Paul Pierce scored 18 points and Rajon Rondo had 16 and 13 assists to help the Boston Celtics to a 99-82 victory over the visiting Philadelphia 76ers on Tuesday.
Kevin Garnett added 14 points and Ray Allen scored 13 as Boston (54-23) won its second straight game and tied Idle Miami for second place in the Eastern Conference.
Rookie Evan Turner scored 21 points off the bench for his third 20-point outing of the season for Philadelphia (40-38).
The Celtics scored the first nine points of the second half to take a 63-50 lead and led comfortably for most of the second half.
Philadelphia pulled with 64-60 on Elton Brand’s basket with four minutes left in the third quarter, but Boston outscored the 76ers 17-7 over the next seven-plus minutes, rebuilding an 81-67 lead on Glen Davis’ hoop.
Brand added 12 points and Jrue Holiday tallied 11 for Philadelphia (40-38), which has a precarious hold on sixth place in the East.
Boston shot 52.6 percent and limited Philadelphia to 39.3 percent shooting.
Turner played 33-plus minutes and made 9 of 14 shots while serving as the first guard off the bench in place of injured Lou Williams (hamstring).
Philadelphia | Boston | |
Evan Turner 21 | Scoring | Paul Pierce 18 |
Evan Turner 5 | Assists | Rajon Rondo 13 |
Spencer Hawes 8 | Rebounds | Jeff Green 7 |
Andre Iguodala 4 | Free Throws Made | Rajon Rondo 4 |
Jrue Holiday 3 | Steals | Ray Allen 1 |
Elton Brand 3 | Blocks | Jeff Green 3 |
Team | Points | FG% | 3PM-3PA | FTM-FTA | Assists | Rebounds | Blocks | Steals | Turnovers |
Philadelphia | 82 | 39.3 | 4-10 | 12-17 | 17 | 36 | 3 | 9 | 11 |
Boston | 99 | 52.6 | 4-10 | 15-19 | 29 | 37 | 8 | 6 | 15 |