Pierce fires Celtics past Bucks

MILWAUKEE: Ten-time all-star Paul Pierce stepped up late in the game to help the Boston Celtics grind out a hard fought 96-92 away victory over the Milwaukee Bucks at the BMO Harris Bradley Center on Saturday.
Having lost to the Bucks eight days earlier, the Celtics dished out a little payback with Pierce notching up nine rebounds and 25 points, including a clutch run of baskets late in the fourth quarter, to improve the side to 3-3.
“It was just ball movement. (Rajon) Rondo’s penetration really opened up things, I was able to knock down some shots, I think we spread the floor pretty good,” Pierce said of his side’s last quarter comeback.
“We put Rondo in the middle and let him create and we shared the ball.”
Rondo had 10 points and 10 assists for the Celtics, taking his streak of games with 10 or more assists to 30, the third-longest streak in NBA history.
Magic Johnson has the longest streak at 46 games from April 1983 to February 1984.
Fellow Celtics Kevin Garnett (18 points) and Jason Terry (15 points) were also heavily involved, with Garnett matching Pierce with some important late buckets, while the Bucks were left to rue a lack of accuracy from the majority of the squad.
“What was nice is every guy took the shot in their spot,” Celtics coach Doc Rivers told reporters.
“That’s something we talked about. I want guys to shoot any time they get it as long as it’s their shot and their spot. I’ll have to watch the film and find out why in the last eight minutes it happened.”
Nuggets 107 Warriors 101 double OT: In Oakland, California Danilo Gallinari scored five of his 21 points in the final 36 seconds and the Denver Nuggets closed with an 11-0 run to beat the Golden State Warriors in double overtime.
Andre Iguodala added a pair of late free throws and the Nuggets, who didn’t arrive in the Bay Area until 3:30 a.m. following a late flight from Utah, held on for their fourth consecutive victory after opening the season 0-3.
Kenneth Faried added 18 points and 17 rebounds, while Iguodala had 19 points for Denver.
Jazz 94 Suns 81: In Salt Lake City, Al Jefferson had 27 points and 14 rebounds, and the Utah Jazz built a 22-point lead and held on to victory over the Phoenix Suns.
Michael Beasley’s follow dunk after a Jazz turnover cut Utah’s lead to 79-74 with about 5 minutes remaining.
But Jefferson’s steal and 19-footer by Paul Millsap halted a nearly 6-minute scoreless streak for the Jazz and started a 7-0 run, capped by Marvin Williams’ 3 pointer.
Millsap added 18 points and 13 rebounds for Utah.
Luis Scola led the Suns with 21 points and Jared Dudley scored 16.
Rockets 96 Pistons 82: In Houston, James Harden scored 20 points, Omer Asik had 14 and the Houston Rockets beat the winless Detroit Pistons in their first game without coach Kevin McHale.
The team announced earlier Saturday that McHale was taking an immediate leave of absence to deal with a family matter.
Assistant coach Kelvin Sampson took over for McHale, and said before the game that he hoped the team would come together to win for McHale.
The Rockets did just that, using a third-quarter run to build a big lead and break a three-game losing streak with their first victory at home. The Pistons fell to 0-7.
Brandon Knight scored 16 points for Detroit and Greg Monroe added 12 points and 11 rebounds.
Bulls 87 Timberwolves 80: In Chicago, Nate Robinson scored 18 points and the Chicago Bulls beat Minnesota, ending the Timberwolves’ three-game winning streak.
Robinson played 31 minutes after starting point guard Kirk Hinrich left the game with a right hip strain in the second quarter. Hinrich had 11 points in the period to help Chicago beat Minnesota for the sixth straight time.
Joakim Noah added 17 points and seven rebounds, and Luol Deng chippd in with 16 points and seven rebounds, as the Bulls (4-2) bounced back from their second home loss in three outings.
In other games, Charlotte Bobcats snaped a 16-game losing streak against Dallas Mavericks with a 101-97 overtime win, Philadelphia Sixers downed Toronto Raptors 93-83 and San Antonio Spurs defeated Portland Trail Blazers 112-109.