Paul Pierce bounced back from one of the worst games of his career, scoring 31 points to lift the host Boston Celtics past the New Jersey Nets 94-80 on Wednesday night.

Pierce had seven points in a decisive 16-0 run down the stretch as the Celtics (40-14) rallied from a nine-point third-quarter deficit to enter the All-Star break in a virtual dead heat with the Miami Heat (41-15) for the best record in the Eastern Conference.

Kevin Garnett had 14 points and 10 rebounds to help Boston beat the Nets for the 14th time in 15 meetings over the past four seasons.

Brook Lopez and Devin Harris scored 18 and 16 points, respectively, for New Jersey (17-40), which went without a field goal for the final 6 minutes, 18 seconds.

Pierce was coming off a one-point effort against the Heat in which he shot 0 for 10 from the floor. He came out with a purpose Wednesday, hitting 5 of 6 shots as the Celtics bolted to leads of 10-1 and 25-10.