BOSTON – Paul Pierce scored 36 points and grabbed 13 rebounds while Mike James added a career-high 24 points to lead the Boston Celtics to their third straight victory, 126-112 over the Seattle SuperSonics on Wednesday night.

The 126 points were a season-high for Boston, which beat its third straight Western Conference opponent after road wins against Denver and Utah.

Seattle trailed 99-68 to start the fourth quarter but went on a 25-4 run to pull to 103-93 with six minutes remaining. Pierce, who had been on the bench for 10 minutes, was forced to return and immediately hit two jump shots to increase the lead to 107-93.

Murray had 14 of his 16 points in the fourth quarter for Seattle, which tied a franchise record with 17 3-point field goals. The Sonics were 17-of-41 from beyond the arc and are a combined 38-of-85 over the last three games.

Seattle dropped its fourth straight and has lost eight of 11 overall.

The Celtics won for only the second time at home in the last six games and are 5-6 in Boston. They reached 100 points for the fourth straight game after eclipsing the century mark just once in their first 18.

Pierce scored 17 of his 24 first-half points in the second quarter to help the Celtics build a 66-42 halftime lead. The Celtics broke the game open with a 26-9 run during a seven-minute stretch.

Ansu Sesay came off the bench to lead Seattle with 19 points and Richie Frahm chipped in with a career-high 14.

Jiri Welsch scored 17 for Boston, while Tony Battie added 13 with seven rebounds.

Notes: The Celtics have beaten Seattle five straight times, including a 114-74 victory in Boston last season. … Pierce scored his 3,000th NBA field goal in the second quarter. … The Sonics came into the game ranked second in the NBA in 3-point field goal percentage.

AP-ES-12-10-03 2141EST