The Boston Celtics rebounded in the fourth quarter to beat the New Jersey Nets 96-87 on Friday and hand the NBA’s worst team their 13th consecutive road loss.
The Nets held a one-point advantage going into the fourth quarter but the Celtics’ Eddie House scored all 10 of his points in the final session as Boston ran out winners.
“That’s our mentality. Feed the pig, whoever has it going,” Rajon Rondo, who had 17 points and 11 assists, told reporters.
Coach Doc Rivers had put House, Glen Davis and Rasheed Wallace on the floor with Rondo and high scorer Ray Allen to ignite the Celtics. And it worked.
The unit went on a 14-4 run and had the game under control before starters Kevin Garnett, Kendrick Perkins and Tony Allen returned.
House had Boston’s first five points of the quarter to put the hosts up by two and they never trailed again. The reserve guard made it 84-77 with his second three-pointer and 10th point in six minutes.
Ray Allen scored a team-high 26 points as the Celtics recorded their third win in a row.
“We thought that we could just outscore them,” Celtics coach Rivers said. “I didn’t say much at halftime. I basically said, ‘I don’t think I need to talk. We’re a defensive team and tonight we want to outscore them.’ And I said, ‘Good luck.’”
Still, the Boston defense remained lackluster until the fourth, Rasheed Wallace said.
“We didn’t pick it up probably until about the six or seven mark in the fourth,” he said.
New Jersey’s fifth consecutive loss meant they dropped to 4-45 for the season.
Brian Lopez had 19 points and Devin Harris 17 for the visitors, who could wind up with the NBA’s worst record in a season. Philadelphia holds the record at 9-73 for the 1972 to 1973 season.
“I expect a lot more out of myself,” Lopez said. “It’s tough going against them because they’re so physical and talented.”
NUGGETS 126, LAKERS 113
Chauncey Billups scored a career-high 39 points to power the Denver Nuggets to a 126-113 win over Los Angeles, snapping the Lakers eight-game winning streak at Staples Center arena in Los Angeles.
Billups’ 21 points in the third quarter were the most against the Lakers in one period since Philadelphia’s Wilt Chamberlain exploded for 23 in February 1966.
Billups’ also had nine three-pointers and eight assists for Denver, who beat the Lakers despite missing their best player Carmelo Anthony. Anthony was out for the seventh straight game with an ankle sprain.
Billups shot 12-of-20 and went six-of-eight from the free-throw line.
“In this league once anybody gets going it is tough to stop them,” Billups said. “It wasn’t all me but everytime I went up I felt it was good.”
Like Anthony, Lakers superstar Kobe Bryant has ankle problems of his own but decided to play. He scored 33 points but couldn’t get them past the Nuggets who they beat in last year’s NBA semi-finals.
Billups said they tailored their game plan to stopping Bryant.
“In the beginning he had a lot of easy baskets,” Billups said. “We made that adjustment at half time and made it a little tougher on him.”
Billups, who will replace injured Chris Paul in the NBA all-star game, fueled the Nuggets rally in the third as they battled back from a nine-point Lakers lead.
He nailed back-to-back three pointers to give the Nuggets an 84-83 lead.
JR Smith finished with 27 points and Ty Lawson had 13 and Kenyon Martin 11 as a half dozen Nuggets finished in double figures.
They shot 57 percent from the floor, 68 percent from long-range and 71 percent at the free throw line. The NBA champion Lakers shot 45 percent from the floor.
In other NBA action, it was:
• Hawks 91, Bulls 81
• Rockets 101, Grizzlies 83
• Wizards 92, Magic 91
• Suns 114, Kings 102
• 76ers 101, Hornets 94
• Timberwolves 117, Mavs 108
• Bucks 114, Knicks 107
• Pacers 107, Pistons 83
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