Garnett has 20 points, 17 boards; Celts beat Bulls

[December 04, 2010]  BOSTON (AP) -- Kevin Garnett scored 20 points with a season-high 17 rebounds, and Rajon Rondo scored 12 and had 19 assists on Friday night to lead the Boston Celtics to their sixth straight win, a 104-92 victory over the Chicago Bulls.

Ray Allen scored 14 and Paul Pierce had 18 for Boston, which never trailed.

Derrick Rose scored 20 with eight assists, and Joakim Noah had 14 points and 10 rebounds for Chicago. Carlos Boozer scored 12 points in 21 minutes in his second game since missing the first month of the season with a broken bone in his right hand.

Garnett had 16 points and 11 rebounds at the half, when the Celtics led 53-48. The Bulls cut the lead to one point before missing their next eight shots and watching Boston open a 70-54 lead.

The Bulls were on the road for the eighth time in nine games, and this time they had Boozer back. The centerpiece of the Bulls' offseason rebuilding program, Boozer missed all of the exhibition season and the first 15 games of the regular season, then returned with five points and two rebounds in his Chicago debut on Wednesday in a 107-78 loss to Orlando.

Allen scored 10 in the first nine minutes to help the Celtics open a 26-12 lead. Chicago scored 10 of the first 11 points of the second before Shaquille O'Neal's putback dunk with 8:44 left gave Boston its first field goal of the quarter.

But the Bulls never took the lead. It was a five-point game at the half, then Noah and Boozer both scored from inside to make it 53-52. That's when Garnett went to the floor near midcourt to get a loose ball and flipped it backward to Rondo, who was streaking to the basket for the easy layup.

The Celtics followed with a 14-1 run while Chicago missed eight straight shots. That put the lead back into double-digits and the Bulls never got within 11 points after that.

NOTES: Glen "Big Baby" Davis was called for two fouls in the first 2:20 of the second quarter and went to the bench with three. O'Neal also picked up three fouls before halftime, leaving Boston's center duties to Turkish rookie Semih Erden, who had five points and three rebounds at the break. O'Neal scored nine points in the first half. ... Garnett's 17 rebounds were his most in two years, since he had 20 against Indiana in an overtime game on Dec. 7, 2008. ... Keith Bogans started but played just 13 minutes, with zero points. Taj Gibson had 10 points and eight rebounds off the bench for Chicago. ... Former Celtics player Brian Scalabrine got a standing ovation when he checked into the game for the final 67 seconds. ... Rondo appeared to hurt his left leg with 5 minutes left in the third, but he stayed in the game. He then hit a long 2-pointer as the shot clock expired to give Boston a 74-57 lead.

[Associated Press; By JIMMY GOLEN]

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