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Thunder and Celtics clash in Beantown

Nov 19, 2010 - 3:49 PM (Sports Network) - The Boston Celtics will try to become the first team in the Eastern Conference with 10 wins and remain perfect at home when they host the Oklahoma City Thunder tonight from TD Garden.

Boston is 5-0 in Beantown this season and recorded its third straight win with Wednesday's 114-83 victory over Washington behind 23 points from Paul Pierce. Pierce shot 10-of-16 from the field and is two games away from tying Hall of Famer Larry Bird for seventh on Boston's all-time games played list. Tom "Satch" Sanders is sixth with 916 games played.

"We have a lot of pride in protecting our home," Pierce said. "We know we didn't play well at home last year as we did in previous years, so that's something that we want to get back to and trying to establish our home night in and night out."

Kevin Garnett had 18 points and talented point guard Rajon Rondo recorded 12 points and 13 assists. Rondo has dished out 10 or more assists in nine straight games for Boston, which shot a season-high 65.8 percent from the field versus the Wizards. The Wizards were without No. 1 overall draft pick John Wall and center Yi Jianlian.

Delonte West scored 12 points in his first game back from a 10-game suspension for weapons charges over the summer.

Oklahoma City will hit the road for two games against the Celtics and Bucks, and is 3-1 as the visitor this season. It is coming off Wednesday's 116-99 victory over the banged-up Houston Rockets, as Russell Westbrook filled the box score with 21 points, 12 assists and six rebounds.

Last year's scoring champion Kevin Durant added 24 points, while D.J. White chipped in 12 points off the bench for the Thunder, who have won two straight and four of five games. The 116 points were a season-best and the 17-point difference was the largest margin of victory so far in 2010-11. The Durant- Westbrook combo is averaging 51.3 points per game -- tops in the NBA.

"Well I thought that this was a good win for us and I understand Houston is down a few pieces but I thought we came out and shot the ball well and in the second half I thought we really did a good job defending," Thunder head coach Scott Brooks said. "It was good to see D.J. (White) get in there and mix it up and have some success, he has worked his tail off for a long time for us."

Brooks' squad turned the ball over a season-low eight times and handed out a season-high 26 assists. After losing 13 consecutive meetings with Houston, the Seattle/Oklahoma City franchise has won two straight in the series.

Thunder forward Jeff Green (ankle) is questionable for tonight's game and has missed two straight and five of the past six contests. He is averaging 18.2 points per game this season.

Boston beat Oklahoma City, 92-83, on the road back on November 7 and has won 12 of the past 17 matchups in the series. The Celtics are 9-2 in the previous 11 encounters at home. Durant is averaging 35.7 points in his previous three games against the Celtics.