Celtics win 14th in a row; Cavaliers make it 11 straight
Paul Pierce scored 28 points, and Kevin Garnett had 19 points and 10 rebounds on Friday night to lead the host Boston Celtics to their 14th consecutive victory, 94-82 over the New Orleans Hornets.
The defending NBA champions took the lead with a 17-4 run early in the third quarter and never trailed again while improving to a league-best 22-2 this season.
Chris Paul had 20 points and 14 assists for the Hornets, while David West had 23 points and 14 rebounds.
After trailing by as many as 14 points in the fourth quarter, New Orleans cut it to 89-82 before the Celtics put it away, thanks in part to an alley-oop from Ray Allen to Garnett that made it an 11-point game with 1:43 left.
Kendrick Perkins had 9 points, 13 rebounds and 3 blocked shots, and Eddie House hit two of his three 3-pointers in the fourth quarter.
Cavaliers 88, Sixers 72: LeBron James scored 28 points and Anderson Varejao 17 in his first start this season as host Cleveland, despite missing two key components, matched a club record with its 11th straight win, erasing Philadelphia.
James added 7 assists and 7 rebounds for the Cavs, who improved to 13-0 at home and added another victory to their longest winning streak since the 1993-94 season.
Cleveland, 19-1 since starting the season 1-2, can set a record for consecutive wins in Atlanta today.
For the first time this season, the Cavaliers were dealing with some adversity as starting center Zydrunas Ilgauskas was forced to sit out with a sprained left ankle, an injury he sustained on Wednesday night in Philadelphia.
Cleveland was also without reserve guard Daniel Gibson, who is nursing a sprained toe.
The Cavs weren't whole.
But with James, they don't have to be.
Varejao filled in for Ilgauskas, who is expected to miss several games, and the frizzy-haired Brazilian and rookie Darnell Jackson, playing a season-high 24 minutes, did a nice job holding their own inside against Philadelphia's big men. Varejao had 7 rebounds and Jackson 8.