was whistled for his fifth foul with 5:43 remaining but shrugged off the brink of expulsion to make two stellar assists, one setting up Daniel Gibson's 3-pointer that put Cleveland ahead 84-79.

Nowitzki pulled the Mavericks nearer with two free throws but James found Ilgauskas with a pass to set up a 15-foot jumper to put the Cavaliers on top 86-81 with 2:48 remaining.

The Cavaliers improved to 14-16, eight games behind leader Detroit in the NBA Central division and eighth overall in the Eastern Conference.

Dallas fell to 19-11, two and a half games behind defending NBA champions San Antonio in the Southwest division with the fifth-best mark in the Western Conference.

SUNS 108, CLIPPERS 88

In Los Angeles, Amare Stoudemire had 30 points and 15 rebounds and played stifling defense against Chris Kaman to lead Phoenix over the Los Angeles Clippers.

Stoudemire scored 20 points and had 11 rebounds in the first half as Phoenix opened a 59-40 lead. The Suns built the lead to as many as 36 points as they handed the outmanned Clippers their fifth consecutive loss and 14th in 17 games.

Stoudemire, who left the game with 3:25 to go in the third quarter and didn't return, finished 11-of-14 from the field and 8-of-10 from the free throw line.