Celtics back on winning track

2009/11/09

EAST RUTHERFORD (New Jersey): Rajon Rondo and Paul Pierce each scored 16 points as the Boston Celtics bounced back from their first loss of the NBA season to beat the winless New Jersey Nets 86-76 on Saturday.

Their defence was back -- and it needed to be, because the Celtics couldn't shoot for most of the game. Boston finished with 20 steals, five by Rondo, scoring 19 points off New Jersey's 24 turnovers.

The Celtics beat the Nets for the 10th straight time. Brook Lopez scored 23 points for the Nets.



l IN ATLANTA, Jamal Crawford scored 25 points, and Josh Smith had 22 points, nine rebounds, six blocked shots and seven assists for Atlanta who beat the Nuggets 125-100.

Joe Johnson added 21 points, and Marvin Williams had 14.

Carmelo Anthony had 30 points for Denver, and Chauncey Billups added 25. The Nuggets have lost two straight after opening 5-0.



l IN DALLAS, Dirk Nowitzki had 29 points and nine rebounds, and Josh Howard scored 16 in his season debut for Dallas who overcame the Raptors 129-101. Jason Terry added 19 points, and Shawn Marion had 18 points and eight rebounds for Dallas. Dallas native Chris Bosh had 26 points and 12 rebounds for Toronto.



l IN CHICAGO, John Salmons scored 27 points, and Joakim Noah added a career-high 21 and had 16 rebounds in Chicago's 93-90 win over the Bobcats.

The Bulls had a 16-0 run in the third and fourth quarters that turned a nine-point deficit into a seven-point lead at 77-70.

Boris Diaw led Charlotte with 20 points.



l IN SALT LAKE CITY, Tyreke Evans scored a career-high 32 points as Sacramento held off Utah 104-99 in the Kings' first game without high-scoring guard Kevin Martin.

Evans, the fourth overall pick in the June draft, became the focal point of the Kings' offence in place of Martin, who averaged 30.6 points in the first five games. Martin will have surgery today to repair a fracture in his left wrist.

Deron Williams had 29 points and 15 assists for Utah.



l IN MILWAUKEE, Andrew Bogut scored a season-high 22 points and had eight rebounds, and rookie Jodie Meeks added 19 points for Milwaukee who beat the Knicks 102-87.

Rookie Brandon Jennings added 17 points to help the Bucks improve to 3-2. David Lee had 18 points and seven rebounds for New York (1-6). -- AP