Rockets grounded

The shots stopped falling, Boston’s stars took over and just like that, the Houston Rockets’ 22-game winning streak was history.

Kevin Garnett scored 22 points and Paul Pierce added 20 as the Celtics beat the Rockets 94-74 on Tuesday night in Houston, stopping the Rockets’ remarkable victory run.

The Rockets hadn’t lost since a 97-89 defeat to Utah on Jan. 27 and put together the NBA’s second-longest winning streak. It ended 11 victories shy of the 1971-72 Los Angeles Lakers, who won 33 in a row.

It was only Houston’s second loss in 28 games and its fourth since a 97-93 loss in Boston on Jan. 2, a game Tracy McGrady sat out with a knee injury.

The Rockets also lost for the first time in 11 games since Yao Ming went out with a season-ending foot injury on Feb. 26.

Luis Scola scored 15 for Houston, which had a 15-game home streak snapped. Only the 1985-86 Rockets, who won 20 straight at The Summit, had a longer home-court streak in franchise history. McGrady had eight assists and seven rebounds, but only eight points on 4-for-11 shooting.

Reserve Leon Powe added 21 points for the Celtics, who’ve won 13 of their last 14 games, the last three without All-Star guard Ray Allen, who’s out with a sore left ankle.

The Rockets still have one more streak to protect – they’ll go for their 13th straight road win in New Orleans tonight.

Pistons 136, Nuggets 120: At Auburn Hills, Mich., Richard Hamilton scored 24 points, Rasheed Wallace added 21, and Detroit beat Denver.

The Pistons scored a season-high 73 points in the first half, getting at least four points from 10 different players.

Detroit led by 22 at the intermission, but Denver narrowed the gap to 83-73 midway through the third.

Chauncey Billups added 14 points and 10 assists for the Pistons, who had seven players in double figures.

Carmelo Anthony led all scorers with 27 points, while Allen Iverson had 20 points and 11 assists.

Heat 112, Bucks 106: At Milwaukee, Jason Williams and Ricky Davis had double-doubles, Chris Quinn hit three crucial 3-pointers in the fourth quarter, and Miami snapped an 0-for-March streak with a victory over the Bucks.

Williams finished with 21 points and 10 assists, while Davis had 14 points and 10 assists.

Bulls 112, Nets 96: At Chicago, Luol Deng scored 20 points, and Drew Gooden had 19 points and 11 rebounds as the Bulls built a big halftime lead, survived a sluggish third quarter and pulled away for a victory over New Jersey.

The Nets whittled a 24-point halftime deficit to nine early in the fourth quarter, but the Bulls didn’t falter.

Lakers 102, Mavericks 100: At Dallas, Kobe Bryant scored 29 points and Vladimir Radmanovic scored 10 of his 21 in the final quarter, giving Los Angeles just enough to hold off the Mavericks.

The Lakers led by 25 points midway through the third quarter, but were up only 101-100 with 4.8 seconds left. Derek Fisher made one of two foul shots after that, then Dirk Nowitzki had a chance to win it for Dallas but missed a 3-pointer as time expired.

Kings 122, Warriors 105: At Sacramento, Calif., Kevin Martin scored 34 points, Ron Artest added 26 and the Kings snapped a three-game losing streak against their Northern California rivals.

Mikki Moore had 19 points and 10 rebounds for the Kings.

Baron Davis had 24 points and eight assists for the Warriors.

Suns 111, Trail Blazers 98: At Portland, Amare Stoudemire scored 25 points, Shaquille O’Neal had 16 points and 14 rebounds, and Phoenix cruised to its fifth straight win.

Steve Nash added 22 points and eight assists for the Suns.

LaMarcus Aldridge had 31 points and eight rebounds for the Blazers.

Off the Court

Lakers coach Phil Jackson said he’s not expecting 20-year-old center Andrew Bynum (dislocated left kneecap) to return until the playoffs begin the weekend of April 18-19. … Heat forward Udonis Haslem is considering having surgery on his sprained left ankle after an MRI exam revealed a bone spur that is causing discomfort. … Rookie Nick Fazekas signed a contract with the Los Angeles Clippers for the remainder of the season. … The operation and upkeep of a city-owned NBA practice facility emerged as the chief concern among members of the Oklahoma City Council considering a preliminary lease agreement with the Seattle SuperSonics.