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Celtics pay a visit to Durant, Thunder

Nov 7, 2010 - 3:37 PM (Sports Network) - The NBA's marquee matchup for Sunday features the defending Eastern Conference champion Boston Celtics opening up a four-game road trip by visiting Kevin Durant and the Oklahoma City Thunder.

The Celtics improved to an impressive 5-1 on the young season with a hard- fought 110-105 overtime win over the Chicago Bulls in Beantown on Friday.

Paul Pierce hit the go-ahead layup off a pass from Rajon Rondo in the extra frame of that one as Boston secured the victory, its second straight overtime triumph.

Ray Allen tallied 25 points, going 9-of-12 from the field, for the Celtics. Kevin Garnett added 16 points, 10 rebounds and three steals, one of which came in the waning seconds from behind as he tracked down Joakim Noah.

Glen Davis ended with 15 points for Boston, which won its fourth in a row overall.

It wasn't all good news for the Celtics, however. After the game, Celtics coach Doc Rivers confirmed that Rondo, who is averaging 11.3 points per game and a league-leading 15.5 assists, likely has plantar fasciitis in his left foot.

"You could see he was good," Rivers said. "The only thing we did and you could tell: we subbed him early. I think with five or six minutes in the first we subbed him. And then we did it again at halftime. And overall that may have helped him with his wind."

Rondo is expected to play through the injury as Boston also visits Dallas, Miami and Memphis on its current trip.

Things haven't been as rosy for the talented Thunder but they are coming off an overtime win of their own, a 107-106 win over Portland in the Rose City.

James Harden's three-point play midway through the extra frame gave Oklahoma City the lead in that one, and the Thunder held the Trail Blazers to just one field goal in the overtime to steal the win.

Russell Westbrook dropped 28 points to go with 11 rebounds and five assists for the Thunder, who were coming off consecutive double-digit losses to the Jazz and Clippers. Durant ended with 28 points and 11 rebounds, and Jeff Green added 19 and nine in the comeback win.

"That was a big win for us. I like the way we competed and stayed with it," Thunder head coach Scott Brooks said. "We kept fighting and good things happened for us."

The Thunder, who lost 120-99 to visiting Utah back on Halloween, haven't dropped two straight at home since last December 13-16. These two teams split the season series last year but Boston has won six of seven overall.