0SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) – Paul Pierce scored 14 of his 16 points during a dominating second-quarter run that carried Boston to its first win in Sacramento in more than 11 years, an 89-69 victory Wednesday night.
It was the opener of the Celtics’ first West Coast trip this season. Boston has won 12 of 13 games, but the early season success has been attributed to a soft schedule as well as the offseason additions of Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen to a lineup that had relied primarily on Pierce in recent years.
The Celtics played just their 11th road game of the season Wednesday and first against a team in the Western Conference. They have three more in the next four days of this trip, including Allen’s return to Seattle on Thursday and weekend games at Utah and the Los Angeles Lakers.
Allen led the way with 17 points and Garnett added 14 points and 10 rebounds for the Celtics, who had lost 11 straight at Arco Arena since Feb. 16, 1996.
The NBA-leading Celtics (23-3) started slowly, scoring just 18 points in the opening quarter and trailing by four early in the second. That’s when they found their groove, closing the half on a 33-5 run to go up 53-29.
Instead of coasting from there, the Celtics lost their shooting touch at halftime. They missed their first seven shots in the third quarter as the Kings went on a 14-1 run to cut the Boston lead to 11.
Sacramento got within five early in the fourth quarter when Ron Artest scored off an offensive rebound before Eddie House and James Posey hit consecutive 3-pointers to start an 8-0 run that put the Celtics back in control.
Artest scored 15 points to lead Sacramento. John Salmons added 13 and Francisco Garcia had 12 for the Kings, who scored 27 points in the third quarter but just 42 in the other three.
Sacramento shot 38.2 percent in their lowest scoring game of the season.
The Celtics started the big second-quarter run by scoring nine straight points in a 58-second span, getting a three-point play from Allen and consecutive 3-pointers from House to go back up by five.
That’s when Pierce took over. After going scoreless in the first 17 minutes of the game, Pierce scored 14 points in the final 7 minutes of the half, hitting his third 3-pointer in the final minute to make it 53-29.
As well as Boston shot that quarter, hitting six of 10 3-pointers, they were even tougher on the defensive end, forcing 12 turnovers and limiting Sacramento to 32.4 percent shooting in their best defensive first half of the season.
The Kings missed 10 of their final 11 shots in the half, with their only basket in the final 9 minutes coming on a jumper by Salmons with 5:24 left.
Notes: Garnett moved past Walter Davis (19,521) for 36th place on the all-time scoring list. Garnett has 19,527 points. … Sacramento’s previous low came in a 90-78 loss at Boston. … Former King Scot Pollard got a warm ovation when he checked in for the first time late in the opening quarter. … AL Rookie of the Year Dustin Pedroia watched from courtside and was given a Kings jersey with his name. Pedroia, who grew up in nearby Woodland but plays for the Boston Red Sox, did not wear the jersey.
AP-ES-12-27-07 0037EST
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