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.
The victory was the fifth straight for Boston, which is off to its best start since winning six in a row to start the 1987-1988 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.
Trail Blazers 91 Mavericks 82
At Portland, Oregon, Brandon Roy scored a career-high 32 points and added seven assists and the Portland ended a 13-game losing streak to Dallas.
LaMarcus Aldridge added 18 points and eight rebounds for the Blazers (3-3), who extended their modest winning streak to three games after dropping the first three of the season.
Josh Howard had 20 points for Dallas (4-2), which had won its last three.
Dallas had won the previous 13 games against the Trail Blazers, a streak dating to the 2003-2004 season, including a six-game winning streak at the Rose Garden.
Kings 100, Timberwolves 93
At Sacramento, California, Kevin Martin had 29 points and Brad Miller added 12 points and 16 rebounds to lead Sacramento over winless Minnesota.
John Salmons had 19 points and three steals for the Kings who were playing at home for the second night in a row.
Al Jefferson had 17 points and 12 rebounds and Rashad McCants came off the bench to score 16 points for Minnesota in a game that was tied 21 times.
Suns 106, Magic 96
At Orlando, Florida, Leandro Barbosa scored a career-high 39 points and Phoenix withstood a 33-point, 18-rebound effort by Dwight Howard to beat Orlando.
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.
In other games, it was: Jazz 118, Grizzlies 94; Nuggets 113, Pacers 106; Raptors 101, Bulls 71.
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