The rampaging Boston Celtics won for the 17th time in 19 games, holding off the Chicago Bulls for a 92-81 road victory on Saturday as Ray Allen overcame a poor shooting night to lead all scorers with 21 points.
Rajon Rondo matched his season high with 18, Kevin Garnett added 16 points and nine rebounds and rookie Glen "Big Baby" Davis came off the bench with eight points and 12 rebounds.
Allen was just 6-for-16 shooting.
PHOTO: AP
The Bulls (6-12) made a late run to close to 86-81 in the final minute but it was too little too late.
"It was a great game, number one," Celtics coach Doc Rivers told reporters. "It was a very competitive game."
Most of the games the Celtics have played so far this season have not been so competitively contested.
"We knew it was going to be one of those tough games," Boston's Paul Pierce said. "The Bulls have been playing very well as of late and we knew coming in here it was going to be difficult because we haven't beaten them in a while."
"It was one of those grind it out games but we found a way to get it done," he said.
Boston managed to grind out the win even though Pierce managed just 1-for-8 shooting and finished with 10 points.
He was 0-for-4 in the first half and delivered his only basket from open play in the third quarter.
Boston (17-2) has now won six straight games.
Andres Noicini led the Bulls with 21 points and Kirk Hinrich added 16 and six assists.
"It's tough," Chicago's Chris Duhon said. "We had some good opportunities against a talented team but we missed some easy baskets when we had some easy shots."
Chicago's Luol Deng felt the Celtics were the best team the Bulls have seen this season.
"They've got established stars," he said. "They also have a lot of really good role players and they play really well together."
Timberwolves 100, Suns 93
The Phoenix Suns' offense fell flat in the second half and Al Jefferson tied a career-high with 32 points to to carry the success-starved Minnesota Timberwolves to victory on Saturday.
The Timberwolves entered the game with a league-worst 2-15 record, but dominated on the boards and snapped a five-game losing streak.
Marko Jaric added 19 points and Craig Smith had 16 points and eight rebounds for the Wolves, who outrebounded Phoenix 55-33.
Steve Nash had 14 points and 15 assists and Leandro Barbosa scored 16 of his 17 points in the first half for the Suns, who wore down in the second game of a back-to-back and their fourth game in five nights.
In other NBA games on Saturday it was:
* Charlotte 96, Cleveland 93
* Atlanta 86, Memphis 78
* Philadelphia 105, NY Knicks 77
* Dallas 125, Utah 117
* Denver 101, Sacramento 97
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