Celtics notch another win

Ray Allen scored 21 points, Rajon Rondo matched a season-high with 18, and the Boston Celtics continued their torrid pace by holding off the Chicago Bulls 92-81 on Saturday night in Chicago.

Boston was leading 86-70 after James Posey threw a behind-the-back pass to Allen with 5 minutes, 23 seconds remaining, but instead of cruising to a win, the Celtics had to hang on.

The Bulls scored the next 11 points, culminating with a three-point play by Andres Nocioni that made it 86-81 with just les than a minute left.

Garnett then hit a jumper, and the Celtics won their sixth straight. At 17-2, they own the league’s best record.

Nocioni had another good night for Chicago, which had won four of five and beat Detroit the previous night. He scored 18, after averaging 21 points in the previous four games.

Timberwolves 100, Suns 93: At Minneapolis, Al Jefferson tied a career-high with 32 points to go with 20 rebounds to carry success-starved Minnesota to a victory over Phoenix.

The Timberwolves entered the game with a league-worst 2-15 record, but dominated on the boards and snapped a five-game losing streak. Marko Jaric added 19 points and Craig Smith had 16 points and eight rebounds for the Wolves, who outrebounded Phoenix 55-33.

Hawks 86, Grizzlies 78: At Atlanta, Josh Smith scored 25 points and rookie Al Horford grabbed 14 rebounds in the Hawks’ victory over Memphis.

The Hawks have won three of four and six of nine.

Memphis, the NBA’s fifth-most accurate team on 3-pointers, lost its fourth straight after shooting a season-worst 1 for 15 beyond the arc.

Rudy Gay led Memphis with 17 points, and Kyle Lowry added 15.

76ers 105, Knicks 77: At New York, Willie Green scored 18 points and Philadelphia completed a home-and-home sweep of the Knicks.

Andre Iguodala added 17 points and Reggie Evans had 14 rebounds for the 76ers, who beat the Knicks 101-90 Friday in Philadelphia.

Nate Robinson, who didn’t play in the first half, scored 25 points for the Knicks.

Bobcats 96, Cavaliers 93: At Charlotte, N.C., Gerald Wallace scored 22 points and Raymond Felton went 8 for 8 from the foul line in the final 16 seconds as the Bobcats snapped a seven-game losing streak with a win over slumping Cleveland.

Playing again without LeBron James, the Cavaliers couldn’t hold onto a three-point lead early in the fourth quarter, then missed several chances down the stretch, losing their sixth straight game.

Mavericks 125, Jazz 117: At Dallas, Josh Howard scored a career-high 47 points, Devin Harris had a career-high 12 assists and Erick Dampier provided a season-high 21 points – and the Mavericks needed every bit of it to beat Deron Williams and Utah.

Williams scored a career-high 41 points, 32 coming in the second half.

Dallas shot 59.7 percent to end skids of two straight losses, three of four and six of nine.

Nuggets 101, Kings 97: At Denver, Allen Iverson scored 23 points and Kenyon Martin had 20 points, 12 rebounds and five blocks to lead the Nuggets to a victory over Sacramento.

John Salmons led the Kings with 25 points, and Beno Udrih added 24 for Sacramento, which lost for the second straight night.

Francisco Garcia missed a 3-pointer with less than 2 seconds left that would have given the Kings a one-point lead.