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Balanced attack leads Celtics over Kings

Jan 13, 2011 - 5:05 AM Boston, MA (Sports Network) - Paul Pierce scored 25 points in 26 minutes and the Boston Celtics rolled to a 119-95 victory over Sacramento to snap their two-game losing streak.

Boston played its eighth game without Kevin Garnett, but hardly needed him -- Pierce was one of eight Celtics scorers in double digits Wednesday.

"That's a great team we played tonight," said Kings head coach Paul Westphal, "and they took care of us."

Nate Robinson had 16 points, Ray Allen scored 14 despite a sore left shoulder and Glen Davis, Marquis Daniels and Von Wafer each chipped in 12.

Rajon Rondo contributed just 10 points in the win, but he had a game-high 13 assists. Semih Erden also scored 10 in the win, which moved Boston to 1-1 on a six-game homestand that began with a loss to Houston on Monday.

Westphal thought the Celtics were "primed for a good effort" after losing to the Rockets -- and unfortunately for him, it was his team standing in the way.

"They're a big time machine," the Sacramento coach said.

The Kings, who have lost five of their last seven, were led by Carl Landry's 17 points off the bench and 16 points from Beno Udrih. Sacramento played without reigning Rookie of the Year Tyreke Evans for the third straight game because of a sprained left ankle.

Boston used a 33-18 third quarter to put the game away, turning an eight-point lead at halftime into a 17-point advantage with an 11-2 run capped by Rondo's layup to make it 68-51.

The Celtics' lead ballooned to 22 points on a Pierce layup and was as high as 25 points late in the quarter before settling at 23 (90-67) entering the fourth.

None of the Boston starters -- Pierce, Davis, Shaquille O'Neal, Allen and Rondo -- played in the forth quarter. Still, the lead reached as high as 28 points as the productive bench players took over.

"If we could do that every night that would be great for us," said Daniels.

The Celtics had control from the start, scoring the first eight points of the game for an early lead. The Kings took their only lead of the game late in the opening quarter when DeMarcus Cousins' layup made it 16-15.

Boston scored 13 of the final 19 points in the quarter for a 28-22 lead, then went ahead by as many as 10 before carrying a 57-49 lead into halftime.

Game Notes

O'Neal was the only Boston starter who didn't score in double digits, finishing with two points in 13 minutes...The Celtics scored 34 points off 23 Sacramento turnovers and shot 52 percent from the field...The Kings were blown out despite shooting 51 percent...Celtics head coach Doc Rivers expects Garnett to miss Friday's game against Charlotte, but return Monday against Orlando. "He's just taking a little longer than we wanted it to, but it's not a big deal," Rivers said.