EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) -Hours after attending the funeral of his father in Illinois, coach Doc Rivers saw the new-look Celtics remain the NBA’s only undefeated team and personally show the Nets they are the team to beat in the Atlantic Division with an impressive 112-101 win on Saturday night.
The victory was the fifth straight for Boston, which is off to its best start since winning six in a row to start the 1987-88 season. That was the last time the trio of Larry Bird, Kevin McHale and Robert Parish got to the Eastern Conference finals.
Paul Pierce had 13 of his 28 in the third period when Boston turned a seven-point halftime lead into a 21-point margin. Ray Allen added 27 points and Kevin Garnett had 18 points and 14 rebounds.
Suns 106, Magic 96
ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) – Leandro Barbosa scored a career-high 39 points and Phoenix Suns withstood a 33-point, 18-rebound effort by Dwight Howard.
Grant Hill had 14 points and eight rebounds in his Orlando return, but couldn’t quiet a hostile crowd soured on him since he signed with Phoenix. Hill was booed all night, an unusual experience for the popular All-Star who spent seven years in Orlando but missed two-thirds of the games with several ankle injuries.
Led by Barbosa, all five Suns starters scored in double figures. Steve Nash had 19 points and 11 assists and Shawn Marion added 11 points and eight rebounds. Amare Stoudemire had 13 points and six rebounds in his second outing after missing three games with a sore knee.
Jazz 118, Grizzlies 94
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) – Carlos Boozer scored 31 points and Deron Williams had 20 points and 13 assists.
Andrei Kirilenko had 15 points, 12 rebounds and nine assists to fall just shy of his third career triple-double as the Jazz won their third game in a row.
Rudy Gay led Memphis with 18 points and Pau Gasol had 11 but the Grizzlies could not overcome Utah’s precision offense and 25 turnovers which led to 24 Jazz points.
Nuggets 113, Pacers 106
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) – Carmelo Anthony had 32 points and 10 rebounds to rally Denver.
Allen Iverson added 27 points and 10 assists, and Linas Kleiza scored 12 of his 21 points in the fourth quarter for the Nuggets (4-3), who trailed by 25 in the first half.
Troy Murphy finished with 18 points and 10 rebounds, Mike Dunleavy scored 17 and Jermaine O’Neal added 15 points and 12 rebounds for Indiana (3-3), which has lost its last seven games against the Nuggets.
Raptors 101, Bulls 71
CHICAGO (AP) – Carlos Delfino scored 16 points and Chris Bosh added 14 points and six rebounds.
The Raptors made quick work out of the Bulls despite playing their fourth game in five nights.
T.J. Ford had 14 assists and Andrea Bargnani scored 14 points for Toronto, which had its largest win against Chicago in franchise history.
Andres Nocioni led Chicago with 20 points.
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