Second-half surge powers Boston past Chicago

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Saturday, December 04, 2010

GoLocalProv Sports Team

Rajon Rondo looks more and more healthy with each passing game, and the Boston Celtics continue to find new ways to win at home.

Led by Rondo’s 13 points and 19 assists, the Celtics stood up to Chicago’s toughest blows Friday and held on for a 104-92 win at the TD Garden, improving to 15-4 overall and 9-1 at home.

While Wednesday’s win over Portland was a tale of two halves, Friday’s game was a tale of every other quarter. The Celtics started strong in the first, shooting 61 percent to open up a 31-19 lead. Chicago (9-8) opened the second quarter on a 21-9 run to pull to within a point and only trailed by five at the half before the Celtics kicked off the third by shooting 56 from the floor to bump their lead to as many as 16 points before the Bulls made it respectable in the fourth.

Kevin Garnett finished with 20 points and 17 rebounds as all five of Boston’s starters reached double figures in scoring, including Shaquille O’Neal (12), Paul Pierce (18) and Ray Allen (14). Boston didn’t rely as much on its bench for scoring, but with O’Neal fouling out and Glen Davis running into foul trouble early, 7-foot center Semih Erden of Turkey logged 19 minutes and finished with seven points and four rebounds.

With his double-double Friday, Garnett got the best of Bulls’ forward Joakim Noah in an ongoing feud between the two players. Last month, Noah responded to the controversy surrounding Garnett’s reported off-color comments to Pistons’ forward Charlie Villanueva (the latter claims Garnett called him a “cancer patient” during a game) by calling Garnett a “very mean guy” before adding he’s “ugly, too.”

The two exchanged words every now and then Friday, but Garnett got the last laugh as Noah finished with 14 points and 10 boards; more importantly, Boston got the win – its sixth in a row since dropping back-to-back games last month. The Celtics lead the red-hot New York Knicks by 4 ½ games in the Atlantic Division and will return to action Sunday at New Jersey.