Celtics run streak to 18, beat Knicks

Rajon Rondo scored 18 of his 26 points in the third quarter to help the Boston Celtics tie a franchise record with their 18th straight win, beating the New York Knicks 124-105 Sunday night.

The win improved Boston's record to 26-2, matching the NBA mark for the best start by a team with two losses. The Celtics can break the record at home against the Philadelphia 76ers on Tuesday night.

Coincidentally, Boston tied the Knicks and 76ers at 26-2. New York did it in 1969-70 and Philadelphia in 1966-67. Both teams went on to win NBA titles.

Boston's 1981-82 team also won 18 consecutive games.

Ray Allen had 18 points, Paul Pierce 17, Kevin Garnett 12 and Kendrick Perkins 12 for the Celtics.

Quentin Richardson led the Knicks with 29 points and Nate Robinson had 23. Chris Duhon added 20 with 10 assists.

New York lost its fourth straight and eighth in a row to Boston.

ALSO SUNDAY

HAWKS 85, PISTONS 78: Mike Bibby put an end to Detroit's domination of Atlanta, scoring a season-high 27 points to lead Atlanta over the visiting Pistons.

Detroit trailed by 18 points early in the second half before launching a steady comeback in the matchup of second-place teams.

The Pistons cut the lead to 80-76 on a basket by Rasheed Wallace with 2:30 remaining, but Bibby answered with a jumper.

MAVERICKS 97, WIZARDS 86: Jason Terry scored 25 points and Dirk Nowitzki had 23 to help Dallas send host Washington to its sixth straight loss.

Washington tied a 42-year-old franchise record for worst start -- the 1966-67 Baltimore Bullets also started 4-21.

LATE SATURDAY

WARRIORS 110, BOBCATS 103: Jamal Crawford scored 50 points to help the undermanned Golden State beat host Charlotte, giving Warriors coach Don Nelson a win in his first game with a new coaching structure.

A night after Nelson announced he would no longer have anything to do with the Warriors' NBA-worst defense, assistant Keith Smart handled that part of the game, while Crawford handled the offense -- and then some.

Acquired from New York last month, Crawford was 14-of-26 from the field, 5-of-8 on 3-pointers and made 17 of 18 free throws. He was two points shy of his career high.

ROCKETS 109, TIMBERWOLVES 102: The Minnesota Timberwolves have hit their lowest point in 14 years. Tracy McGrady scored 23 points and Houston made 12 3-pointers to hand the host Timberwolves their 12th straight loss.

HORNETS 99, KINGS 90: Chris Paul had 34 points, nine assists and a season-high eight steals, and host New Orleans won for the 11th time in 13 games.

PACERS 95, 76ERS 94: T.J. Ford hit a 15-foot jumper with 3.9 seconds left and finished with 25 points for short-handed Indiana.

MAGIC 106, LAKERS 103: Jameer Nelson had 27 points, and host Orlando overcame Kobe Bryant's season-high 41 points for Los Angeles.

Bryant missed a 3-pointer at the buzzer that would have forced overtime.

HEAT 106, NETS 103: Dwyane Wade matched his season high with 43 points, scoring 12 of visiting Miami's final 14 points.

SPURS 107, RAPTORS 97: Tony Parker had 24 points, 10 assists and eight rebounds, and host San Antonio matched a franchise record with 16 3-pointers.

BULLS 106, JAZZ 98: Ben Gordon scored 26 points, and Derrick Rose had 10 of his 24 points in the fourth quarter for host Chicago.

BUCKS 119, CLIPPERS 85: Richard Jefferson scored 22 points, and Luke Ridnour added 18 as host Milwaukee earned in its fourth victory in five games.