The Boston Celtics chalked up their ninth win a row and padded their Atlantic Division lead with a 104-102 victory over the Washington Wizards on Thursday.
Point guard Rajon Rondo had 21 points and 11 assists, but the Celtics needed a foul shot by center Kendrick Perkins with five seconds left to take a 104-100 lead and put the game on ice.
With All Star Paul Pierce in foul trouble, Rondo and forward Kevin Garnett, who had 17 points on eight of 14 shooting, made the difference, Celtics coach Doc Rivers said.
PHOTO: REUTERS
“Rondo was great, especially down the stretch,” he said. “The fouls threw Paul off his game a little bit. It was really the Rondo-Kevin pick-and-roll show. We got a lot of good stuff out of it. But one thing we need to do is go to lay-up practice. I don’t know how many lay-ups we missed tonight but it was unbelievable.”
Washington faced a 14-point halftime deficit but outscored the Celtics 22-6 to take a 72-70 lead. Boston countered with a 13-2 run to take an 83-74 lead into the final quarter.
“We came out with the 14-point lead and thought if we showed up in the third quarter that they would go away. And they didn’t,” Rivers said.
“We didn’t handle that well. I’ve said we’re not a 48-minute team yet and that’s great proof right there. But that’s OK. We’re still winning these games. We did it on the road and I’ll take it,” Rivers said.
Boston (18-4) has a nine-game lead over the second-place Toronto Raptors in a division where the Celtics are the only team over .500.
The Wizards (7-13) lost their third in a row.
Washington was paced in scoring by Gilbert Arenas’s 19 points, but with the Wizards down 100-98 with 26 seconds left, the three-times All-Star guard missed two foul shots.
JAZZ 120, MAGIC 111
At Salt Lake City, the Utah Jazz shook off an embarrassing defeat the previous day to beat the NBA’s Eastern Conference leader Orlando Magic.
Deron Williams scored 21 of his 32 points in the second half and had 15 assists and eight rebounds for Utah.
Carlos Boozer had 20 points and 14 rebounds for the Jazz, coming off a loss the previous day when they scored just six points in the fourth quarter against the Lakers.
Vince Carter had 34 points for Orlando, who had won eight in a row on the road.
PISTONS 101, NUGGETS 99
In Auburn Hills, Michigan, Detroit held on to beat Denver when former Pistons star Chauncey Billups missed a layup in the final seconds.
Charlie Villanueva scored 27 points, and Rodney Stuckey had 26 to help Detroit run their winning streak to a season-best four games.
Carmelo Anthony scored 40 points for Denver.
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