HOUSTON — No matter where Aaron Brooks ran Friday night, Rajon Rondo seemed to follow him. And when Houston’s speedy point guard found space, another Boston Celtic seemed to step in front of him.
Paul Pierce scored 26 points, Ray Allen hit five 3-pointers and had 19 points, and the Celtics snapped Houston’s four-game winning streak with a 94-87 victory.
Additional Photos
Rondo had 10 assists for the Celtics, who smothered Brooks and held the Rockets to 39.5 percent shooting (30 of 76). Brooks, coming off consecutive 31-point games, was held to 10 points on 4-of-12 shooting and had a streak of games with a 3-pointer stopped at 39.
“I just wanted to make him take contested shots,” Rondo said. “I didn’t want to leave him open tonight. I just tried to send him in with the big guys. Not just me, but they did a great job as well.”
Brooks needed a driving layup with 2:14 left to extend his streak of double-digit scoring games to 39.
Boston remained tied with Atlanta for third place in the Eastern Conference.
The Celtics improved to 23-12 on the road compared to 21-12 at home.
“The road is hostile,” Garnett said. “You expect the worst and that’s what it is. Maybe we’re too confident at home.”
Luis Scola and Kevin Martin scored 17 points apiece for the Rockets, who have lost their last four home games against Boston.
“They played a pretty intense game,” Scola said. “They were focused, they knew what to do. They were talking a lot, and communicating between themselves. They were just ready to play.”
CAVALIERS 92, BULLS 85: LeBron James became the youngest player to score 15,000 career points, breaking Kobe Bryant’s mark by about two years, and Cleveland pulled away late to win at Chicago.
James scored 13 of his 29 points in the fourth quarter, giving him 15,026 in his career, and had 11 rebounds.
THUNDER 115, RAPTORS 89: Kevin Durant scored 31 points to lead Oklahoma City past host Toronto to a sixth victory in seven games.
SPURS 147, WARRIORS 116: Gregg Popovich has never seen San Antonio score like this.
Manu Ginobili scored 23 points and the Spurs throttled visiting Golden State, scoring the most points under Popovich since he took over as head coach in 1996.
Richard Jefferson had 21 points as the Spurs tore through the Warriors, whose defense was dreadful even by their NBA-worst standards.
The Spurs shot 65 percent from the field.
KNICKS 92, 76ERS 88: Toney Douglas scored 14 of his 22 points in the fourth quarter, rallying host New York past Philadelphia.
Danilo Gallinari scored 25 points, and former Maine Red Claw Bill Walker added 15 for the Knicks.
PACERS 106, PISTONS 102: Danny Granger scored 29 points in his return from a cheek injury, and Troy Murphy had 20 points in Indiana’s win over visiting Detroit.
Indiana trailed only once all night, 95-94, before an 8-0 run.
HAWKS 93, BOBCATS 92: Joe Johnson sank a fallaway jumper over three Charlotte defenders just before time expired to lift Atlanta past visiting Charlotte in overtime.
Johnson had 18 points, including 16 in the fourth quarter and overtime.
SUNS 110, JAZZ 100: Amare Stoudemire scored the first 11 points for Phoenix en route to a season-high 44 and the Suns led all the way in a victory at home that pulled them within a game of the Jazz for fourth place in the West.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
Success. Please wait for the page to reload. If the page does not reload within 5 seconds, please refresh the page.
Enter your email and password to access comments.
Hi, to comment on stories you must . This profile is in addition to your subscription and website login.
Already have a commenting profile? .
Invalid username/password.
Please check your email to confirm and complete your registration.
Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.
Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.