BOSTON (AP) – Not even three sluggish quarters and a subpar game by Kevin Garnett could keep the Boston Celtics from running off to their best start in 35 years.

The role players on the NBA’s only unbeaten team made sure of that.

Boston routed the New Jersey Nets 91-69 Wednesday night, turning up the defense and the tempo while Garnett was on the bench with three fouls. The Celtics improved to 7-0, their best start since they opened 10-0 in 1972-73, with their sixth win by at least 11 points.

Their best start was 14-0 in 1957-58.

The Celtic’s three stars all had decent games, hardly their best of the season. Garnett had 16 points and eight rebounds, Paul Pierce scored 15 points and Ray Allen had 14.

They got plenty of help from point guard Rajon Rondo and Tony Allen, a strong defensive guard, with 13 points apiece, and center Kendrick Perkins with 10.

Richard Jefferson scored 21 points and Jason Kidd had 19 for the Nets, who dropped their third straight game.

Boston pulled away while Garnett was watching from the bench after he picked up his third foul with 4:38 left in the third quarter and Boston leading 54-46. By the time he came back with 7:17 left in the game, the lead had grown to 74-58.

In the 9:21 Garnett was gone, the Celtics had doubled their lead from eight to 16 points.

Boston was leading 58-54 but scored the last four points of the third quarter on two free throws by Ray Allen and a layup by Tony Allen.

Tony Allen scored the first three points of the fourth quarter on free throws for a 65-54 lead. Then the Celtics really took control.

The speedy Rondo stole the ball under the Nets basket and dribbled quickly up court. James Posey, playing because Garnett wasn’t, took a pass while all alone behind the 3-point line on the left side and sank the shot. That brought Boston’s subs and the crowd to their feet as the Nets called a timeout.

They needed another break after a similar play when the Celtics stole the ball in the Nets end again. Ray Allen passed from midcourt to Rondo, who fed it right back to the sharpshooting guard for another 3-point basket. That made it 73-58 with 8 minutes left and the Nets immediately called another timeout.

Both teams shot poorly and handled the ball sloppily in the first half.

The Nets made only 36 percent of their shots, while the Celtics hit 44. New Jersey took a 10-9 lead midway through the first quarter and held it until Pierce made a 17-foot turnaround jumper with 0.1 seconds left in the half, giving Boston a 36-34 lead.

The Nets played their second full game without Vince Carter, who sprained his ankle in Saturday night’s 112-101 loss at home to Boston.

The Celtics were missing backup guard Eddie House, who sprained his left ankle in Tuesday night’s 101-86 win at Indiana.

They didn’t win their seventh game last year until Dec. 11 when it was 7-13. They finished at 24-58, their second worst record ever. But they rebuilt their roster around newcomers Garnett and Ray Allen and used six players Wednesday who weren’t on the team last season.

AP-ES-11-14-07 2223EST